I've been calling my next WIP a rewrite.

It's a book I've written and rewritten so many times over the last almost decade of my life. The story has changed, the characters have morphed into different versions of themselves, the story has taken on many different forms. At its core, though, it's always been the same story: girl leaves boy, girl wants boy back, boy is engaged to another girl. *cue super-hot best man*

Well...that plot has been discarded.

No longer is this version a "rewrite."

It's a brand-spanking-new book.

The bones are similar to the thousand previous drafts: Character names (though they've all got new last names), the town and its residents, a few of the events. But everything else? Oh, so different.

As I was writing my last book for NaNoWriMo last year, I discovered something about myself. I was funny. I liked my characters to be funny. Not so much on the angst. Every version of the first book was laden with angst. They were all angst cookies frosted with the gallons of tears my characters cried.

Well, no more.

My hero has made the biggest transformation. In every draft, he's been this sexy, brooding guy with a Mysterious Past and a perma-smirk. Basically, he was this guy:

Hot, right? Of course he's hot! That's Ian Smolderhotter. Hold on...I've lost my train of thought...

Oh, yeah. Out with the Ian, in with a new face. No longer is my Jack a broody, moody, smirky, too-serious dude. Nope. He's lighter now. Funny. And so adorable (still sexy, though. Don't worry). Still, I know what you're thinking. HOW COULD YOU REPLACE IAN SOMERHALDER WITH SOME NEW DUDE? DON'T YOU KNOW HOW HOT HE IS?

I DO know how hot he is. He's just not JACK, people! I'm gonna need you to calm down.

Are we calm now? Okay.

My new Jack looks a lot like this guy:

Look at that smile! Doesn't he look all kinds of charming and adorable, all while still being super sexy? I told you not to worry. Also, I'm pretty sure that Mr. Smolderhotter will get his book. I'm thinking Jack has a hot older brother...

So, yeah. Lots of changes with this book. I am no longer thinking of it as a "rewrite." This is an all new book. And I am so ridiculously excited to start writing it!

Okay, okay. So it's been over four months since my last post. I am KILLING this blogging thing. KILLING. IT.

In all reality, I've spent the better part of my time since late-October...WRITING.

I completed NaNoWriMo with just over 53k words, then continued to work on my novel for the next couple months. I typed the words The End in mid-January, then attended a fantastic writing workshop with Donald Maass, which spurred ALL THE EPIPHANIES. I rewrote the last half of my book, then turned it in to my fabulous writing group. From the moment I turned it in to the morning of the meeting, I felt like I was going to throw up or die or both.

I couldn't have asked for a better meeting, though. I got great feedback, and a relatively short revision list for my book baby.

You guys, I am so, so proud of this book. After spending the better part of 8 years writing and rewriting my last book, I wasn't sure going into NaNoWriMo if I could write something new. But I wrote the hell out of this new book, and you know what? It's so much better than the other one. I have really found my voice as a writer, and I've learned and grown so much. This new book...it's me. The last book, I spent years and years trying to figure out WHO I was, what I wanted the book to be, what I could and couldn't say...and so on.

Once I hit my stride, the words wouldn't stop coming. I laughed, I cried, I had an absolute blast writing that book.

And now...well, now I'm going back to the first one.

I know, I know. Sounds silly, right? Why go back to the book I'd spent year after torturous year writing after discovering a new confidence with a new book?

Well, the thing is, I believe in the characters in the first book. I love them. I love the story. I want to give them the book they deserve. And I believe I can do that now. Now that I've figured out how I work, how to be free with my words and not allow self-doubt to censor me, I really believe I can make this book what it was meant to be.

Outlining has proven to be a bitch, though.

The thing I'm struggling with is this: there is a lot to be loved in the original draft. And there are ideas a-plenty to improve it. So, I'm trying to find the balance between the old and new. And let me tell you...it's not easy.

But I've got a self-imposed deadline. I want to have this new version completed by the first week of May. That gives me...two months?

Shit. I'd better get cracking.

PS: How ADORABLE is my new header? My wonderfully amazing best friend and writing lobster, Christina made it for me. She rocks, eh?