Back in the Writing Saddle Again.

It took some doing but after four days the character sheets are done; fact sheets done; and future story ideas-documented. I feel I can now breath a very large sigh of relief.

And the great thing is that the writing will now resume. Thank God! I feel slightly lost when I am away from my stories for too long. I miss my characters. A large problem right now is that since I started the second story I feel drawn to a whole new group of people I am creating.

Does that make me a two-timer? If so I am deeply sorry but I now feel like I owe a little time to both stories. So I guess that in all fairness there is no other way to go.

It's also like a really fun game for me. Writing one scene in the sequel book then flipping over to the new story because something in the sequel brought up a great visual for the new book.

Something else I discovered today after talking to a dear friend who is feeling a little defeated and discouraged with her own writing is this: You should not be out to please anyone but yourself.

Everyone will have opinions. Some will be beneficial and others will be, let's face it--CRAP. And some people just won't get your vision, and that's okay. What matters most is if your happy with it and if you have the passion and the drive to keep moving forward. If so all the details in the beginning can be revised at a later time. The main thing is to get to the end of the story to better facilitate the start of it.

So many people I have met spend too much time worrying about what others will think and re-write the same pages over and over to the point that eventually their vision is gone and they feel disappointed in themselves. For this reason I refuse to get too upset about my rejections and critiques and choose to take everything with a large grain of salt.

I know somewhere out there the force is with me and it will be strong when that perfect agent or editor take on my manuscripts. I will rule the Death Star. (Wait, that was the bad guys...right?) Anyway, I'll rule something. Maybe the laundry machine. Oh...wait...I already rule that one.

Pages written to date: 108

Pages in New Book: 9

The pages will start rolling tonight!

Rejections: 10 (It's like the lyrics in that old song: "One is the loneliest number..." So now my one has nine friends to keep him company.) How's that for positive thinking?

Queries Out There: 10 (Decided to keep it even with the Rejections.