I regret to say this, but...

...I think I'm going to fail NaNoWriMo.

I mean, I won't if I lower my word count goal to 30,000. Most likely I'll win. It won't feel like an accomplishment though, since I wrote 80,000 words for The Night Phoenix last year.

But I guess things are busier. Or it might just be my loss of energy. It's kind of both--my family and I are very busy, and I don't have much energy this month. I blame it on emotional instability.

Ah, well. I guess I just have to give up writing a novel in a month and take a few months instead. All I've finished on my Calendar is editing my friend's novel. I've only written about 20,000 words so far on Operation Valiant--that's really bad, even for me.

I feel very ashamed of myself. But I keep telling myself I shouldn't, because it takes professional writers themselves a whole year to write a novel. It might take me a few extra months; hardly something to cry about.

And so... yeah, I don't know. I'll probably focus on writing Calm Tom Dawson so I can get self-publishing that out of the way, then editing The Night Phoenix.  Then I'll most likely spend Camp NaNoWriMo of next year working on Operation Valiant some more.

Another New Writing Schedule

Okay, here's an updated version of my writing schedule for the next few months--circumstances have changed, thus so does the calendar.

~

November -- Write the first draft of Operation Valiant; finish editing a novel for a friend; begin a novella called Calm Tom Dawson.

December -- Finish editing The Night Phoenix; try to finish Calm Tom Dawson;

January -- Work on a query letter for The Night Phoenix; if I haven't yet, I have to finish Calm Tom Dawson; give The Night Phoenix a few last check-overs.

February -- Send the query letter for The Night Phoenix to Mr. Rothe at Black Rose Writing; edit Calm Tom Dawson.

March -- Begin work on self-publishing Calm Tom Dawson (cover art, final edits, formatting)

April -- Self-publish Calm Tom Dawson; return to Operation Valiant and edit the first draft.

May -- Take a break before I fall down dead.

NaNoWriMo has arrived.

And I'm panicking my pants off because of two primary reasons:

1. I'm not entirely happy with my plot and I was too lazy to outline.

2. My characters won't get off my back! Gosh!
"Why are you watching George and the Dragon instead of writing?" (Because I'm lazy.)
"Why are you watching Balto II: Wolf Quest instead of writing?" (Because I'm lazy.)
"Why are you eating instead of writing?" (Because I have to eat to survive, Tommy, you dolt.)
"When are you going to be finished?" (It's only November 2nd, for crying out loud! I'll be finished when I'm finished!)

So yep. That's pretty much what's been happening. Here's a synopsis thing for my novel, since I don't want to leave you empty-handed.

We lost World War II. Hitler won. He destroyed all who opposed him, and got rid of any city that refused to obey him. It has the left the world in 2999 broken and desolate. Only a few major cities remain, beaten into submission. All other militia, besides the German army, have been crushed. At least, the leader of Germany believes that to be true. The British SAS has created a secret underground base, where they plot and plan, waiting for the right moment to strike.
One day, seven British soldiers are sent out on a mission to assassinate the German leader. It is a last ditch attempt; the world will end if they don't succeed, and if they die, then it will not change anything.
And so the fate of what little world is left rests on the shoulders of seven men, led only by their hope and by God.

And that, my friends, is the synopsis of Operation Valiant. Yes, I know, it needs a lot of work. Here, have a cover made by a friend from the NaNoWriMo YWP site.