Writing Book 12: Draft Two - The End

 

It seems like only two minutes ago that I was blogging about starting the second draft of Book 12, but it was actually two weeks ago and it's now finished.

I was quite apprehensive about the second draft; in my head, the first draft was a messy jumble of words, written during the first lockdown while home-schooling, and I thought it needed a LOT of work. But it wasn't nearly as crappy as I thought it was going to be and although I've had to delete stuff, rewrite and add scenes, and move bits around, it's been a pleasure to work on.

I've loved being back in Clifton-on-Sea, back in Cleo's world (and not just because there isn't a hint of Covid or social distancing there) and I'm going to miss her. So much so, I'm starting to wonder if there may be further tales from Cleo Parker...

Writing To Music

 

I have to have music on in the background while I'm writing, because a silent room feels... odd. I can't have the TV on (unless someone else is watching it in the same room, in which case I'll have my headphones on) because I find it distracting, but lyrics in songs - even songs I'd usually sing along to - don't pose a problem at all.

For me, music can help set the mood: upbeat for a fun scene, ballads for more moving ones, or festive favourites for Christmassy scenes. And music was extra important for me while writing Book 12, because I knew there'd be a big gap between drafts and that I'd be writing a whole new book for Nanowrimo between them.

While writing the first draft, I set up a playlist on Spotify with a lot of 70s music (because this features in the book) as well as songs that I felt motivating (fast beat = fast typing?) and I listened to it, from the beginning, during every writing session so that now, when I hear The Buzzcocks' 'Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)' I can't help thinking about Cleo. The plan was to have a set of music that immediately brought me back into Cleo's world so that it would be easier to go back there when the time came to start the second draft.

But did it work?

I finished the first draft of Book 12 at the beginning of August 2020 and didn't return to it until late February 2021, meaning there was a gap of over six months, and I do think having that same playlist, that I listened to for every writing session over the four months it took to write the first draft, helped to set the mood again. I set the playlist going and I was back in Clifton-on-Sea, back in Cleo's world, ready to get going on her story.

What about you? Do you listen to music while you write? And if you do, what kind of music helps you?

Writing Book 12: Starting Draft Two

It's been almost seven months since I last blogged about writing Book 12 - and just as long since I worked on it. 

After finishing the first draft at the beginning of August 2020, I filed the manuscript away to have a little break, working on my 2020 Nanowrimo project (for now, known as Book 13) which took me up to Christmas. At the beginning of the new year, I set out my writing goals for 2021:

As you can see, although working on the second draft of Book 12 should come first, it isn't at the top of the list, and this is because I was a bit apprehensive about diving in again. I remember the book was quite messy (global pandemics and home-schooling don't mix well with trying to write a book, it turns out) and I knew there would be quite a lot of work to do. So I wimped out and took on the easier task of continuing to work on Book 13 first. I'd finished that first draft before Christmas and I knew I was happy with the structure of the book so it wouldn't need as much work as Book 12.

But with the second draft of Book 13 now complete, it was definitely time to tackle the second draft of Book 12.

I started working on Book 13 on Monday, easing myself in by re-doing the character profiles I'd printed out before the first draft. There were loads of scribbled notes on the sheets, so adding those and reprinting made a tidier set of notes to work from, but it also gave me the chance to get reacquainted with a bunch of characters I hadn't 'seen' since last summer. 

I'd also set up a Word document of notes for the next draft when I finished the book back in August (because even then I knew it would need a LOT of work) and I added more thoughts that I'd had about the story and the characters during the past seven months, because although I'd been working on another book, Cleo's story was still there, in the back of my mind.

With my spruced-up character sheets and my notes printed out, it was time to actually do it. To actually dive into the draft I'd been wary of tackling for so long. And do you know what? I've loved it. I've loved getting to know Cleo all over again and all those months away from the book have given me the detachment I need to delete all the unnecessary details and info-dumps. Whole paragraphs have gone because I can see now that they're not needed.

Most of the heavy work - the shifting and rewriting - will be coming up very soon, so although I know I've been eased into this draft so far, I'm not nearly as apprehensive as I was and I'm looking forward to really getting stuck into Cleo's story and making it the best it can possibly be.

Reaching 'The End'

I did it! This afternoon, I reached The End of the first draft of Book 12! It's a pretty messy first draft, so there's still a lot of work to do before it's a coherent, can-be-read-by-someone-else manuscript, but the main ingredients for the book are there.

I started the book on 20th April, about a month into lockdown and homeschooling, so I was bit apprehensive about what I could achieve during this time. I set myself a goal of finishing the book in September, which meant I could write 4,000 words per week (or 800 words per week day), which seemed doable under the circumstances. I also gave myself little pats on the back for every 10,000 words I reached in the form of post-it notes, which I shared on social media:

Writing a book during a global pandemic hasn't always been easy, but it has been quite nice having an escape into a world where coronavirus doesn't exist, where characters can meet up with friends (and hug them) and popping on a mask to go to the supermarket isn't the norm.

