Ready or Not? #IWSG #writers #writingprocess

IWSG Asks: When do you know your story is ready?

That is an incredibly difficult question to answer. I know each writer will have a different answer and there is no right or wrong one. It all depends on the individual writer, their personal experience and knowledge, how much writing practice was involved before writing this particular story and so on.

For me, each individual story varies. I write in stages.

First stage…The rough draft

Sometimes, the words flow with ease and other times I have to practically bleed upon the page. Some first drafts can be written extremely fast. My personal record is an 80,000 word novel in a week. I've only ever managed that incredible feat once in my life and that was before I had kids or even a job! I had nothing but time back then, in my younger days. Yeah, I was a teenager when I wrote that one. No actual skills or expertise, just gut instinct and nothing to do all day but write. We didn't have cell phones back then either! 

More recently, I did manage to write 30,000 words in a week. That was incredible fun! I was on such a writing high which I hadn't experienced in a really long time. However, my family didn't appreciate me ignoring them for hours. They kept interrupting me to complain about dirty dishes and filthy laundry. And, please, could someone just tell me, why do people need to eat every day, all day long? My family insists on being fed, like 3 times a day! And they expect me to cook for them! I could probably live on take-out or cereal for every meal for at least a week, but my husband frowns upon that sort of thing. 

If I can manage about 50,000 words in a month, I'm thrilled! I'm lovin' stories like that! NaNoWriMo is great for these stories. Again, my family doesn't particularly like it. I broke the news to my husband the other day that I was planning to participate in this year's writing event. He wasn't pleased. I bowed out of the last few NaNoWriMo's because of the stress it sometimes brings, but this year I have a story prepared…ready and plotted…except for the…ehem…ending. Still working on that.

Those are the exceptions, however, for my typical writing. Usually, it takes much longer for me to write a story. Somewhere between 6 months to a year, sometimes even two years. Because I'm a panster, I don't have any idea where the story will end up. Or I'll have an ending, but not a beginning. It's normally one or the other. There are many times that I keep writing until the story fades in my imagination, where I'll come to a sudden stop and not have any idea what happens next. Either I work it out in some way, or I take a break from it and move on to either editing or writing another story. In this way, I always have two WIP's going at all times.

Second Stage…The Waiting Period 

(also known as the Cooling Down Stage)

Once that first draft is written (Hallelujah!), I take the family out for ice cream. It's a time for celebration. And since I need all the encouragement I can get, having my kids tell me what a great job I did writing a story they know nothing about so they can have an ice cream cone smothered with sprinkles is praise indeed.

Also, I need to set the manuscript aside and not even think about it for at least a month or two or three. I need to distance myself from my writing so when I come back to it, I'll read it with fresh eyes. Usually, I begin writing another story. Or I take some time to read someone else's books. I have an unbelievably long TBR pile that sits on my bookshelf taunting me with great adventures every time I walk by it.

Third Stage…The Edits & Revisions

Eventually, I go back to my manuscript and start edits and revisions. Depending on the story, these can take longer than the actual first draft writing. It can be frustrating work, especially if I've found a problem with the story that needs extensive fixing. Like I said before, each story is different, so the time from start to finish varies. It could take a month. Or it could take a year.

I think I'm finished when I've corrected all the issues that I can find in the manuscript. When I've gone over it several times, made all the adjustments that I think it needs. I've checked for plot holes, loose ends, grammar and spelling, made sure all the characters continue throughout the story with the same hair and eye color, stuff like that. I have a checklist of items that I go through with each manuscript. This is time-consuming and exhausting! Especially since I keep adding to the checklist, but I've found that it strengthens the writing and makes it look much more professional when I send it to my editor.

Fourth Stage…The Incredible Self-Doubt

After all of that, I think it's ready. Maybe. I might wait another month, then read it again. Could be I'll find something else that needs fixing. I'll imagine that I'm my audience, trying to see my story through their eyes. Mostly, I'll be so tired of reading it over and over again that I can't bear the thought of reading it again and I'll wonder why anyone else would want to read it. I'll question my sanity, or more...my decision to ever begin a writing career in the first place.

After a day or two of paralyzing self-doubt, I'll put my big girl pants on and tell myself to get over it. I've been writing more than half of my life, it would be time wasted to quit something like that now because of my insecurities. What's the worst that can happen?

Then I send it to my editor.

The next day, I take my kids out for ice cream again. I told you, I need all the encouragement and praise I can get.

Fifth Stage…The Publishing Process

There are 2 scenarios after I send the manuscript to my editor. Either she likes it and contracts it, or she'll send suggestions for revisions. As soon as I sign the contract, we go through rounds of edits where she'll find all the things I've missed. And no matter how many drafts I worked on previously, she still finds things that need to be addressed. We'll go through 1 to 3 rounds of edits before she declares it done and at that point my brain will feel like mush that I'll agree to anything she says.

