This week has been substantially busier than last week, but I keep pushing myself to hit those word count goals. I’m currently sitting at 18,081 words but I will be up to 20,002 by the end of today, unless something catastrophic happens.
One thing I’ve learned is that it’s difficult to make a mean character nice. That is a challenge for this novel go-around. I’m still enjoying writing it, even if it is sometimes harder to find the motivation than my previous one. I think it’s shaping up to be a good story. 🙂
There’s no way I want anyone to read my first draft this time, though. It needs editing for sure. But thus is the way of first drafts.
Until next time, good luck in your writing ventures!
I’ve written 1,025 words so far but my goal every day* is to write at least 2,000 words. I have to see how much I can do at work versus when I’m at home. Both have their distractions — that totally make sense, by the way, like having to do actual work and wanting to spend time with my husband whom I miss all day.
I’m hopeful, while trying to be realistic, too!
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year?
*Except the week I have to take off. I’m not pretending I’ll finish the 50,000 words by the end of the month. My goal is to finish 80.000 words by the end of December, though!
Halloween is next week. Am I the only one who thinks this month has gone by really fast?
That means NaNoWriMo starts next week! Ahhhh~ As I mentioned last entry, I’ve been watching Christine Riccio’s YouTube channel (particularly her writing journey vlogs) and it’s been inspiring me so much. I have my outline and characters all written down and organized. I feel so ready to start working on my next novel!
My plan is to start reading through the latest draft of my other novel, Doors Opening, at the beginning of December. I’m not giving up on it, even though it might feel like it. I feel like I’m in a better place with it now that I’m giving myself a chance to breathe and think about it before reading it and working on fresh edits/rewrites.
Wow, I said “it” a lot just now.
Oh! I made a playlist for my new novel project. Check it out if you’re interested. Also, add me on NaNoWriMo if you’re participating. 🙂 We can cheer each other on.
Now that our trip is over and I’m back to being able to think about writing, I’m finding it’s all I can think about.
I’m planning to complete my recommended writing pause and start writing something brand new on November 1st, for NaNoWriMo. I must take a week off to go to a family wedding, but no sweat because I’m planning to write through December to get to at least 80,000 words anyway. NaNoWri2Mo?
I wish I hadn’t written out a detailed outline already, because now I’m just sitting around like, “What do I doooo??” I’ve become inspired by Christine Riccio’s writing journey. I started paying attention to it because I started reading the book she was working on — Again, But Better. It’s pretty fun to watch her progress on the story I’ve come to know well.
There were some moments yesterday when I felt pretty low and self-doubty. I want to publish the novel I worked so hard on for 3+ years, but I have to be realistic and move on to the next project… at least for now.
Who knows? Maybe writing my next novel will help me improve the last one in the next edit/rewrite stage!
I’m trying to channel Christine’s positive energy. We’ll see if it works when I’m allowed to write again.
My husband and I are going on a week-long anniversary adventure up the East Coast. We’re visiting Eastern State Penitentiary (supposedly haunted and probably sad), Atlantic City (if ghosts were real, definitely haunted because of all them gangsters, see?), and the Lizzie Borden House (we’re staying the night! I’m so excited!! I don’t care if it’s not really haunted, some spooky stuff really happened here!)
Calm down, Sara. This isn’t a Haunted Mansion blog anymore.
When we told family we were staying in the Lizzie Borden house, the reaction was “You’re STAYING there?!” Mwahaha. 😈 I think she definitely killed her parents, but she had her reasons. (That doesn’t mean it’s okay, but life was hard for young, single women back then, so I also can’t say I blame her.)
In case you can’t tell, this trip will help me write an upcoming novel… in the future. I’ve got three books in the pipeline now.
I’ll have lots of fun stuff to report back next time!
Unless a ghost gets me, à la The Haunting of Hill House.
The plan now is for me to take a nice, long break and not think about writing this story. 👀
Easier said than done, when I know I have a list of things I need to change. But I’m going to be good and take a break. It helps that we’ve got fun anniversary vacation plans coming up. I can devote time to be excited about them, instead of using up so much headspace on my novel.
I printed all 314 pages of it and put the manuscript into a binder, for editing. Funny, it’ll probably coincide with me writing the first draft of my next novel. Funny should really be in quotes here. I don’t want to put off either project, but the thought of working on them at the same time seems daunting, to say the least.
Anyway, enough about all of that. I feel like I only write about writing here. It’s my main theme for this site, but it’s not the only thing I care about!
Spooky season is finally upon us. I’ve had my Halloween costume since February. My husband and I have been watching scary movies. We get a jump on Halloween* because our anniversary trip takes time away from it (for good reason, though!)
It’s my favorite time of year. It’s only fitting I should have a writing break now to fully enjoy it.
* I don’t usually get my costume this early, though. Let’s just say I was extremely inspired.
