Insecure Writer's Support Group: What do you do when you grow bored of a story?

Happy New Year, folks!

I know I haven't been around much since I started working for CQ, but I'm aiming to rectify that this year.

2013 was an awesome year for me - love and thanks to all that helped make that happen <3 - and I hope 2014 is even better. One of the ways I want to improve on last year is by creating a better work/ writing/ blogging balance.

I don't want to make promises I won't keep, but I am going to try my hardest to keep up with blogging, and find time to work on my novel, while continuing my CQ work.

To that end, I'll be back next week with a proper update about work and writing, but today, I wanted to take part in my first ever IWSG!

I'm a long-time lover of Alex J. Cavanaugh's IWSG, I think it's an amazing concept, and the things Alex and the IWSG team have done with the group in the last year awe me. You guys rock. I hope your success continues and you know where I am if you ever need any help! <3

As for my own insecurity about writing, over the holiday break, I got to wondering, what do you do when you grow bored of a story? 

For the past year, I've been working on a new-adult paranormal-romance. I've written about 40k, and had most of that critiqued by a few trusted writer friends, while I continue writing the rest, and making revisions as they suggested.

For the most part, it's being going okay. When I have time between work, I've enjoyed writing the story. But ever now and again, I have moments when I just don't want to continue. I think it's too hard to get over these mountains, and I want to create something new.

I worry I'm addicted to the buzz of creating characters and worlds.

I have countless stories I've started and never completed. Most of them have been written during NaNoWriMo, and many are in different states; from complete and needing revising, to an unfinished mess.

I wonder if part of the problem is editing. I hate the process and find it really difficult. And when I find it difficult, I get bored. I start telling myself if I start a new project, I'll prepare and plan better and it will need less editing. But that's not true. No amount of preparing will create a perfect first draft. Editing is part of the growing process.

Then I start wondering should I just write for fun, for myself. Not caring if it's perfect or not, and never showing it to anyone. But I think no, a story that is never read isn't a real story. I want my story to have life outside my computer. It deserves that much.

I feel like I can't turn my back on these characters. I owe it to them to finish their story.

So for now, I'm back in that world, and enjoying it once again.

But I wonder, what do I do the next time this feeling inevitably creeps back? Go through the motions of wanting to give up and write something new until it passes and I fall in love with my original story again, and keep repeating that process until the novel actually gets finished?

Or is there something else I can do to keep me focused and on track?

I'd love to hear your tips and advice if you have them.

I hope everyone has an excellent week, and I will try to pop in on some of you to read your IWSG posts, and see what you've been up to recently.

Sibylline Nights Edit Progress and Stylish Blogger Award

Editing Draft One of 'Sibylline Nights' :

50619 / 105831 (47.83%)

I was going to leave updating until Monday, but then I was updating my person blog with information about how I'm progressing with the editing of Sibylline Nights, and realised I hadn't mentioned my progress here for a while. 

Editing is going really well, yesterday we (Hubby and I) finished editing chapter thirty. That's 50, 619 words and 95 pages done out of an original 105, 831 words and 209 pages. So just about halfway there. Though I did realise, at this point in the story in the unedited version, it was only 40, 060 words and 77 pages, meaning I've added almost 11k words and 18 pages since I began editing! That's kind of scary, and I think once the whole thing is complete I'm going to have to go back and cut a bunch of stuff to make the novel into a publishable length. Hubby and I already started discussing some scenes near the start that could go because they don't add much to the progress of the story.

As well as editing, we also made some groundwork with some of the more fantasy elements, including defining where magic comes from in my universe and giving voices to minor characters. Exciting stuff. I love editing because I'm taking something that was just okay before, adding meat to it, and making something (that I think is) awesome. I have such a good feeling about this story, and can't wait until it's ready to start querying.

Christine Rains awarded me with the Stylish Blogger Award a few days ago. Thank you Christine!

Before I talk about my own personal style, I wanted to give credit for the layout of my blog. The original template for this blog was designed, and a modified version is used, by my Hubby on his gaming site Video Games Interactive.  Thank you, honey! ♥♥♥

My style is quite eclectic, and I can easily jump from casual to dressed up, depending on what I'm what I'm doing and my mood. I tend to favour a mixture of dark colours, with bold accents/ make up though. My favourite combinations being black and pink, or black and purple. I would say my style is bohemian, bordering on Gothic.

I think I was most stylist on my wedding day. As I mentioned in the nine facts and one fake post a few weeks ago I wore a fuschia pink wedding dress.

Hubby and I on our Wedding day.

Now I get to tag five people I think have stylish blogs. If you've received this award before don't feel obliged to do it again. I tag:

Jaybird
Kyra Lennon
Jolene Perry
Jaycee Delorenz
Laura

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, and those in the U.K enjoy the double bank holiday for the Queen's Jubilee.

Editing: I'm Doing It Wrong?

Purely out of interest today, I did a little word count of the first nine scenes of Sibylline Nights before and after editing. I've added 4400 words!

I've only edited about ten percent of the novel so far, but if I keep going like this I could up my word count to almost 150,000! Aren't I meant to be making the story shorter to meet publishing standards? Does this mean I'll have a lot to cut?!

I know there will be some parts I cut. I can think of a large portion off the top of my head. But it still worries me that I'm going to end up with a novel that's too long and I won't know what to take out.

On the plus side, those nine scenes I've edited are good. They were a nice skeleton before, but now I feel there's meat on those bones. I think I've set up the foundation of the story and characters well. My CPs seem to agree.

Hopefully I can continue with this momentum, and get the first draft fully edited by June.