Yes, I guess by then…it's ready!

Of course, that's just me. Every writer is different.

On the day of my book's release, my family and I celebrate with…you guessed it…a lovely and usually expensive meal at a local restaurant...

...and then ice cream.  

Be sure to check out the other writers in the 

Insecure Writer's Support Group!

I write sensual paranormal and historical romances. Interested in learning more about my stories? Sign-up for my newsletter where you'll learn about my new book releases, updates on my works-in-progress, writing tips, book reviews, contests, and other fun book-related info!

Happy Writing!

Tricia

Can I Give Up Writing? #IWSG #novelist #aspiringwriter

#IWSG Asks: What was your very first piece of writing as an aspiring writer? Where is it now? Collecting dust or has it been published?

I wrote my first completed novel when I was 15 years-old. It was summer vacation. One morning, I woke up from a particularly vivid dream. As per usual, I grabbed a notebook and scribbled down the details of my dream. Throughout the day, the dream kept growing in my imagination. Later, I sat at the desk with my dad's Tandy computer, opened a file and began typing the monster that would become my gateway into the writing world.

I finished that sucker in a week!

An entire week that I barely ate nor slept. I was hooked on this incredible high that I never felt before, this addiction to get the images in my head onto printed paper. There was a movie in my brain filled with quirky characters, lush settings and a complicated plot along with amazing twists. 

Of course, at the time, I barely knew what the word plot meant. I knew nothing...absolutely nothing...about the writing craft. I was an avid reader, however, and I let the storytelling part of my brain guide me. This book was written with gut instinct, nothing more.

Suffice it to say, I keep this novel buried deep in the catacombs of my hard-drive. 

Every so often, I come across the file during some obscure search and I open it to gaze lovingly at the adventurous fantasy that I wrote during my writing infancy.

The story was a 80,000 word novel about a young woman who went camping with her friends one summer. During their hike through the woods, they were sucked into a portal leading them to an alternate dimension. In that world of kings and queens, healers and sorcerers, warriors and heroes, this group of friends was plunged into a war against an evil mage and his mistress. Although the villains had gained control of the kingdom, there was a group of warriors who continued to fight to free their captured land and bring the rightful rulers back to the throne. The young woman played a key role in a prophecy that was foretold about the days of reuniting the kingdom and bringing peace to the land.   

I have ventured to re-write it only once. Maybe I will again some day. For now, it remains the unseen novel that awoke the desire in my soul to create with the written word.

This particular question from #IWSG comes at an opportune moment for me. At times (like this year!), life gets tough, money is scarce and I think that in order to feed my family I need to give up writing and get a real job. After all, as many people know there is no guarantee of financial success for writers. Very few make it to where they can quit their day job.  And I have bills to pay just like any other person. My family relies on me to take care of them. Tough times like those happening recently make me wonder about my life's choices. Maybe I should quit writing and go back into retail management. Maybe I should go to college or trade school to get a degree for something with a guaranteed paycheck.

After all, do I really have what it takes to make it to financial success with my writing?

During these times of doubt and despair, I try to remember one thing...

How many other people finished an 80,000 word novel in a week when they were 15?
 
I've learned so much about writing since then. Twenty years worth of knowledge from attending workshops and conferences, reading books about the writing craft, asking authors for advice, reading published novels and dissecting them one chapter at a time to see how the author worked at piecing it together, and researching, researching, researching...

Countless hours of my life I've devoted to something that for many years I just considered a hobby. Now, that I've finally breached that invisible wall, becoming a published author

Photo courtesy of Ash Krafton

myself, I believe it would be such as waste to let it all go when life gets tough.

This too shall pass. Life goes on. And I'll keep writing. 

Because, truly, my soul craves it. I love writing. I need it. Honestly, after all these years, I really don't know how to live without writing in my life.

If I have to get a day job, I'll still write. If I never publish another book ever again, I'll still write.

And that is why, I'll never give up. 

Thank you, #IWSG, for reminding me how I began this writing journey.  

Be sure to check out other writers in the Insecure Writers' Support Group!

#BookReview ~ Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter #YA #paranormal

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

She won't rest until she's sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. But that's all it takes. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real.

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn't careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies.

My Review:

I looked at this book about three times before I finally picked it up to read. The cover was eye-catching, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to read a YA novel at the time. However, the whole zombie storyline intrigued me, so I decided to give it a try. The beginning of Alice Bell's story really connected with me. Her family died, the people whom she loved most were lost to her and she had to come to grips with that reality. I felt her pain and her desolation. It was intriguing that her father could see monsters that no one else could see. After the tragic accident that killed her parents, Alice was able to see these same monsters, too.

