OK, I've Made a Decision

I've been vacillating about NaNoWriMo this year. Not about whether or not to participate. I love the challenge and I have two novels I've been working on that I want to finish or continue with. No, my conundrum (don't you just LOVE that word? Conundrum? It just rolls off the tongue. Anyway...) my conundrum was more on the order of, "Which book do I want to work on this year?"

AFitW is a ghost story and a love story all wrapped
up in history. I love writing it, so I'll be happy
to continue with it again in November. 

Book number one, "A Face in the Window", is the book I've been working on for the past two NaNoWriMo experiences. Thus, I already have more than 100,000 words into it. I still have maps pasted over the walls of my den and research materials all around my computer desk. I'm heavily invested in this.

My main character has decided to take a different path. I need
to pull him back into plot and work on some of the other
storylines as well this November. 

But it started to take a tangent that it wasn't supposed to take, the characters were running away, and the balance that made the book really work suddenly went south. I wasn't happy with where I left off and didn't know if I could repair the damage or not.

Proud Flesh has horses in it. I'm quite fond of horses and I have
good resources to ask questions of if needed since my cousin
owns several of the beasts. 

Book number two, "Proud Flesh", has a strong start, but needs a lot more research before I'm comfortable with the progress of the main character. It's also more young-adult than I'm used to writing and I have to keep pulling myself back out of the gutter and into the flowers and singing birds universe. I love the story, I love the premise, and I have a feeling it will be excellent once I have it together, but am I really ready for it this year?

Decisions, decisions. I'm not always the best at making them,
but I stick with the plan once I've decided. 

After long thought, more research, and kicking myself a few dozen times, I have finally come to a decision. I'm going to operate under the assumption that editing is my friend and I'll continue with "A Face in the Window" this NaNoWriMo. I have a lot of this story still to come, I didn't even touch one major character last NaNo, concentrating, instead, on the other. That leaves me lots of room to continue forging ahead, and there is a lot of geography and history that still needs to be plugged in. I don't think I'll have any problems meeting the 50,000 word goal, but will I reach my personal goal?

Nothing is accomplished without reaching for the stars. 

My goal this year is to finish this book. I want to get into the editing aspect and have to finish the initial draft before I can begin that process. That's the carrot in front of my donkey and I'm counting on success if I just package that carrot correctly. Does anyone tie a nice bow that I can attach to my carrot? LOL.

With the right carrot, we all can be donkeys. 

Have a wonderful Thursday. Oh, and if you're near a Perkins today, think about helping their "Give Kids the World" charity by participating in their annual Pancake Day. You get a free short stack of pancakes as incentive to donate generously to Give Kids the World, a 70-acre nonprofit "storybook" resort in Central Florida where children with life-threatening illnesses and their families are treated to weeklong cost-free fantasy vacations. Go in, have some great pancakes, and donate generously to this great charity.