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?

What on Earth Happened to The Two Worlds Sequel?

Character fatigue. Plain and simple. I began writing The Two Worlds seven years ago, when my brother was eleven years old and totally interested in the wizarding world. The Harry Potter series was super popular and I wanted to write a book for him--so I did. Over the course of the seven years, I would email chapters to him and he loved it. The Two Worlds was definitely a labor of love and I used it as an entry way into the world of indie publishing and marketing.

It was on my schedule for three more sequels but I've fallen out of love with the characters. I still care about them, but not enough to write their stories right now. I found myself wanting something fresh after seven years of the same tale. It was why writing my current paranormal mystery was so fun.

That being said, when I write my next business plan I'm strongly considering leaving The Two Worlds series out of the production schedule. I might come back to it in 2016 as I have big plans for Kay and friends, but right now I want to focus on different things and I'm really excited to start a new journey with a new character. Stay tuned for more updates on my new book!

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! 

On Why I Need a Business Plan

Earlier this year, I decided that I didn’t want to do a business plan. And for the first time in years, I didn’t. I made a simple to-do list (write, edit, edit, release, rinse and repeat) and that was that. I figured that was all I needed to focus on. Easy peasy, right? 

Yeah, uh...I was wrong. J

The thing is (and I’ve always known this), being an indie author is the same as owning a small business. Writing is only half the battle. The other half involves marketing, financing, and of course publishing. You’re the CEO, the low pez employee, and the intern all in the same day. So it helps to have a plan of action to reflect back on throughout the year.

As I did my own year reflection, I saw how much money, blood and sweat I put into publishing The Two Worlds, learning about the industry, adding publishers, freelance graphic designers and editors to my contacts, establishing an email distro list, etc.

And I realized I have a lot more to do this year than just write and release. Oh, sure, that’s the foundation of my business. But for it to be successful, there are a lot more pieces of the puzzle involved.

So! What I’m trying to tell you is this: make a business plan. It can be as simple or as complex as 

you’d like. And if you need help, check out these great posts for more information:

http://www.molly-greene.com/business-plan-basics-for-authors-bloggers/

http://janefriedman.com/2013/12/03/business-plans-for-writers/

Ok, your turn: Do you have a business plan? Why or why not? If so, what spurred you to make one? 

Updates and Goals- Feb. 2014

I'm totally excited to be 18,500 words in on my new book Waking the Moon, which tells the story of a young woman who discovers that she is the mate of a werewolf and her journey to acceptance. It's my first attempt attempt at paranormal romance, squee!! This is one of those books that I'm having more fun reading than writing. I keep going back to re-read scenes and then getting frustrated when I can't finish the book! I know it's crazy, but no one ever said being an author was for the sane. ;)

The downside, though, is that I'm now in the dreaded middle. I wonder how many books I'll have to write before the middle stops scaring me as much as it currently does?

Another thing I'm dealing with is writer's guilt. I leave the house at 9 a.m. and then am back at home at 7:30 p.m. on non-gym days and 8:30 on gym days (which is 4 out of 5 days of the week). The crock pot has saved my butt when it comes to dinner and the hungry man that is my husband (because let's face it, he can't cook), but I feel bad leaving him to deal with our ornery puppy when he's exhausted from work. We want to have kids sooner rather than later, and I can't help but think "Wow, how am I going to do this with a little person clinging to my boob?!".

Because writing is such a solitary sport, sometimes your forget that there are other authors out there who are dealing with the same thing. Thank God for the internet!

In other news, I've already sold a few copies of The Two Worlds and am now just looking for reviews. I updated my goals at the beginning of the month and will start posting them on this blog so readers can help keep me accountable. Here we go:

February 2014 Goals
-Contact local bookstores to schedule readings or signings
-Finish Waking the Moon. My current word count goal is 30,000 (it's a novella).
-Start writing The Two Worlds 2!

I'm also trying to get into a habit of posting on this blog more. I don't write as much because I get nervous and think, "What if no one wants to hear what I have to say?" But that's ridiculous. If you've made it this far, you probably don't mind reading my babble, right? Right!

A day in my life....in GIFs

Wake up…and long for the days in college where I could do this:

Proceed to shower doing this:

Get dressed, take the Boxer puppy out who’s doing this:

Come back in, try to feed cats who can be like this:

Go to work and juggle being an EA, where I feel like doing this:

But more than likely end up doing this:

And writing on my lunch break:

Finally leave work and proceed to deal with evening rush hour traffic where I waffle between:

and

Where I come home to gamer husband, who should be like this:

But instead is like this:

Then it’s time for snuggles with the animals:

Dinner, and finally, back to bed:

On Being Unproductive

Today I realized that if I had a television in my bedroom I'd never get out of bed on the weekend.

I'm the Queen of Unproductive Weekends!

I'm busy y'all. I commute almost two hours every day to my full time day job, I run The Brainy Bookshelf, I'm finishing up book one while writing book two of my Turgor series, I'm the adoptive mother of a 5-month old puppy and two cats and we can't forget about being the wife of my lovely husband.

Don't get me wrong, I love what I do so I'm not complaining. But I've been noticing that my weekends are full of me doing everything but checking off things on my to-do list. I found myself wondering what was up with that??

I've come to the conclusion that my mind is rebelling against weekend productivity as a fail safe to being burnt out. I sleep A LOT on the weekends. I do a few chores (maybe) and then proceed to spend time with friends, my husband or my pets. In short, I give myself a rest from the crazy pace of the week. 

So why am I telling you all this?

I know as indie authors it's hard. You see authors like Amanda Hocking and think to yourself "What am I doing wrong? Maybe I'm not working hard enough!" That's not the case, folks. The indie road to success is long, hard and full of realizing that hindsight is a five letter word. Realize that it’s *ok* to be unproductive and give yourself some downtime. It’s actually good for you!

The next time you sit at your desk/on your couch/in your favorite coffee shop staring at a blank piece of paper and you begin to feel as though you may spontaneously combust at any moment, remember that unplugging, living your life and setting aside your writing for a brief time may just be what the doctor ordered.

“Pray thee, spare, thyself at times: for it becomes a wise man sometimes to relax the high pressure of his attention to work.” –Thomas Aquinas

“Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream.” –John Lennon