My WIP

WIP: Work In Progress

A little over a year ago I got an idea for a middle grade novel. I started writing, thinking I'd have it finished and ready for a critique at the SCBWI writers' retreat in October. Months of lazy summer days ahead with hours to write, right? Well, you know how summers go - WHOOSH! Wait a minute! It's the middle of August already? So it wasn't finished in time, got set aside over the holidays, and finally reared its head in my consciousness the last few weeks. I put some serious time in on it, and I'm happy to say the first draft is finished!

This feels particularly satisfying to me as it is my first story longer than about 400 words that isn't a picture book. My Cliffhanger Writing Prompts book is 30 stories, almost all of which are 250 words or less. This novel for 8-12 year olds is 18,000 words. I reread what I had so far a couple of months ago and spotted quite a few things that need revising, which I expected. Now the real work begins of tying up loose ends, filling in gaps, and fleshing out some characters. I'm looking forward to it, but a little nervous, too, that I might get bogged down or stuck.

Right now I'm getting ready to print the whole thing out and get into it with color coded markers. Should be fun!