Redrafts, Longlists and Camp NaNoWriMo

I've been rather quiet on here over the past nine months, I haven't had anything to really say and my words, thoughts and imagination have been turned towards my fiction. I thought it was time to pop back on with an update of everything so far.

I was longlisted for the Mslexia novel award. It was a huge surprise as I had entered the competition months before I heard anything.  It was a real honour to be recognised with so many other amazing female writers and a boost to keep going with my writing.

I've been focusing on redrafting my first novel after the feedback I got from Molly at WriteNow. I also got some suggestions from an agent that I have incorporated and the novel is definitely stronger as a result of all the feedback I've had. I can see the story coming together with more depth and clarity.

I've heard people say that writing is like carving, slowly you cut away the layers and polish the piece until you see the final form, the way it's meant to be. I imagine I've still got a way to go but I love my story more and more every time I work on it. I can't wait until everybody actually gets to read it.

​I've also been working on my next novel, it's a loosely related sequel that also combines women's fiction with dystopia, drawing on current events and inspirations. I'd almost finished my first draft when a conversation with a writer friend clarified some missing threads, so I've gone back to the start, working in the new ideas.

The redraft ties in perfectly with Camp NaNoWriMo - a mini version of NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month - that takes place in November.  Camp NaNoWriMo is a little more relaxed, you can set your own goals (not like 50,000 words in November) and this means I can set a page target, rather than a word count goal. It's fun to have something to aim towards and I'm a sucker for a chart to monitor my progress. I'm doing in with my American writing buddy and it's so much better sharing the experience with someone as excited about writing as I am.

Things are definitely moving forward with my writing and I hope to have lots more blog post in the near future. Watch this space...