I’ve finally crossed into under 10K words left of my novel draft! 🎉
This has been an eye-opening experience. I can’t say I hated rewriting my novel, though. I know the nucleus of this story so well that reshaping it wasn’t as difficult as it could’ve been. That said, I’m looking forward to taking a break from working on it. Once I’ve finished the new draft, I’m going to put it aside until at least December.
Of course, I have a new novel to start on November 1st. I’m fully prepared for NaNoWriMo to punch me in the face like it often does, especially because I have a week I must take off in order to attend an international wedding. So we’ll see if I finish that draft in November. Hence the whole “at least December” thing. If I’m working on a new novel, I’m not gonna fuss with editing the older one much during Christmastime.
When I first approached this stuff, I was looking at it as some kind of a rush. I was excited! I had so many ideas! And that was good fuel for getting the writing done, but I have since chilled out.
There’s no rush. I should take my time to put good novels in front of book agents. I should find good, reliable betas who know what they’re talking about. I should EDIT.
Last time, I was too easy on myself. I edited right after finishing and getting some feedback from friends. I didn’t see the big picture. I queried 20 or so agents before the story was ready.
Then I got some betas who gave me important feedback and I’ve regrouped. The story is in a better place because of it.
I can’t wait for people to get the chance to read my story, but waiting is just part of it. Rejection is part of it, though hopefully, the second try will go better.
And working on this next story can be amusement on the days when editing feels more like work. Editing is fun, for me (I’m weird), but it’s also more work than daydreaming up a novel is.
This is definitely one of my top three favorite music videos of all time.
My husband and I are traveling to Philadelphia this weekend to see Peter Gabriel! He surprised me by buying the tickets when I thought he was going to say I was crazy. :’) PG is coming closer to where we live, but in the middle of a week, so I thought we’d never be able to see him… But Philly is just around the corner from where we are. I’m just incredibly happy and excited to get the opportunity.
Peter Gabriel became a pandemic-era fave of ours because YouTube kept recommending we watch the Sledgehammer music video, so we finally did and then we were hooked.
In other non-PG news (that sounds like I’m about to get risque) I’m within the big climactic scene in my novel and enjoying it. I’ve noticed that my writing really gets affected by the things I’ve been reading or watching. I had a fresh burst of figurative language when writing yesterday and I’m not sure exactly where it came from or how I can make sure it keeps coming back!
I watched a video about how to effectively edit a novel — I’ve watched possibly too many of those, ha — and I had SO much three-ring binder envy. I’m the Leslie Knope from Parks & Rec or Amy Whateverherlastnameis from Brooklyn 99 kind of person, apparently. I always want to be the April or Rosa, the tough and moody lady, but realistically I’m too optimistic and eager to please.
My sister says I’m Spongebob.
Dangit.
Anyway, between planning for fun trips (more are coming!) and writing as much as I can per day while being reasonable, I’ve been having a nice early September. I’m looking forward to when it gets colder, though. I’m wearing a hoodie today, just on the off chance it decides to stay below 80 degrees.
I stumbled across a Reddit “Am I The Asshole?” post that boiled my blood. A husband claimed to have self-published his wife’s novel without her permission. She’d told him at least once that she didn’t want to publish that way, but rather the traditional way, but he went ahead and got it published anyway. He also hired an editor and designed the cover himself.
Now, a lot of stuff that’s posted on Reddit is questionable. I have to hope he’s making things up for a reaction. He may even be the creation of a writer who’s having fun with a story idea. No one can be that selfish and ignorant of their spouse’s repeated wishes, right?!
I’ve had my fair share of people asking me why I don’t self-publish my novel. While there are benefits to doing so, there are also several drawbacks. It’s expensive, for one thing, if you want to do it well. Having to handle everything is another challenge. I kind of see it as a last resort; I want people to read my story, but I hope they can read it more traditionally.
Plus, having a literary agent helping me just seems wonderful. Who doesn’t want someone in their corner who has their back?
When I shared the AITA post with my husband, he said, “I guess now’s a bad time to tell you…”
He would never.
Someone commented that printing and binding one copy of the manuscript to have on the shelf is a sweet idea. I would like that. But printing copies and giving them out to family without the new author knowing should be considered a new form of treason.
Jessica Faust from BookEnds recommends going for the “no” when submitting query letters, because it helps narrow down the list of potential agents and helps gauge if something needs to change — either the query itself or the novel’s concept.
I admit, I sent out my first thirteen queries without considering this. The nos depressed me, especially the first one. But, eventually, I realized getting a no is better than not getting any kind of response and it takes a lot of nos before eventually getting a “yes.”
I’ve since stopped sending query letters so I can rewrite my novel according to beta feedback and my notes. I’m reshaping things to better fit what actually fits into the market, while still holding true to my novel and what I have to say.
Hopefully, I’ll be much closer to a “yes” when I send my next batch of queries with my fresh manuscript draft.
Sara Mazariegos 