Diving Back In (Again)

I took a novel-writing break from about the beginning of April to now. I'm sure my cartoon distractions had ~nothing~ to do with that. (Shut up.) Like I said in a previous post, I guess I must have needed some "time off." I don't often let myself take breaks, you know?

But, you know, spending approximately three months flolloping around laughing at cartoons and ignoring my in-progress book does sound suspiciously like procrastination, doesn't it?

There comes a time when ignoring my writing really is straight-up distraction and irresponsibility (even though no one is standing there tapping their foot waiting for me to deliver). I'm not interested in stopping my silliness because I am having far too much fun, but you know, I've always been one of those people who can figure out ways to balance ridiculous numbers of projects, and I can do both. Being weird and fannish while it lasts can certainly coexist with my writing.

But that can only happen if I do sometimes prioritize it and treat it like a job.

In one of my previous posts I said I was going to try to finish Bad Fairy 2 before the week-long cartoon marathon thing hits. That way it will feel like a way to celebrate, and it will also allow me to enjoy it without feeling like I should be doing something else.

Let me tell you, it is tough diving back into a novel you've left alone for a while. Three months isn't even that long, but when I was reading over it during the past week to try to get back into it and figure out what might be missing before I tie it up, I found a ton of stuff I didn't even remember writing. (And, if I may sound vain for a moment, it is really good stuff! The writing is tight and faster-paced than I remember, and there are some really cool lines here and there.) It felt a little bit like reading a novel by a stranger. Which shouldn't really happen when you're trying to become the person who writes it again.

Well, the good news is that I finally got through reading it all and added a new chapter over the weekend. 3,000 words isn't much to celebrate considering what I usually crank out, but I'll get there. And for a little while I worried that there were actually several more chapters before I can end it. Those of you who know the story of how I wrote the original Bad Fairy know it was originally one book, so I have written all of this before, and I'm consulting the old manuscript to see what I did then. It looks like the logical stopping point is still where I originally thought it was. This is a very good thing.

I am still planning to finish it by the end of this week (though I might end up needing the weekend to complete it, but maybe not). I think part of the reason I was avoiding this might have also been that the final chapter and its tiny denouement are literally the climactic, iconic scene of the whole series. I have to write about my protagonist going uninvited to a baby's naming ceremony and going head to head with her enemies and basically losing everything, failing harder than she ever thought possible. If you can believe it, that's going to be a little emotional for me. You know. Kind of.

But I'm gonna be brave and finish it and maybe cry a little bit and find some more cartoons to munch, and then next week I'm going to Jeaux's house EVERY DAY to watch the new episodes of our cartoon. (He has cable, and he loves the show, so we want to watch it together. He's already texted me about how it's only a week away. So nice to have someone around who doesn't treat you like new cartoons are not worth getting excited over.)

To celebrate, I'm going to bring special themed food to his house every day of the bomb. I think he's going to love it. Here's a YouTube video with the recipe for one of the things I'm going to make. DOESN'T THIS LOOK DELICIOUS??




It looks so good you can almost believe you'd get superpowers from eating it. Mmmmm.

For those who might be curious about what other goodies I will bring, I am thinking fire-salt donuts, fry bits, together breakfast, and biscuits with jam. They're all references to stuff the characters eat in the show. But these Cookie Cat ice cream sandwiches will be the best. 

(We will not be eating burritos from Aqua Mexican. In case you wondered.)

(You didn't.)

Hopefully by the time I do my Thursday blog update, I will have more news about words added to Bad Fairy 2! Or maybe I'll even be able to tell you I finished it! That would be so sweet.

Of course, after I finish it, I'll need to figure out how to start the YA novel I want to finish writing by the end of the year. . . . 

::sigh::

It never ends, does it.

I think if it did, I'd just start it up again. That's how I roll.