Cart before the Horse? (or the confusion of an unpublished, newbie writer)

Usually once someone decides they want to be a doctor, plumber, teacher, whatever, they research what needs to be done before they can start their dream job. That's what I did when I made the decision to get serious about my writing this past January; I started researching how to write a novel and get it published. I must say, I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of information I found on the internet about writing and publishing. I started off following a just few author/agent/editor/publisher blogs and I now follow well over a hundred.

I've joined Pennwriters (a writing group based in PA with over 300 members) and the Romance Writers of America (as well as a few subgroups of RWA, including my local Long Island chapter and FF&P (Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal) online).

I took Holly Lisle's six month online course How to Think Sideways. I've taken nearly thirty (yes, 30 - ask paypal, I'm not kidding.) online workshops this year. I've attended two conferences (Pennwriters and RWA), and I've already signed up for one coming up in February (DFW in TX).

I blog. I tweet. I facebook (although it's mostly a personal profile, I have added authors/writers as friends, and I "like" publishers, agents, editors, etc.). I'm on Savvy Authors. I'm on Romance Divas.

I subscribe to Writer's Digest and The Writer (magazines). I have bought I don't know how many books on writing (mainly on the craft itself) this year (probably somewhere between ten and twenty), as well as borrowing a bunch from local libraries. I copy/paste, format and print articles that I read online that I think are helpful and put them in binders (along with lessons from the workshops I've taken).

Now that's dedication! (Right?) I've certainly done my homework! I would never presume to submit an unedited first draft to a publishing house. I know about revisions, query letters, the dreaded synopsis. I know most publishers won't look at an unsolicited manuscript unless it comes from an agent. I am a wealth of information!

There's just one thing I didn't get around to yet this year - finishing a complete first draft. I began a sci-fi romance manuscript in January, got almost 30k written. I took an online workshop in June that completely confused the hell out of me. In a good way, I mean - it helped me find my plot holes and discover ways that my story didn't make much sense. But it meant major revisions to what I'd already written and I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with that story anymore... so I put it aside.

I started plotting and planning my second (unfinished) manuscript in August, but didn't start actually writing it until November 1st. (Yes, I foolshly thought I could win NaNoWriMo.) Thanks to an almost last minute (less than three weeks prior) decision to move in the middle of November, I failed NaNo miserably (see my previous post). I have a little over 15k written on my current manuscript.

Of course, there are both pros and cons to spending the whole year reading up on craft and taking workshops. One big pro is that instead of learning from my mistakes, I can learn before the mistake is made - which (hopefully) won't happen thanks to all I've learned! I know about plotting and outlining and character archetypes and the three act structure and... shall I go on? (Yes, I know you're all shaking your heads and saying "please don't!") But the big con is, as I mentioned in my previous paragraph, I have no completed manuscript. As I've read many times in articles and blogs, you can't edit a blank page. You can't edit one, you can't submit one, and you certainly can't publish one.

I don't regret any of the time (or money) I spent honing my craft this year. I just hope that it helps me in the future to be a better writer. I know I have talent and I've been told by others that they enjoy my writing. Now my #1 goal is to stop procrastinating by reading and researching how to write, and JUST WRITE. Please convince me it can be done  :)