Writing Book 13: The End (Again)

 

Earlier this month, I set out my five main writing goals for the year - and I've managed to cross off the first item on my list: Draft Two of Book 13

I was happy with the structure of the book after the first draft, so I've spent the past few weeks polishing the manuscript - cutting unnecessary bits, adding necessary bits, tidying clunky sentences, making sure there's a nice flow and ensuring I hadn't accidentally changed somebody's name part-way through.

Once I was happy with the draft, I went back to the beginning and read through the whole book again, using Word's Read Aloud function, which helped me to pick up on a lot of little errors that I'd missed during previous drafts and read-throughs. You wouldn't believe the amount of 'the', 'a' and 'of's that were missing, or the uses of 'him' instead of 'his', and don't get me started me on the amount of repeated words (how did I miss those???)

So, I'm happy with the story and the structure, and the manuscript is as clean as I can make it. Which means it's time for the book to meet another set of eyes. And that is the scariest bit of all.

Writing Book 13: Draft Two

 

I finished the first draft of Book 13 mid-December and I then put it to one side so I could have a writing break over Christmas. I loved getting to know the main character, Zoey and her friends, so I was more than ready to jump back into the book in January. The kids were supposed to be back at school/college by then, but obviously all that changed and we're back in lockdown with home-learning.

Home-learning feels very different for me this time; Isobel's now in high school and her classes are all online, whereas last time, when she was in primary school, she had 2-3 'live' lessons per week and the rest of her work was a list of tasks that I had to organise into a timetable and help with as well as filling in any gaps with worksheets/tasks I found online. It felt a lot more hands-on first time around than it does now, and it was definitely a lot more stressful.

That doesn't mean it's a breeze now - there are still four of us working/learning from a small house (with three of us doing so in the living room) so we're all having to adapt to extra noise, pausing our work when help is needed etc. It's definitely more difficult to concentrate, but a couple of weeks in and we seem to be getting on with everything okay. Luckily, I'm happy with the structure of Book 13, which lessens the task of editing. 

Because I'm happy with the structure, this draft is more of a tidy up and polish rather than having to shift scenes about and rewrite, and I'm about two-thirds through the manuscript. The next stage will be to use Word's read aloud function to make sure I'm happy with the flow of the story and to find any little niggles I've missed during this draft.

Writing Book 13: The End

After just six weeks and one day - the fastest I have ever achieved this - I could finally write those two little words every writer loves:

This is the quickest I've ever bashed out a first draft, and it's all thanks to Nanowrimo. Writing just over 69,000 words in one month gave me the momentum and the belief that I could finish the draft before Christmas. Having a really detailed plan also helped as I didn't have to stop and think about plot points or stumble across any problems because they'd been ironed out beforehand, leaving me to just tell the story.

I've loved writing Zoey's story. It's full of magic and fun and Christmas and I can't wait to share it. First, though, I'm going to let the book - and myself - have a little rest over Christmas before jumping into Draft Two in the new year.

Nanowrimo 2020 - The Results

 

I can't believe it's been a month since Nano 2020 started. The month has flown by, but how did we all get one?

I knew this year's Nano was going to be a different without the library meet ups for write-ins and to discuss any issues we were having and book talk. We were giving Zoom a go instead of physical meet-ups but nobody was sure if it would work. But it did!

We had 2-3 Zoom calls each week, including an all-day write-in, and these really helped to motivate me to keep going. Also, working from home, I don't see many people other than my husband and kids, and those I do see are mostly people wearing masks in the supermarket, so it was nice to see actual faces again.

We had our final Zoom meet-up last night, where we got a few more words down before the end of Nano. I'd already reached the goal of 50,000 words but had set myself a new goal of 60,000 as there was still enough time to achieve this and I didn't want to lose the momentum I had going. And, by the end of Nanowrimo2020 I'd written 69,029 words of Book 13! And yesterday, thanks to that final push during the Zoom wrap-up write-in, I achieved a new daily word count personal best of 4,957 words.

I'm so pleased and proud of myself for writing so much. I didn't think I had it in me, but I definitely wouldn't have pushed myself if it wasn't for my local Nano group and our Zoom chats.

So what happens now?

I'm going to try to finish the first draft of Book 13 by Christmas so I can have a little break and dive back into Draft Two in the New Year.

What about you? How did you get on with this year's Nano? Let us know in the comments below :)

Nanowrimo 2020 - Week 4: A New Goal

 

I did it!

On Saturday, I reached 50,000 words of Book 13 and 'won' Nanowrimo 2020. I wasn't expecting to get to my goal with just over a week to spare, but it was a really, really lovely surprise to get there so soon and I can't quite believe I managed to write 50,000 words in such a short space of time.

