#WIPMarathon Intro post!

Yes - it's happening again! The #WIPMarathon is running from December to the end of January this time! I might have failed NaNoWriMo, but the beauty of the WIPMarathon is that we can set our own goals! This month, I finished revising two books, wrote 20,000 words of my MG fantasy WIP, and did a total overhaul of Darkworld Book 2 for my publishers. As I have another unpredictable month ahead, with more scary emails of doom on the horizon, it's probably best if I don't set a particular word count goal for December/January!


Marathon Goal

Although I'm not aiming for a specific word count, I'm planning to finish Draft 1 of my MG fantasy this month. I probably have less than 20K to go, so hopefully this won't be too much of a stretch!

I'd also like to finish editing the Darkworld series! I've already got books 2 and 3 publisher-ready and completed the first major edit of Book 4, so I just have one major edit to do (Book 5), and then I'll put 4 and 5 aside for a bit. I'll be working on the next stage of editing Book 2 (that's the Email of Doom I'm waiting for) so I need to be ready to jump back into that!

Finally, I'd like to have a plan for my next WIP this month (and hopefully start it!). I have a YA urban fantasy trilogy outlined, but am also working on plans for a YA post-apocalyptic fantasy duology. So it's looking like it'll be one of those two!

Stage of writing

For my WIP, the very rough first draft!

For the Darkworld series, it varies from publisher-ready to first edits!

What inspired my current project

My MG fantasy is a strange one. It's a mash-up of old characters (from the first novel I ever wrote) and a whole new, slightly insane alternative-universe-system. I wanted to write the kind of wacky, out-of-this-world adventure I loved to read as a child, so I threw bits of various other genres in there - dystopia and steampunk, for instance. It also grew from my admiration for Diana Wynne Jones and her skill at creating bizarre world systems that run on their own special kind of logic!

As for my others...I'll introduce them later, when I decide which to work on!

What might slow down my marathon goal

Goes without saying, but Christmas! Distractions come out of nowhere at this time of year, so I'm hoping I'll get more productive days to make up for lost time!

Also, winter in general.  It's dark, cold and depressing, and I suffer from SAD, which aggravates everything. I have to write through lethargy and depression, fighting the desire to fall back into bed (and usually have a persistent cold from November to January, too!). Without exception, every novel I've written in winter has turned out awful and needed rewriting, but I'm determined to push through and get the words down regardless! If nothing else, WIPMarathon will give me a reason to keep on top of my goals!

Best time of the day for writing

Usually the afternoon, as I spend mornings answering emails. But as I'm in the UK, I'm 5-8 hours ahead of the US (so 2 p.m. GMT is 9 a.m. EST, etc). I'm a night owl so I'll be up for sprints later in the day, too!