I love this time of year. I love the planning bug that hits me every time the calendar is about to change. I love the possibilities of a brand new calendar. This time, though, my writing work is coinciding with the change of years, and it feels good. New year, new part of the work to do. I’m not just continuing writing an in-progress story. I’m starting a whole new part of the writing process.

Meanwhile, I’m still working on the “Haunt” read-through, which feels like a wrap-up of the first draft more than an actual part of the revision process for some reason. I’m about 3/4 of the way finished with it. It’s kind of fitting that I’m hitting the end of this part of my plans just in time for the end of this round of ROW80. I just hope I’m going to be ready for something new when the next round starts.

To help with that, here are more plans for the ROW80 break:

• Study revision techniques
• Character building (my three characters are too similar)
• Make a list in one place of next steps
• Pick a date for starting revisions
• Possibly do a loose narrative-style outline of the story as it stands to help find the holes and weak spots

Okay, now I feel a little more ready to tackle whatever’s coming next in this writing life.