So what now? Should I collapse (sounds good) or shall I carry on?

I'm going to carry on and aim for a new Nano goal of 60,000 words, which will get me to about three-quarters of the way through the first draft. I have until Monday night to do this, with a planned Zoom write-in with my local Nano writers' group that evening so I'm sure I can do it (and I'm going to give it my best shot even if I don't get there).

Nanowrimo 2020 - Week 3: New PB & The Midpoint

 

We're quickly heading towards the fourth and final week of Nanowrimo - are you ready for the last push?

Since my last Nano blog post, I've taken part in three Zoom get togethers with my local Nanowrimo group, which have really helped to propel me towards my 50,000 words goal.

On Saturday, we had an all-day write-in, from 10am to 4pm (though you could drop in and out as when you liked. Nobody was obligated to stay all day) and we had a mix of writing sessions, book chat and watching author talks together online. When we first started this year's Nano, we weren't sure how the write-ins would work over Zoom, but they've turned into really productive sessions and it doesn't feel a bit weird like I thought it would!

On Tuesday, we had another write-in where I managed to top up the words I'd already written during the day and I achieved a new daily word count Personal Best. I usually hit a bit of a brick wall when I reach 2,000 words (or sometimes even before) so having Nano as a motivator - and especially my writing group - has really pushed me and I managed to leap over the 40,000 words milestone during that session.

Fast-forward a few more days and I'm now at 48,422 words - less than 2,000 away from the 50k goal. In less than a month. I'm shocked and surprised and proud that I've managed to turn a blank page into so many words, and I'm looking forward to shouting it from the rooftops when I reach that 50,000 words very, very soon.

Before I started Nano, I spent a lot of time prepping, and one of my main focuses was getting The Midpoint of the book right. I've struggled with this in the past, even when I've plotted the book out, so I was determined to get it spot on this time. And I think I have!

I plotted out all my chapters and pinpointed the key scenes for the book, and I knew the midpoint should happen around Chapter 21. I was a few chapters out according to my chapter plan, but I wasn't too worried about this (my Midpoint events have ended up 75% into the book before, which takes a lot of editing!) but things started to shift a bit as I started to write. Scenes expanded and new bits got added (as always happens, no matter how much you plot) and guess what? The Midpoint ended up at Chapter 21. I literally couldn't have planned it better!

So I'm really pleased with how the book and Nano are going so far. Fingers crossed the rest goes as well!

How are you getting on with Nano? Let us know in the comments below :)

Nanowrimo 2020 - Week 2: Milestones & Stats

 

How are you getting on with Nano as we approach the end of the second week?

I've found this past week to be really productive, and the milestones have started to clock up. On Monday, I reached the 20,000 words mark, followed by 25,000 words by Wednesday (which signaled the half-way point of my Nanowrimo word count goal) and this afternoon I leapt through 30,000 words.

Being part of a Nano writers' group is definitely a great help and provides a lot of motivation. I achieved my personal best daily word count on Tuesday because, after reaching my goal of 2,000 words (plus a little bit more) during the day, we had a Zoom write-in where I wrote almost 2,000 more.

Another big motivation is the words tracker on the Nano website. It's a small thing, but it's really encouraging to update your word count and see the bar moving closer to the end. I also like the stats the site provides, such as the graph that shows you if you're staying on track, how many words you need to write that day to keep up, and your average daily word count (mine is 2,431 words).

We've got another write-in tomorrow on Zoom, which I'm looking forward to as I find motivation for writing at the weekend is lacking. Hopefully I'll get stuck in and write another 2,000 words towards the end goal of 50,000!

Nanowrimo 2020: The First Week

 

If you're taking part in this year's Nanowrimo, I hope you've got off to a good start. 

For Nano this year, I'm writing the first chunk of Book 13, which is a Christmassy rom com with a sprinkling of magic. I've surprised myself with the amount I've got down so far, but I also know that I won't necessarily maintain this amount for the full month as I could hit a brick wall (aka The Slump) or life could get in the way. But I'm going to celebrate my word count milestones as and when they arrive!

On Sunday, my local Nano group 'met' up on Zoom. Last year, we met at the library but this isn't possible at the moment due to coronavirus, and we weren't sure how a write-in would work out online, but it went really well. We had a chat and we wrote with the screen split between our Word document (or equivalent) and our Zoom meeting, and I managed to write a further 2,000 (ish) words, bringing my daily total to 3,811. Which I think it is a pretty good starting point.

We also have a Facebook page, where we can update our word counts, cheer each other on and discuss any problems we may be having. It definitely helps having a support network! Last night we had another meeting where we discussed opposites in fiction, and I found it really interesting and it's something I'm going to give more thought to going forward.

