I'm baaaack (again)

Wow, so it's been a long time since I last blogged. I've missed this, but quite honestly, I've had an extremely rough year as far as my writing goes. No matter how badly I wanted to write something, it seemed that every time I sat down at my laptop, I would end up just staring at the blank screen. And that annoying blinking cursor. I'd be lucky if I got a paragraph down. But it happens. I find it hard to believe that there is a writer out there who doesn't struggle with the occasional dry spell. Or as one of my best friends calls it, writer's frustration.
The years since I've started writing and working toward that lovely goal of being a published author have been very up and down as far as total word count. Sadly, with most of the years being a very low word count. But I was-and still am-always, always writing a story in my head. I'm always brainstorming on an element I'm trying to expand, whether it be a character's back story, or trying to figure out how they would respond to any given situation. Or even trying to plan out how my fantasy world looks for my future dragon books. That one will take several more years, probably.
Anyway, my point is, even though I've had even lower world count than my usual low word count, I've been brainstorming a lot on my different projects. And I actually have several newer projects I'm working on now.
Which brings me to this month: the July session of Camp NaNoWriMo. I'm using this month to try to give myself that kick in the pants I need to get a few projects done. Several short stories, and a couple of novels I'm trying to get started. You can find them on Wattpad once they're done. And yes, I will be posting on here to give a heads up that they're there.
I'm going to try to do a weekly update as the month goes by (edit: whoops...ok, maybe an end of the month update on how the Camp session went), and I have a few other blog posts in the works too. Here's a preview of what's to come (in no particular order):

• How seven words can make a difference
• A few book reviews (I haven't forgotten about those....I just need to finish the books first...)
• A little more detail on a few of my current projects
• A different kind of blog hop
• A letter from me to you

So I'm just easing myself back into the writing world. I always forget how much I love to write. But when I do begin writing again, it's like a familiar feeling very much like seeing an old friend you've known your whole life, but don't get to see very often. It's that thrill and excitement of getting to see them again, and you're just giddy for a while. It sinks in, and you begin to realize just how much you've missed them.

I'm not making any plans for sitting down and finishing a novel. If it comes, it comes. I'm just playing everything out by ear right now. I'm trying to finish a few short stories and getting a good start on a couple of side project novels. I'm not making any plans on if I'll try NaNoWriMo in November yet. I'll make my mind up once the month gets closer. Although, I will say that this month has really gone very differently-in a positive way-than I would have thought. It's really given me quite the boost in my will and enjoyment to write than I've felt in a long time. And truth be told, it feels really good. I'm feeling more of a sense of accomplishment than I have since I don't know when. I don't know when that first great (I hope) novel will be finished and out there. For now, I'm just enjoying working on the things I am at my own pace, steadily getting them closer to being finished. Once I get these projects done, there will be a bit of a blow up on my Wattpad page, lol.
Oh yeah, and since the post previous to this one was about my dragon short...I am still working on that one. I know what I want to do with it, but my mind's been everywhere and back again for a while. Rest assured, soon enough, it will be up on my Wattpad page, and possibly on here. For now, I'm focusing on a few of my other projects and I'm making some nice progress so far. Here's hoping it continues to go that way. :)

     Always writing (even if in my head)...
          -Liz