Writing the Dreaded Second Draft

There she was. A new story. A bare bones first draft of 47,000 words staring at me. I had a great time writing her. I flew through the story in thirty days last year and added a few more lines over the past week.

But now it was time to face the music.

The dreaded second draft.

I still haven't mastered revising a first draft. The Two Worlds was a nightmare because it was written over a long period of time and I learned so much while writing it. I used different techniques of writing, wrote different parts at various points in my life (and that always influences my writing) and wasn't organized at all. No outline, no clear vision, nada. Just a girl and her notepad.

This time around, I wrote with a clear focus. NaNoWriMo allowed me a clear deadline and I had an outline to work off of. Being organized allowed me to have fun with writing instead of stopping every few chapters to figure out my next move. I'm definitely NOT a pantser!

But I still have so much to learn about the writing process. And I find myself hesitant on how to approach this latest WIP.  I'm going to wait a few days and try to find a good book that touches on the subject (suggestions welcome!). Have you ever struggled with revising a raw draft?

2014: Year in Review

My last post was quite awhile ago and I was writing about needing a business plan. I was right on target for following that business plan when BAM! things changed. You know the saying: Life happens while you're busy making plans.

In March, I was pulled in to be a project manager on an important proposal at my day job. That lasted for an entire month, and just when I was able to breathe again, BAM! I found out I was pregnant. That sent my husband and me into a tailspin and by the time I had wrapped my head around creating a new human being, I was dragged into another project as project manager and dealing with HORRIBLE first trimester symptoms.

The intensity of the first trimester plus the project left me with little room for having any kind of personal or writing life. And when the work project wrapped up mid second trimester, I was placed on bed rest for a pregnancy induced herniated disc. Once I came back from that, I finished up my role with the current project and that brings us up to mid August.

The rest of August, September and October where spent taking a breather. I was tired--mentally and physically. Not to mention, I had neglected my personal life and hadn't began doing anything baby related. Who knew being pregnant was such hard work? I took a much needed break to refocus. And I decided late October to do NaNoWriMo to get my creative juices flowing again.

The problem? November 1st came and went and I wasn't motivated to start the sequel to The Two Worlds. I actually felt bad about it and began to panic--what if I was losing my writing mojo? What was wrong with me? I scoured my writing vault (where all unfinished works live) and found a paranormal mystery I had written last year for NaNoWriMo and never touched again. So I brushed off the dust, added a few more thousand words and now I have a first draft of a story that I'm really excited about.

For the rest of the year, I will be finishing up prepping for the new kid and wrapping up things at the day job. I usually write a plan for the upcoming year, but since I have no idea what life is going to be like with a baby, I'm forcing myself to take it bit by bit until we get into a routine. Ideally, I would like to have a second draft of the paranormal mystery done by April 2015. And I'm currently working on that right now.

All in all, life happened. Lots of surprises, good and not so good, and lots of adjusting my schedule and my mentality. The most important lesson I learned in 2014 is that you can only take things day by day and you have to be flexible--especially as an indie author. I have to admit: I can't wait to see what 2015 brings! 

Dabbling in the Mysteries

I'm indecisive. While cleaning out my Google Docs queue, I found an old NaNoWriMo manuscript that I had put aside and never looked at again. It's a mystery, something that I had never written before and had a great time writing during NaNoWriMo. After reading it, I decided it was too good to toss back into the shoe box and am now thinking about finishing it, then writing my paranormal romance then turning back to YA fantasy.

I know, I know. Indecisive.

The beautiful thing about me being an amateur writer is that I have total freedom to do things like pick and choose the projects that I want to work on. I'm not bound to a publishing contract, and I don't have a slew of fans chomping at the bit to find out what happens next with a character. I'm also not sure if I want to deviate from the self publishing route right now. So I can create my own writing schedule and as long as I finish the project that I'm working on, I have no qualms.

Of course, this type of mentality works best when you're not trying to make a living writing. :) My goals are to continue finishing manuscripts (edited, published, marketed) for the next few years. I want to get better at ALL aspects of producing work and that comes with practice. If I snag an unsuspecting agent, awesome. If I *gasp* get a publishing contract, fantastic. But it's not on the top of the to do list.

That type of thinking is freeing and inspiring all at the same time.
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My mother gave me sound advice a few weeks ago when I was fretting over not being able to do everything at once and it fits my writing attitude perfectly: "It's your life, dummy. You make the rules."

Good point Mom.

November is Upon Us!

NaNoWrimo is upon us and despite all of my excitement, I decided not to participate. I was a bit disappointed, but also very relieved. I have so many things going on in my non-writing life, I felt like it would be a disservice to The Two Worlds and myself to focus on yet another project before my current ones were wrapped up.

That being said, The Two Worlds is scheduled for release on November 23! I'm so excited! Things that are on the to-do list are:

-Amp up my marketing. I really want my friends, family and followers to know about my debut release! My goals are to create a Facebook page, and finalize my Amazon author page.

-Throw a debut celebration! It's right around Thanksgiving and I'm already planning on spending it with friends. So the timing is perfect, I just need to finalize a few details...

-Interact with more bloggers and writers. I'm thinking of taking a few weeks off to recharge my batteries before starting the second installment of The Two Worlds (or my first romance novel, not sure yet). It would be nice to catch up on my reading and interact with other fabulous bloggers.

 

For those that are participating in NaNoWriMo 2012, good luck!

Check In- 10/26/12

Brrrrrr! It's been a bit chilly out, which is great because I love fall weather! It's the perfect temp for snuggling up with a warm cat in my lap and tapping out a few hundred words or so! :)

I received Beta Reader #2's feedback and was super happy with it. She gave some really good advice, and pointed out the few spelling errors I couldn't find on my own. She gave me good pointers adding to the depth of my book and she's an avid YA Fantasy reader, so I trust her. I have a feeling that her feedback is going to bump my manuscript's word count up by 10,000. Which means I may not be able to "legally" participate in NaNoWriMo. Hmmm....


In other news, my model is not coming through with photos for the book cover, so I think I might have to create something on my own. I'm drawing inspiration from the lovely people at AbsoluteWrite.com and I'm excited to try my hand with Gimp (too poor for Photoshop). 

Wish me luck!