Tag: Novels

It’s more fun to share.

Sara Mazariegos


Rewriting my novel, I’m focusing on a few new points. I’ve also been thinking about giving it a new title that’s more in keeping with the themes in the story. One of the ideas I had is a lyric from the above song. I love that song, scene, and Muppet so much. :’)

But Taylor Swift has a song with a similar title and I don’t want anyone thinking I meant that connection.

I’ve read people saying not to worry about the title because the editor and publisher will likely change it anyway. But I want it to be perfect.

The current title is fine. It serves its purpose. I should focus on the writing, because that’s what will ultimately grab people, right?

I’m currently in the middle of a scene involving a beautiful dress from my past. I still have it somewhere in storage at my parents’ house. It doesn’t fit me anymore. Ah, but it does in my imagination. ✨

This post is all over the place.

Looking for a spark.

Sara Mazariegos


Whoo boy, have I made some changes.

Remember when I said I was working on my holiday-themed story? I was hit by a creativity spark while reading my beta reader’s feedback on my other novel, so I’m planning to finish the holiday novel’s rewrites in November now (for NaNoWriMo+) and I’m working on rewriting the first story again.

I got a burst of inspiration last Friday as I looked through my notes for a romantasy story I was slowly starting to piece together. It clicked! I could combine elements of that story with my first story. My first story is so personal and matters so much to me. Like they discussed in today’s episode of The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, taking the time to really focus and hone the story I want to publish is important.

I don’t want to give up on it and leave it in a closet to die.

Since Friday, I’ve completely retooled the plot outline, making it follow the Save The Cat beat sheet. It has a real flow now, and the themes jump out much more than they used to. The conflict is much clearer. I’m so excited to work on this draft! I only wish I’d discovered STC sooner, so I wouldn’t have been such a strugglesaurus these past few years. But I know, thanks to WriterThreads, that I’m not alone.

I changed the title of the novel for the fourth time, too. Ha. It fits the story better, though it could’ve worked with the older drafts as well. That’s part of how I know it’s a good one. Titles change a bunch of times, though. I’m not getting attached to any of the ones I come up with.

Thanks to Carly Watters, I have another genre I can add to my pitch paperwork, too: autofiction.

Don’t be afraid to work on something else if you’re feeling stuck on something. Even if that something else is the thing you’ve already “finished” twice. 😉

Wish I knew what you were looking for.

Sara Mazariegos


My goal this week has been to take it easy. I’ve created a novel outline; I’ve thought of things to include in this new draft. I’m not letting myself start writing it until Monday.

Meanwhile, I’ve been reading The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn. It’s so good. I need to read everything she’s ever written. Her writing style matches mine and my preferences in novels I like to read. I’m still obsessed with Georgie, All Along.

This go-around, I’m not going to worry so much about the publishing side of things. I want to focus on my writing and enjoy it. I figure the more “business” side can come later, once I’m sure I’ve got a manuscript worthy of the effort.

Short post this time. I said everything I wanted to say in the video above. Plus, I said it through burned lips.

That’s not a figure of speech.

Vladimir collects ceramic unicorns.

Sara Mazariegos


I both won and lost my personal book game for my birthday. I got so many new books. Ah, loopholes. If I was really serious about not getting any books for a while, I wouldn’t ask for them for my birthday. 😇

You can see my excitement about one of them in the video above. I will take it to Disney World and Guatemala, not that I foresee having much extra time to read it while on vacation. Perhaps during the flights, while I’m awake. One of my flights will land at 4 something in the morning!

I’m already feeling grateful for taking a recovery day after our trip. I’m mostly going to use it for sleeping.

As I’ve mentioned, I’m going to jump right into reading the draft of my other novel as soon as I’m back and conscious. I have so many ideas, but I’m pacing myself and being organized about them this go-around. Because “Write all the things!” leads to a mess and/or burnout.

See? I’m learning!

This trip may just fill me with further inspiration. Isn’t that always the way, for authors? Inspiration can be found everywhere.

Until next time,

A humiliating kick in the crotch.

Sara Mazariegos

Writing query letters is tough, especially when you’re not sure where to find good people to critique it. Friends and family rave about it, but a random person can shut it down and make me feel like no one would want to read my novel. It would be nice to find somewhere in between those two extremes. I know it needs work, but that doesn’t mean my novel isn’t good or deserving of being published.

I’m not giving up on it.

Meanwhile, I’ve rewritten an outline for my other novel’s rewrite. Luis (husband) recommends that I write a query letter at this early stage, too, to help guide the novel. So I’m going to be having fun with that as well.

In slightly over two weeks, we’re going on our fun Disney/Guatemala trip, so it’ll be another opportunity to take a break. I just feel as though I’ve been taking a break for a while now. I’m ready to write more! But it’s good to pace myself and not stack my days with too much writing, especially when I know I won’t have enough time to write a new draft until after the beginning weeks of April.

Are all writers like this?

Let’s take the whole day off.

Sara Mazariegos


I’m the type of person who schedules things. I have a Google Calendar for my personal plans. It contains everything from what we’re having for dinner tonight to our weekend activities to the novels I want to work on. It helps keep me on track, even if I only put “Write 2K” on a date. I think it might partially be guilt if I don’t do what it says, but I’ll take it. 😅

Aside from Calendar, I also utilize Pacemaker to keep my word count on track. I plan to write a NaNoWriMo+ novel this year since I don’t have plans to travel in November. The + means it will go past November because it will be longer than 50K words (unless I fail.) I’m going to tackle an old story I didn’t truly finish back in 2010, back when NaNoWriMo was the only time of year I really sat down and wrote stories. I got the story to 50K, but then just… stopped writing it.