I liked the story so far. It was a great premise. The beginning chapter really drew me into the story and I wanted to know more. Alice moved in with her grandparents and had to adjust to life without her family while attending a new school. When she meets Cole Holland, she experiences visions of their future together. This explains their instant attraction to each other. Alice, who now goes by the nickname Ali, gets to know the kids in school as well as the teachers and staff.

Ali begins to see zombies outside of her grandparent's house. Other things go on which lead her to believe that she might not be the only one who can see these monsters. Slowly, as the plot unfolds, she learns that Cole and his group of boys can not only see the zombies, but they fight them as well. Not only that, but they have a rival faction who wants to experiment with these zombies. All the while, Ali must figure out what her feelings for Cole mean and if they can have a relationship together while battling zombies.

I enjoyed reading about Alice and her struggle with dealing with the death of her family and battling the zombies. I liked that the zombies weren't re-animated corpses, but were the spirits of the people who had been infected with evil. It was a unique idea and that's why only very few people could see the zombie spirits. Only those people who had the ability to see into the spirit world. However, the thing that bothered me was that this particular school had so many members who could not only see the zombies as well as Alice, but were willing to put their life on the line to fight them. It seemed a bit of a stretch for believability.


This was the first book in the White Rabbit Chronicles. I'd also like to add that the story was written in first person point of view which I love to read. I'm interested to see what else is in store for Alice and her new friends, as well as her relationship with Cole.



View all my reviews

What Stops You from doing NaNoWriMo?

There's a lot of division among writers whether it's being a panster or a plotter to whether or not to participate in NaNoWriMo.

I'm a supporter of NaNoWriMo. I love the shared community. I love knowing that other people are suffering just as I am. Er, that doesn't sound very nice. Sorry. I meant to say that writing is a very solitary activity. During the month of NaNo, I see dozens of posts on my social media every day by other writers sharing their joys at achieving their daily word count or sharing their woes at getting stuck on a scene or a stubborn character.

What it comes down to is this: I am not alone.

But what stops you from NaNo-ing?

I've done my best to participate every year, but I admit I'm not exactly successful every year. Some years I barely made it half-way to the 50k word count goal. I don't like to say I gave up, but I did have to postpone my novel writing for a while. And sometimes there are several reasons for this.

Work: Having a full-time job is a difficult challenge for a person wanting to make a career out of writing, or for that person who just wants to commit a month for this personal challenge. Unfortunately, you can't call in sick to your day job just so you can stay home and write the day away. Nor can you call in sick because you spent the entire night writing instead of getting the sleep that you need. You have commitments to your day job, especially if that's what pays the bills. I remember that was a great struggle for me when I was working at my job as Assistant Manager at Waldenbooks.

Solution: I can only offer tips that worked for me. I'm sure there are lots of different ways to tackle this obstacle. There were three different times I found that I could squeeze in some writing. If I woke early in the morning, I could get an hour or so of writing time in. If I was too lazy or too tired to wake early (I am not a morning person!), I'd take my notebook to work and I'd write during my lunch break. I'd only get a half-hour of writing, but I might be able to squeeze in 300-500 words. Maybe more if I wrote fast. And if my co-workers decided on that day to interrupt my lunch break with help on the sales floor (and that did happen frequently), then I'd leave my writing for night. Typically (before I had kids) my favorite time to write was at night anyway. I could easily get a good 2 hours of writing time every night.

“What do you want? What are you willing to give up to get it? Writing requires you make sacrifices. Be prepared to work hard to be a writer.”~Sandra Brown

Family: Family members can either be the best supporters of a writer or the worst obstacles. My family is both. My husband encourages me to write. However, he hates the month of November because of NaNo. He's become my arch nemesis when it comes to participating in this challenge. Apparently during the past years, I become very emotional about failing to meet my daily word count goals. I'm sure I've given a thousand excuses for not being able to write for some reason or other (I am creative with my excuses) and he just got tired of hearing about how I couldn't do it. And he's of the opinion that when you write, you should do your best on the first draft so you don't have more work to do later rather than writing crap just to have words on the page that you can edit later. But, he's not a writer, so what does he know anyway? Right?

Solution: Don't bother talking to family about NaNo. If they aren't writers, they won't understand the compulsion to get words on paper to complete this challenge. Instead, chat with other writers about any woes or joys you're feeling about your novel. There are tons of other writers out there going through the exact same things you're going through. Sometimes they can help motivate you better than your loved ones.