I'm going to have a little break from writing (it's needed, believe me!) so I can recharge my batteries before I start planning Book 13...

Procrastination

What is procrastination?

Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing a task

Examples of procrastination:

Checking emails. And Twitter. And Facebook. And Instagram. And back to Twitter...

Housework (seriously, some people do this. Not me, obviously, but other less normal people)

Writing blog posts about procrastination instead of writing their book

Yes, I am writing a blog post about procrastination instead of working on Book 12 because, right now, this seems a lot easier. I'm in The Slump, where the words won't seem to come no matter how much I will them to. It's doubly frustrating because I've planned the book and know what should be happening on the page. In fact, it's triply frustrating because I've reached 60,000 words of the book. The End is tantalisingly close and yet the words are stuck.

The last 5,000 words of the 60,000 were hard won, but I got there. I celebrated with a post-it note progress marker and a doodled butterfly. And then... nothing. There were NO MORE WORDS to be had. Cleo's story had decided to grind to a half even though it isn't finished yet. And not only that, I started to pick holes in the part that was written. I don't edit as I write - I start at Chapter One and power through until The End and fix everything later. That's what second drafts are for, and it's always worked for me because I know if I start to tinker, I won't progress.

I don't like these nagging thoughts telling me how rubbish the book is, or telling me the bit I'm writing now should be several chapters back, or that there's so much work to do on the second draft and I haven't even finished the first yet. These thoughts really aren't helping the words to flow, and ignoring them and having a leisurely scroll through Twitter isn't going to get the words on the page either, so I'm doing something I don't usually do yet: I'm writing my notes for Draft Two while working on the first. I'm making a note of all those nagging thoughts, all the things I keep reminding myself need fixing, and ploughing on with the book. I've managed to add a thousand words to the book this morning, so fingers crossed it continues to work and I'll be celebrating 70,000 words with a post-it note soon!

Keep It Pinteresting

Reaching the 40,000 words milestone for Book 12 a couple of weeks ago was amazing as it meant I was around the halfway mark. But it also comes with a hint of trepidation; reaching the halfway point is a reminder that the book is no longer shiny and new, yet you've still got a huge chunk to write before you can type those glorious words: The End. 

This part of the writing process can have me feeling a bit bogged down with it all and in The Slump. Sometimes this is full-on writer's block, where the words simply won't come. Or sometimes there's an idea or two for new books floating around my head, jumping around and calling for my attention - and these ideas are shiny and new. I need to somehow keep myself in this book and one way I've found is to keep myself 'pinterested' in the story.

It's a really simple idea of highlighting the important plot points of your book in Pinterest by pinning relevant images. I did this for The 12 Christmases of You & Me, and it was fun picking out the images and seeing the story build up visually rather than just seeing a Word document. You can see my Pinterest board for the book here.

When I started to write Book 12, I set up a new Pinterest board and started to build the story up in images. It's only the first draft, so some of the pins may change or get removed later on, but I love seeing my book in a different medium. I'm writing a romantic comedy, but this would work for any genre, and it doesn't matter if you're writing your first novel or you're got a few books under your belt - we all need a bit of motivation and focus sometimes!

Reaching The Halfway Point

I've been recording my writing milestones on post-it notes and sharing them on social media in a bid to keep myself motivated while writing Book 12, and last week I was able to share my 40,000 words post-it note.

That's a lot of words, but more than that, it represents the halfway point of the book as I'm aiming for 80,000 words. This is a massive morale boost, especially as I was worried about finding the time to write during lockdown. I'm home-schooling my youngest daughter so I was nervous about starting a new book during this time - would I be able to write and home-school? Would I be too stressed to concentrate (I definitely don't have the skills and patience to teach!) But I'm getting there, word by word, and each post-it note feels like an achievement.

I've loved writing the first half of Cleo's story, and I'm looking forward to the next half and seeing where she takes me!

Want To Have YOUR Name Used In My Book?

I've been busy writing Book 12 over the past few weeks, but one of my characters doesn't have a name yet. With The Accidental Life Swap and The 12 Christmases of You & Me, I asked my newsletter subscribers if they would like their name used for a character and I thought I'd do the same with this book.

My next newsletter will be going out next week and I'll be asking for names to go in the hat. If you haven't subscribed and would like to, it's quick, easy and free. Plus, every subscriber receives a free ebook quick read, Six Dates, which is exclusive to my newsletter subscribers AND there'll be a sneaky peek at the cover for The Twelve Christmases of You & Me in the newsletter, which you'll get to see before anybody else!

