My second novel has an official name, and that name is LUKE.

LUKE is not the final title, it’s not even the first title, but it’s short enough to be as good as an acronym.

In case you forgot (I did), Here’s what I said last time:

I’m working on my second novel draft (gulp), and I am going to blog through the (my) process of drafting (putting together) a novel.

I’m using the blog to measure my progress week to week and also as an accountability tool for getting the stuff done.

So here we go:

I’m often tempted to feel behind, or that I haven’t spent as much time on LUKE as I should. I remember I felt this way in APRIL about the writing work I was doing then. The truth is I am far from behind and this draft is going much better than my  FIRST NOVEL, partly because this time I have a plan.

I’ve dedicated JUNE to working on LUKE, on trying to get a FIRST DRAFT done. When I say first draft, I mean something readable, something I don’t mind letting other people see. It’s actually taken me THREE drafts to get to this point and that’s where I’m going to start the month.

My progress to date:

I began the very first draft of LUKE a year ago in CAMP NANOWRIMO JULY 2019. My first step was to jot down on a piece of notebook paper a question about one of the characters. The notes about this person flowed, and I filled up both sides of the paper in no time.

From there, I plotted an outline that turned out very different from those first scribblings, but was an actual story, all told, beginning to end, if only in bullet points.

In JULY I began the hard work of sitting down to write the thing and found I had more to say than I had planned. The story and the people kept changing under my hands though I had the same distractions and tangents that happen when I sit down to write. I managed to get the whole story out, from beginning to end (though not in that order).

I let it simmer.

That’s a fancy way of saying I tried to forget about it for a year or longer, but that didn’t happen.
Some people’s stories just need to be told.

After some time, I began the business of copying and pasting a manuscript together. This is a long and boring process of combing through 20,000+ words of pure garbage to find the nuggets of gold I buried along the way. I slogged through it, and I made it.  I put those pieces in order, tried to make a hodgepodge from what I had unearthed, and completed some of my incomplete thoughts.

I found:

• a lot of repetition
• parts of the story I told myself over and over again, while other parts I changed, and still others I didn’t even remember writing (these are undoutedly the best).
• few pieces missing entirely, mostly everything I need in abundance.

Just one problem…

It doesn’t make any sense.

So, I printed it out,

read it,

and now I’m in the process of retyping it WORD FOR WORD in the right order.

I’m crafting a story that didn’t exist before anywhere but in my head.

ALL TO GET TO A FIRST DRAFT!!!

There are so many steps and so much work that is done behind the scenes. I’m not trying to get credit for how hard I work (or am I?), but I am saying it is no easy feat to put a novel together.

It’s no mystery to me why most people never finish the books they start.

Next week I’ll share some of the struggles and stages I’m working through and let you know how it’s going. Until then.

xxxlinsey

 

I was asked again the purpose of this blog, and while I’d like to redirect anyone with similar questions to ABOUT THIS BLOG, I realize it was written many moons ago and may not be strictly relevant.

So I read it.  It’s probably as good as it needs to be, and I really don’t feel like redoing the thing now, but it made me think about what I am doing going forward.

I started this blog as a challenge from someone else.

Its continuation has been more a challenge to myself.

This blog is about fearlessly writing and publishing in the face of a faceless audience. It’s about putting myself out into the world. It’s about practicing on a weekly basis, having a target, and writing something readable. It’s a benchmark.

What this blog is NOT: It’s not my author platform (that’s coming). It’s not for y’all as much as it is for me (though I love having readers, and nothing gets me more excited than seeing a new comment or follower). I’m not trying to become famous or launch a product (at least not yet).

Mostly I’ve found this blog is about learning how to blog. Learning how to finish a thing and call it good. To do the hard work as well as the dreaming. To win small victories so I can appreciate the big.

It’s tempting to think I haven’t accomplished anything. That this blog does not resemble anything I want it to be and must therefore be a failure. Then I remember I said from the start this blog (and myself) was under construction.

Somehow it keeps happening, and nothing has yet exploded.

I keep cycling through the stages of grief. Memories can lie and time is a thief.
Bobby Keane

I have been using the months as a way to plan content and, though May sneaked up on me and found me planless, she also obliged me by moving fast. This is how I know I have not been a failure no matter how I feel about my content.

Let’s revisit:

February: I planned to post every day.

March: I wrote 4 professional style posts.

April: I wrote about my Camp Nanowrimo progress.

May: I made puns.

Here’s a sneak peek for June:

I’m working on my second novel draft (gulp), and I am going to blog through the (my) process of drafting (putting together) a novel.

I’m using the blog to measure my progress week to week and also as an accountability tool for getting the stuff done.

So that was a long way of saying the blog began as an outlet for my thoughts and has become a way to keep myself accountable in publishing weekly. If you like what I got, stick around.

xxxlinsey

 

It’s as good a greeting as any, especially for this nerd. I tried for another pun on May, but this is what I got.  There’s a lot going on, but not much to write about.

Last week’s theme was starting over, and I do feel I have been. I’ve been trying to get used to a new schedule, one that has me waking earlier and hitting the sack earlier too. I’m trying to accommodate other people’s schedules into my own, and it is not easy.

I’m reminded why most people go to a place for a certain amount of time to do their work, then come home. It is a full time job trying to keep up with other people.

So why the Force? The Force is a living thing that flows through universe. It requires balance and attention. Why wouldn’t you want that on your side? I need all the help I can get with this new lifestyle.