“All writers have this vague hope that the elves will come in the night and finish any stories.”~Neil Gaiman

Children: Children deserve a category of their own! As much as I love my kids, they also drive me crazy when I'm trying to write. Just as I sit down at my computer, they are at my knee asking for a drink or something to eat or maybe complaining that one of the others was hitting and I have to stop my writing (before I even began) to settle disputes or negotiate with them for a few minutes of writing time before I need to jump up to see to their needs. Of course, my children are young, I have three between the ages of 4 and 8. The last several years have been significantly challenging when it came time for writing especially NaNo. Sleepless nights with babies, changing diapers, spending time with homework and learning ABC's. There are so many things children need that parents must provide. And my kids have always come before my writing, but I admit now that they're a bit older, I just tell them to get their own drinks if they're thirsty. I couldn't do that a few years ago and I'm enjoying the novelty of self-sufficiency.

Solution: If you have the resources, whether its family, friends or paid services, getting a babysitter for a few hours of writing time is well-deserved. If not, (and I join those ranks!) writing early in the morning before they wake or late at night after they go to sleep is another option. Writing during the day has nearly vanished for me. I used to get in some writing during naptimes. Occasionally, if I see they are immersed in play I might be able to quietly open my laptop without them noticing. It never seems to last long. But remember, these times will change as children grow older. I hear many of my writer friends talk about the hours of free writing time they have now that they're children are teenagers. It won't be long before my kids are grown. I'm happy to keep my writing at morning or night and enjoy my kids during the day. They grow too fast anyway.

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed."~Ernest Hemingway

Self-Doubt: This is the worst! The absolute hands-down worst! I can handle any obstacles a job, family and children can throw my way but when it comes to my own brain I sometimes come out as a pile of poo on the floor. Writers are their own worst critics. No one can criticize my writing like me! And that is the number one thing that stops me from completing NaNo. I'll start out on a buzz thinking my new novel is going to be the greatest thing I ever wrote and usually after the first week I start wondering who would ever want to read this crap!

Solution: I know its tough, but you have to turn off your internal editor! Its hard for me, too! Usually, I like to go back to yesterday's writing to get back into the scene and that's when I notice the inevitable grammar or spelling errors that I cringe at. I'll try to fix a few, but if I don't stop myself, I'll soon be editing the whole piece instead of moving forward to write more words. And I do my best to not to wonder about what readers will think about my work. That just stops me in my tracks! My mind goes completely blank with fear and I have no words left. So when I NaNo, I'm writing only for my own enjoyment. I'm not thinking about readers or sales. I'm not thinking if I can manage to pay any bills with the end result of this month's efforts. I'm thinking only of having fun while I write. That's the only way I can finish.

"This is how you do it: You sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until its done. It's that easy, and that hard." --Neil Gaiman

Camp NaNoWriMo 2014

Time for camp! Get out the smore's and gather around the campfire to tell your stories. Join the campers in Camp NaNoWriMo to get your novel written. Don't know about camp? Here's a little info from their website:

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. Participants work toward the goal of writing a 50,000-word draft during the month of November. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel.

Camp NaNoWriMo is a more open-ended version of our original November event. We have Camp sessions in both April and July, and we welcome word-count goals between 10,000 and 1,000,000. In addition, writers may attempt non-novel projects. Camp is a creative retreat for whatever you’re working on!

Sounds like fun, right? I enjoy participating in Camp NaNo more than the November version. First, because November is inevitably a busy time as I get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas and other family-related events that take most of my attention away from writing. Not that I don't write, but there's so much more to distract me.

Second, I love the fact that we can pick our own word-count for camp. I love challenging myself, but sometimes 50k in one month is just a bit much. On an average day, I can easily write between 500 - 1,000 words. I'm comfortable with that. There are those great days when I can hammer out 2,000 a day. I love those days! But, with a family of young children (ages 3, 6, & 8), I'm pulled away from my writing by their needs. Sometimes to settle disputes (fighting over toys!) or sometimes just because they need cuddle time (I adore hugs!). This year my word count goal is 30,000 words. I'd like to go a little higher, but I tend to get easily discouraged when I see that I'm falling behind in my word count goal. If I can keep to 1k a day, I'll be happy. 

Since I write every day anyway, why do I bother signing up for camp? I enjoy chatting with other writers. Writing can be a very solitary existence. There aren't too many people who can understand a writer's fears & struggles, joys & triumphs. It's great to connect with like-minded people just so we don't feel alone. And in the past, I've made great friends by connecting with other NaNo participants.

If you aren't ready for April, there's another camp session in July. I'll probably participate in both since I have an abundance of story ideas floating around. :)

You can check my progress here.

Happy Writing!