Click here for more information or to subscribe.

Writing To Music

Music is an important part of my writing process, and I think this can filter through to my books, whether I'm 'borrowing' songs for titles (Everything Changes But You) or giving a character a passion for a type of music (A Beginner's Guide To Salad's Ruth and her love of cheesy pop, for example).

I always write with music in the background (or through headphones now the house is full because of lockdown). Sometimes it's music to set the mood (festive, summery, break-up songs) and other times it's simply music I love. With Book 12, the music I'm listening to while writing the book came about in a slightly different way.

I needed a song for a particular scene in the book, preferably one from the 70s, and after a little procrastinating search (my writing days are littered with these), I found the perfect song. The Buzzcocks' 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve?)' was added into the book and I popped it onto my spotify playlist for the book.

All my books have a playlist, sometimes made up of music mentioned in the book or sometimes music that follows a similar theme to the story (you can find the playlists by clicking the 'Book Extras' option under each book on the right-hand side of the blog). With Book 12, music plays an important part, so the playlist will be made up of music mentioned, including The Buzzcocks' offering.

I really liked the song and found myself playing it at the start of each writing session. I did this so many times, the song easily puts me into Cleo's world so I started a new playlist, imaginatively called the 'Writing Book 12' playlist. 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)' is the first song and I've added others that set me in the right frame of mind for writing the book.

It's only a small playlist at the moment, but I'm adding to it all the time.

Setting Goals and Marking Milestones

When I'm writing, I usually set myself writing goals, usually 2,000 words per day but reduced to 1,000 words for last couple of books (apart from during November last year when I took part in Nano). And I've reduced the daily word count even further for Book 12.

Life BC (before Coronavirus) meant I could write all day when the kids were at school, but now we're combining working and home-schooling the youngest, it isn't so easy. I knew I'd get stressed if I attempted to keep up the same pace as before, but I also know I'm lazy and that without some kind of goal in mind, I wouldn't get much - if anything - done.

I don't have a deadline for this book, but I've created one for myself, because I want to start a new book for this year's Nano in November. I'd like a bit of time to plan that book, so ideally I want the first draft of Book 12 finished in September. I worked out I could comfortably get this draft done in time by writing 4,000 words per week, which works out at 800 words a day, which doesn't seem so daunting.

Each time I reach my weekly target (sometimes before the end of the week - very exciting times), I mark it off in my diary (I'm a simple beast, who responds well to the smallest rewards) and it's a boost to see that I'm getting there, bit by bit. I've also started marking the bigger milestones with post-it notes (see? Simple beast, small reward) and I've posted these on my social media. Again, it's a visual reminder that even though my daily word count goal is quite low, I am building up the words and one day I'll have a full-length manuscript.

Starting a New Book

This is always an exciting part of the writing process, but it can be a bit scary too; being stared at by a blank page, wondering if you can pull off a whole novel (yes, even when you've done it several times before). 

That first sentence can be intimidating, but you've just got to go for it and dive into the story. It doesn't matter if the first sentence is rubbish - you're going to go back and edit later anyway. The important thing is to get going and allow the words to flow.

I've recently started Book 12. I'd started to get to know my characters (you can see the tips I shared here) but you can only get to know them a certain amount before it's time to get stuck in. You'll learn new things about them along the way, which is the best part of writing - when your characters start to come alive on the page!

The first characters I met were Cleo and Paul. Cleo Parker is the main character and I love her already. You can see my mood board for Cleo on Pinterest here but here are three things I have learned about Cleo so far:

1. She likes to keep lists
2. She works at a seaside fish and chip shop
3. She loves coffee

Paul is an old school friend of Cleo's. Here are three things I've learned about him:

1. He's a policeman
2. Cleo had a MASSIVE crush on him at school
3. He still has the ability to turn her insides to jelly

Next up is Cleo's grandmother, Cordelia and her new friend, James.

Three things I've learned about Cordelia:

1. She likes to help out in the community
2. She likes to crochet
3. She loves watching reality TV with her granddaughter

Three things I've learned about James:

1. He's divorced
2. He has two children
3. He works at the amusement arcade

And finally, there's Cleo's best friend - but she doesn't have a name yet (you can help out with the name if you'd like. In my next newsletter, I'll be asking my subscribers if they'd like to have the character named after them, so make sure you've subscribed if you'd like the chance to have your name in the book!)

Three things I've learned about the best friend:

1. She works at the fish and chip shop with Cleo
2. She's a single mum
3. She has terrible luck with men

So, that's how the new book is coming along at the moment. I'll be finding out lots more about these characters over the next few months and I can't wait to share Cleo's story with you!