"Now look at you kicking off your shoes/ Dancing for the world to see"

This girl is currently my inspiration (well and I sort of hate her for accomplishing everything I want to do). She graduated from UGA two years before me and at the moment: 1) Her first novel is in stores, 2) The second is coming out in June 2010, 3) She is currently in the final stages of editing her third and she is also 4) Writing her fourth novel. That's insane! She's 25 and she has four books. But at the same time, it gives me hope that hey, what I want to accomplish is possible and not entirely farfetched. So that's a good motivational tool, right?

I started working on chapter ten today. I got a little flustered cause it was one of the first chapters where I didn't know exactly what it was going to be about. I'm also starting to worry that the whole purpose of the book, which is driving everything that happens, I'm not explaining and describing well enough. And that's, you know, just a tad bit of a problem. It's mainly because I so badly do not want to ramble like I know I tend to (I'm sure you're thinking: What, Annie rambles? No, not possible. I had no idea) so I'm trying to keep everything clear and concise. But at the same time, I'm not sure how much character development is going on. I'm writing it in the first person so I can only give insight into what my main character is thinking. Trust me, I don't want to give insight into any other characters (the main and secondary character count is up to about 18 or 20. And that doesn't count name dropping. These are people who have substantial dialogue). But it's hard to balance how much I want my character to think, describe, and evaluate AND how much I want her to converse with other characters. See, I'm trying so hard not to ramble that I've gone heavy on the dialogue. Oy vey.

But at the same time, even though I am editing as I'm writing, this is still essentially a first draft. So I don't need to panic too much at this point in the process. At least that is what I am telling myself so that I don't abandon the project all together.

Oh and thanks to everyone who reads this nonsense and especially those who had complimentary things to say! HW and TW, you two were name dropped in the book today. :) Just knowing that people who aren't related to me by blood also like this blog and what I am writing about (and therefore my writing style) is definitely motivating and inspiring! So thank you, thank you, thank you.