Here’s some writing advice for the new year from my favourite columnist, Russell Smith.

November is National Novel Writing Month. I haven’t participated in NaNoWriMo, but this November turned out to be my novel writing month for 2011.

My latest novel writing binge began around October 20th, after I returned from a holiday in Ontario and Quebec. I usually have trouble getting back into writing mode after a break. From experience, I’ve learned to simply plunge in and work my way back into the groove. Sometimes it’s only taken a couple of days; this time took much longer.

I had left my novel-in-progress at the mid-point of the first draft. Normally, the story starts to pick up for me from there. This time, I found writing the third quarter of the book a chore. I told friends I felt like never writing another a book. Had I felt that while in the midst of earlier works-in-progress? I don’t recall, but perhaps I did. I kept working because I’d set a goal to finish the first draft by Christmas and, ideally, my birthday on December 13th. There were moments when I felt the goal was a real stretch.

Around the 3/4 point of the book, I snuck in a Sunday writing day and, to my surprise, finished an entire chapter. From then on, the story started to come together; through the last half of November I was accomplishing about twice as much per day as I had during the preceding weeks. As a result, I finished the first draft on November 30th.

Yay!!!!

I still have bits and pieces and organizational work to take care of before Christmas, but am looking forward to giving the major work (and myself) a rest for the next month, which will be busy in other ways: celebrating my husband’s and my birthdays, preparing for the holidays and spending time with with friends and family, including my two sons who are coming from Toronto.

I shouldn’t be surprised to discover that sweating out a first novel draft doesn’t feel too bad now that’s over. I may even do it again.

My short story “Freezer Breakdown” will be published in The Best of the Puerto Vallarta Writers Anthology 2012. The book is supposed to come out in time for the Puerto Vallarta Book and Authors’ Festival on Feb 24-26, 2012.  It’s nice to think of my story in that warm place, especially given the story’s title. 

I joined the Puerto Vallarta Writers group last spring after reading a travel article on Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in the Calgary Herald. Author Wanda St. Hilaire mentioned the writers group. A few weeks earlier, a friend who spends half the year in Mexico had told me about the annual PV festival. I was intrigued, having spent one holiday at a PV all-inclusive resort. That week, in addition to lounging by the beach and pool, Will and I strolled the Malecon, hiked up Gringo Gulch, zip-lined and rode a speed boat to a village inaccessible by road. We often talk of returning to Puerto Vallarta some winter for a longer period of time.

A Google search of the festival led me to the Puerto Vallarta writers group website. It invites everyone to join online with no membership dues or requirements such as having any connection to Puerto Vallarta. Most members seem to be English speakers from cooler climates who live or winter in PV, although some members have Latino names. The group meets Saturday mornings at the Los Mangos Library for discussion and writing feedback.

I joined mainly to have a tiny connection to PV, which I felt I’d particularly appreciate during the long Calgary winter.  Plus, I thought, if I ever did return I might like to attend a meeting of the writers group or the festival.

I started getting e-mail postings from group members. One with the subject header “Call for Submissions” caught my eye. The group was planning to publish an anthology.  The requirements were a short story (1,000-5,000 words) and online membership in the group.  You could submit up to two stories, but only the highest ranking one would be accepted. Each story was judged anonymously by 5 or 6 people, some members of the group, some outsiders. “Freezer Breakdown” made the cut.

The anthology is in production now. Its cover image is a beautiful Mexican beach. I’d like to do a warm weather holiday this winter and am thinking of Puerto Vallarta in February.   

The Best of the Puerto Vallarta Writers Anthology 2012 will be available for purchase on Amazon.com. For a list of contributors, visit the Puerto Vallarta Writers Group facebook page.

My personal deadline for reaching the midpoint of my novel-in-progress was a trip to Toronto for Thanksgiving weekend followed by a week in Montreal and Kitchener. I made the writing deadline so tightly that I’ve only found time to blog about it now, after returning from the trip. 

This first half of this book is a re-write of the “Summer” Paula Savard mystery I started last fall. It involved changes required to turn “Summer” into the second book of the series. The writing followed the original draft fairly closely until the last four chapters, where I had to rearrange, delete and add large chunks of material. 

Now, I’ve moved into new, unwritten territory. It helps that I developed an outline for the next quarter, except that knowing what’s coming up makes me feel the chapters have been drafted – until I face the blank page and realize I have more to do than I’d thought. 

In the past, I’ve enjoyed writing the second half of novels more than the first.  With the stage set, characters developing and events playing out, the work has usually gone faster as the story rollicks to a close. I hope this happens with my current novel-in-progress – Ten Days in Summer – so I can finish the first draft by my next personal deadline – Christmas.