Also it has been a little like forcing myself to work on some of these projects. To get up early. To remain consistent in my timing and my communications. It needs a lot more work, but this is where I’m starting:

3AM WAKE

4 to 6 AM WORK

6AM BREAK/GET READY

7AM WALK

8AM BREAK/COFFEE

9 to 11 AM WORK

11AM to 1PM BREAK/NAP

1 to 2PM WRITE

2 to 4PM EDIT

5PM BREAK/FINISH

6PM DONE

7PM WIND DOWN/EAT

8 to 10 PM READY FOR BED

We shall see how well it actually works. Let me know about some of the ways you’re starting over, or what you have been doing that’s working for you these days. Until next time.

xxxlinsey

I wasn’t planning this yet, but the post about ROUTINE and the current global scenario prompted the topic.

I’ve been working on this system a while (at least 2 years) but this is the first year I planned to put it in practice. So far it’s going swimmingly.

COVID19 is not stopping my writing process.

I needed a system flexible enough to roll with the punches of everyday life, but rigid enough to show me what I needed to be doing any given day.

Here’s how this came to be:

I realized, one day in November many moons ago, I had the ability to sit down every day (or nearly every day) for a MONTH and do a thing.  A focused thing. Namely write a story.

I may have mentioned before this is not AT ALL a strength of mine.

but

I could do it for a month…

and if  I could do it for 1 month out of the year…

what if I could do it for 3?

what if I could do it for 9?

Let me introduce you to NaNoWriMo, also known as

NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH 

They’ve been changing things around as of 2019, so even if you’ve heard of NaNoWriMo before,  you might be surprised at some of the new features.

I may be the first one to figure this out, but I doubt it:
NaNoWriMo runs on certain months that are for writing. They emphasize editing and rest in other months throughout the year. I decided to take a leaf from their book and plan my writing, editing, and resting schedule around what they are doing on the website.

Let’s start with the WRITING MONTHS:

APRIL and JULY: CAMP NANOWRIMO This is a spin off of the November writing month, which we’ll get to,  and has a little more flexibility in the word counts. You can set your own goal and winning is easy.  You can even adjust your goal halfway through the process and still win. Camp is a great way to jump into NaNo if you’re a newbie, and a great way to dust off an old work if you’re not. 

Here’s some information about camp:

I use the camps in APRIL and JULY to reorganize or restructure projects I have worked on in the past, probably for another NOVEMBER NaNo. For example, I start a new project in NOVEMBER, leave it alone until MARCH, then start prepping it for the APRIL Camp.

CAMP IS ABOUT TO START AND I’D LOVE TO HAVE YOU IN MY CABIN!

If you’re interested at all, shoot me a line. I’m working on my cabin for April 2020 and there’s still PLENTY of time for you to jump in.

NOVEMBER: NAtionalNOvelWRItingMOnth: 50 thousand words in 30 days.

This is the contest I started back in 2013, but I didn’t win until 2015.

Winning is only completing the 50k words.

You get goodies and discounts, but no publication leg ups or anything like that. You don’t store any of your writing on the site, you just update your word count. The site has all kinds of new features now that I’m looking forward to using this year. Features that track your writing time per day, when you usually write and how many words at a time. I’m really excited to learn more about my writing process.

Next come the BREAK months: so far only DECEMBER.

But, I hear you asking, AUGUST and MAY are after Camps! Why don’t they become break months?

The short answer is because I don’t need them to be. I need a break from writing, sure, but I don’t need a break from my whole process. If I need a break I’ll take it, but a break from writing can also mean an editing month.

Here’s a secret: I often write in December.

I believe I’ve mentioned I’m compelled to write. It’s hard, once your story has been on your mind for a month, to stop thinking about it, but it is necessary to take a break from a project for at least a couple months. The exception would be if I did not finish in NOVEMBER, but that is becoming less of a problem the more times I compete in NaNoWriMo.

That brings us to EDITING MONTHS:

This year MAY is an editing month because I want to be done with BOOK 2 draft by JUNE 30. That makes JUNE an editing month this year as well as prep for Camp in JULY.

JANUARY AND FEBRUARY are always touted as NaNoWriMO editing months, but the organization is doing more now to promote that.

AUGUST and SEPTEMBER will also likely be editing months this year as I have two new projects in the works as well as a number of blogs.

PREPTOBER: OCTOBER becomes the month to prep for NaNoWriMo in NOVEMBER. I always start a new project in November, and I always use this month to plan out what I’m going to write about and how to plot it into something resembling a story. I all but write, in other words, flesh out an outline until the day comes…November 1st…

NOVEMBER: NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH

This is by far the most challenging part of my year. Not only do I have Thanksgiving and the holidays to contend with, but I’m starting a new project which is always a challenge. I come up with everything from the very beginning, plot, outline, and development of the characters.

This project really sets the tone for the whole next year.  It’s what I will work on in at least one of the Camps and what will be on my mind for at least the whole year and possibly those that follow.

MY NANOWRIMO YEAR

So, let’s do the year in order:

JANUARY: EDIT

FEBRUARY: EDIT or BREAK

MARCH: EDIT. PREP FOR CAMP NANOWRIMO

APRIL: WRITE! CAMP NANOWRIMO

MAY: EDIT

JUNE EDIT. PREP FOR CAMP NANOWRIMO

JULY: WRITE! CAMP NANOWRIMO!

AUGUST: EDIT

SEPTEMBER: EDIT or BREAK

OCTOBER: PREPTOBER!

NOVEMBER: WRITE! NANOWRIMO!

DECEMBER: BREAK!

Thanks for going through this year of planning. Even if writing is not your passion, I hope you’ve found some tips to help your workload, especially working from home.

Blessings and stay safe!

xxxlinsey