I’m going to finish it and make it better this year! That’s one of my plans anyway.

So, my slate for the year is finishing/revising two romance novels and finishing/revising a young adult fantasy.

I’m ambitious. But it’s good to have goals.

Inspiration Overload.

Sara Mazariegos


It figures that now that I’m taking a (brief) break from writing, I keep coming up with story ideas and plots. My brain doesn’t want to rest! It at least doesn’t know what’s good for it.

I signed up for The Shit No One Tells You About Writing‘s substack and I am full of so much knowledge and encouragement now. I’m willing myself to take my time and not rush into any more querying until my story is ready. I’m also (as I said in the video above) working on shaping two other novels. I have a lot going on with my writing, for someone who’s not writing at the moment.

I also recently started beta reading for another writer. That’s been a fun, eye-opening experience as well. I’m interested in what other people are working on and how they write, the things they struggle with, etc. It’s cathartic. 🙂

What are your sources of creative inspiration?

Too much time on my hands.

Sara Mazariegos


The title is meant to be ironic because this week has been pretty busy for me. It’s also a good song by Styx.

I said in my video that I was at ~62k words, but my goal for today is actually ~64k. I’m proud of myself for consistently hitting the mark, or at least near the mark so I’m not struggling with way too much to write per day. I’ve learned!

My little living room laptop has been such a help. There’s something about sitting with limited Internet function that really helps my mind focus on writing instead of what x friend said on social media. I’ve started playing music on my phone, though, because Little Laptop can’t handle a tab of streaming music. 😂

One thing I’ve been working through is some unseen characters in my novel. They matter to the plot, but only vaguely. Without giving too much away*, they’re people in the FMC’s friend’s lives. At first, I thought, “Should I introduce them and have a scene with them?” but I’m realizing it doesn’t matter as long as they’re mentioned. It would slow things down to introduce so-and-so’s partner who doesn’t affect the MCs’ lives much.

I might still throw them in, for some added fun, but only because I want to, not because it’s necessary.

I don’t want to be like Dickens, throwing in a million new character names in the last pages of the story. Dickens was silly. I love him, but he was.

*I’ve read so many warnings about not sharing one’s writing online if you want it to get published, because publishers want exclusivity, etc. I get it, but it’s also hard because I love sharing things.

Cinderelly, Cinderelly.

Sara Mazariegos


There’s a lot to look forward to in Saraland™ in the next few months – one of which is actually happening tomorrow! I’m going to Richmond with Luis (husband) to see Poe’s cats and learn some history. I love cats and history.

The other morning, we got up so, so early to get reservations at Cinderella’s Royal Table in Disney World when we’re there in April. We succeeded! It’ll be lunch instead of dinner, but I’m so excited anyway! By the look of things, lunch might be calmer than dinner, which is perhaps better for our purposes.

I say “like” so much when I’m excited. I didn’t realize until I watched my video back while editing.

In writing progress news, I’ve reached the wonderful 40K (halfway) point! 🎉 I’ve incorporated some of my older draft’s scenes because they’re relevant and not in need of big changes. That’s one nice thing about revising: you can go in and take the things you still want.

Since I’ve made a lot of drastic plot changes to my novel — I even changed the title! (That’ll happen more times, I bet.) — I went back into my query draft and updated it as well, to correspond with my updated plot.

My novel is definitely more focused on the romance plot now. I still think “women’s fiction” applies, too. Many contemporary romances involve women’s fiction angles, don’t they? The female lead’s point in life is very tied to everything she does. I’m drawn to novels where the female lead has some growing to do. I doubt I’m the only one.

I also feel, in my heart, that there’s a space on bookshelves for a romance inspired by Nerdfighters. I hope to provide a novel for that space.

This is the land of confusion.

Sara Mazariegos


I’m now at 16,000 words out of my projected total of 80,000 words. So far, I’ve been sticking more to the romance format/tropes I’ve seen in other contemporary romances I’ve read. It’s going well, and I can already see improvement overall.

What does it say about me that I openly do all of this trial-and-error stuff? If I can help other writers find their way, I call that a win.

As I mentioned in the video above, I got a new little Asus laptop for my writing. I wanted a dedicated computer that primarily functions as access to my Google Drive files. It forces me to focus on writing instead of glancing at social media for hours instead. It’s been going well so far! I love that I can just grab it, write, and then set it aside without all the fuss I used to have with bringing my big gaming laptop/work laptop into the living room to write.

I write better when I’m on the comfy living room couch. It’s important to recognize your best writing space. I imagine I’ll handle things like querying from the office, where the business stuff happens. 😅

One thing this draft has that the others lacked: some in-person friends for my MFC! In the past, I emphasized the Internet as a source of friendships, but I neglected the friends she ultimately had in her ‘real life’ as well. Is this a metaphor for my own life? Who knows. I think it’s making the story less bleak, which only makes sense if you’ve read it.

My husband Luis knows what I mean. My betas will probably be relieved as well.

Onward and upward!