As I'm writing a Christmas novel, I've been getting myself in the festive mood by listening to Heart Christmas (any excuse) and I've got the festive mugs out a month earlier than usual.

My aim is to write 2,000 words, six days a week, which gives me either a day off a week or the chance to catch up if I fall behind my schedule. And so far I've managed to reach that target - and a bit more each day this week. And on Tuesday I reached my first milestone - 10,000 words.

There are still a couple of days left of Nano's first week, so I'm going to get as many words down as I can, while the motivation is still high.

How are you getting on? Let us know in the comments below :)

Want to have YOUR name used in my book?

 

My latest newsletter will be going out soon, and I'll be asking my subscribers if they want to put their name in the (virtual) hat, where one will be picked at random to be used in the book I'm currently planning. So, if you'd like the chance to see your name in print, make sure you've signed up!

I've used newsletter subscribers names in my books before (for The Accidental Life Swap and soon-to-be released The 12 Christmases of You & Me) and I'm looking forward to doing it again. I have nameless male and female characters, so anyone can put their name forward.

It's quick, easy and free to subscribe and I only send out newsletter 4-5 times a year, so your inbox won't be bombarded. And, when I do send out a newsletter, there's always a subscriber-exclusive giveaway. Plus, when you subscribe, you'll be able to get my romantic comedy ebook, Six Dates for FREE.

You can find out more info and/or subscribe by clicking here

Planning Book 13 - A Bullet-Point Plot & Three-Act Structure

 

As I said last week in my 5 Point Pitch post, I'm a MASSIVE plotter. And that 5 Point Pitch is only the very beginning of my plotting. It forms the base of what is to come next:

• a synopsis
• a bullet-point plot
• a detailed three-act structure

Last week, I used an example of the short pitch I created for The 12 Christmases of You & Me:

Once I have this, I expand the pitch into a synopsis: 

How does she travel back in time? 

What happens when she finds herself in the past?

How does her time-travelling affect her present? 

I expand on the history repeating itself and explain how she embraces living in the present, ending up with around a page of plot.

And then the real work begins.

With my synopsis, I start to divide the plot up into bullet points, expanding the bare bones into what will later become chapters and scenes. This is usually a sentence or two (or maybe a few more) of what is happening to move the plot along and filling in the gaps (using The 12 Christmases of You & Me as an example again, I will have mentioned Maisie's time-travel, but I won't have detailed each one). It'll be fleshed out during the first draft, so there's still plenty of room for creativity, and there will always be changes that will be made throughout that first draft. This bullet-point plot and the three-act structure that will follow (because yes, there's more planning to be done. I know lots of people don't plan at all, but this is how I roll and it works for me) isn't set in stone.

Once I have my bullet-point plan, I can start to divide it up into a three-act structure. I use Alexandra Sokoloff's Writing Love: Screenwriting Tricks for Authors as a guide, but the main parts I'm looking for are the opening scene, the inciting incident, the midpoint, and the final battle.

Some people use a whiteboard or squillions of post-it notes to plot their structures, but I simply use an excel document, with tabs for each act. (I would love to do the post-it note thing, but I have limited space and I'm not sure a wall full of post-its would work in my living room.)

With the main plot points copied and pasted into my excel document, I can then transfer the rest of the bullet points into their relevant places, giving me an overall view of what each act - and the entire book - will look like. I'll expand even further at this point (I told you I'm a massive plotter) and then, finally, I'm ready to start writing...

Planning Book 13 - 5 Point Pitch

I'm a MASSIVE plotter. I have huge admiration for Pantsers and the way they can jump into a new book and see where it takes them, but I don't have it in me to do that myself. I need to know what my book is, where it starts, where it ends and all the bits in the middle. And so I plot, plot, plot until I'm ready to start the first chapter.

Plotting can be pretty daunting. Where do you start? How do you transfer the messy jumble of ideas and characters from your head into a coherent plan? As a writer, I'm always learning new techniques and adapting the way I work, particularly when it comes to planning a book. One technique I've found incredibly useful is creating a short pitch.

The pitch starts with five points:

I'm going to use my upcoming book, The 12 Christmases of You & Me as an example to fill in the boxes:

I then use this information to write a short pitch:

The 12 Christmases of You & Me is a romantic comedy about single mum Maisie who finds herself travelling back in time to the Christmases of her teens and early twenties. She hasn't spoken to her best friend, Jonas in two years, and she decides to use the opportunity to fix the mistakes she made and save their friendship. But when history keeps repeating itself, Maisie has to learn to stop looking back and embrace living in the present.

This short pitch is incredibly useful because it will form the base of the rest of my plans, from the synopsis to the three-act structure that I'll work from when writing the book. Click here to see the next stage of my planning process.