JaNoWriMo - Crossing the Finish Line!

It felt good to cross the finish line on Friday with the last writing session of our JaNoWriMo challenge. It means I now have a rough first draft to work with over the coming months. And, although L was already there with her first draft, she continued to check/edit her work until the last day and has already emailed her opening chapters 'round our writers' group. Well done L! N had some bad news which threw him off course in the final week, but he said that JaNo fired him up and got him writing the start of a trilogy he had had in mind for over six months. So, we're all glad we did it and we're thinking about doing a similar writing challenge again soon - MarNoWriMo anyone? ;)

JaNoWriMo - Day 28

We're so close to the finish line that I can almost touch/smell/feel it - only two days to go to the end of our JaNo challenge. And the time's gone so fast! L has faced a heavy workload in the past few days, but seeing as she's already completed her first draft I don't think she needs to worry! Meanwhile N has had a few days off but said he was getting back into the saddle as of yesterday. I'm still averaging an hour a day and guess what? I've almost finished my first draft! Just a couple more scenes to write and I reckon I'm there. I can hardly believe how fast I've managed to do it, especially considering how bloomin' long it took me to write my first novel. So, there you have it, the JaNoWriMo challenge does work - L and I are living proof :)

JaNoWriMo - Day 24

There are only six days left until the end of our JaNoWriMo challenge so not far to go. L is busy re-reading her first draft and making notes / changes. Meanwhile, N is still on short story two but is hoping to complete that and story three by the end of the month. As for me, I've been writing an hour plus every day and am now really getting to the heart of my story / characters. Because I'm a 'pantser' I didn't truly understand my character's needs and wants until now. But now their innermost selves and motivations have been revealed, it's given me an even stronger urge to complete the story.

So, the question is, will N complete his third story and will I get my first draft done by the end of January? You'll have to wait until the next exciting installment to find out ;)

JaNoWriMo - Day 19

This image says it all. In fact I'm half tempted to have it framed and hung on my wall!
So, you may (or may not) have been wondering how our merry trio has been getting on with our JaNo challenge? Well, the really good news is that L has finished her first draft! I'm soooo pleased for her as it's the very first time she's done this - what a brilliant achievement! :) As for me, I'm still chugging away, averaging an hour's writing a day (not including all the historical research!) and feel my main characters are starting to become real. It's quite weird when that happens, especially for my husband. I'll suddenly mention a character and what's just happened to him/her and he thinks I'm talking about a real person - you'd think he might have got used to it by now! Thankfully he's a very tolerant man :) As for our third JaNo member, due to family commitments N hasn't made any further progress on his second short story, but he has promised he will finish it AND a third story by the end of January, so watch this space!

JaNoWriMo - Day 14

And so we've reached the two-week mark! The good news is, despite a few setbacks, we're all still making progress on our respective projects. So far I've managed to write every day - even on the worst days I managed 30 minutes and on the best days I wrote for 1 hour 20 minutes straight. L has almost finished her first draft which stands at almost 69K (wow!) and N is tackling the second short story in his trilogy. In fact, we're feeling so positive that L and I have pledged to continue into February.

TIP: I've found that keeping each other updated on a daily basis has really helped to keep us motivated and I'd recommend this kind of challenge to anyone who might otherwise find it difficult to write every day.

JaNoWriMo - Day 9

I'm feeling pretty shattered today but I still managed to write for half an hour on my story. B is ill and R kept us awake half the night and I spent a good part of the day in a meeting re. a different writing-related project which I plan to launch in about 5-6 weeks time. Yesterday I was minding R all day and visiting friends and family, so, although I enjoyed the day, I had no time to myself until the evening by which time I was sooo tired. Also B was back from three days in London and feeling poorly. By the time I knuckled down to write I could only do half an hour. But at least I've written every day for nine days - and working on the same thing too! N had a break yesterday and L had a break today, so I don't feel half as bad as if they had been scribbling/typing away furiously the whole time. And tomorrow's another day! :)

JaNoWriMo - Day 7

So, it's day 7 of JaNoWriMo! At the end of the first week I'm pleased to report that L, N and I are all still very much on track with our respective projects. L is bowling along at 57160 words for her fantasy story and N has finished his first short story and started his second. At writers' group on Monday, N explained he's writing a series of short stories with a linked theme. His first story deals with a contemplated suicide, but that's as much as he has revealed. Meanwhile, I've been keeping up with my daily writing hour and I've done a bit of historical and medical research for my story. As some of the characters are from 12th/13th century I've realised I'll need to do quite a bit of research before it's finished, which I don't mind (yes, I'm a geek).

All in all, a good first week to JaNo. Here's to the next week!

JaNoWriMo - Day 5

Well it's day 5 of JaNo and N, L and I are still scribbling / typing away on our respective stories. I've done an hour's writing every day, L is going great guns with her word count at 50279 (she's been working on a half-completed draft), while N is working on a short story, the theme of which he's keeping under wraps for now! My story's been taking quite a few unexpected twists and turns and is getting quite complicated. I'm still not entirely sure how things will work out, but I'm sure I'll find a way to return everyone home eventually.

So, that's 5 down, 25 to go!

JaNoWriMo - Day 3

It's day three and me and my fellow JaNoWriMo-ers have been busy. I've done an hour's writing each day (about 11-12 pages of handwritten A4) and L's been rocketing along with her daily word count. Meanwhile N's TV has blown up which he sees as a blessing in disguise as it's allowing him to concentrate on his writing!
I only have a vague idea where my story is going (yes, I'm a pantser!) and so I suspect a huge amount of editing will be required later on, but for now I'm just going to keep on writing and hope it works eventually. L is a plotter and so she'll have far less editing to do and I'm not sure whether N is plotting or 'pantsing' but I know he has a specific story / word count in mind.
The main thing is our JaNo challenge has got off to a good start - here's hoping it continues!

JaNoWriMo - Day 1

Okay so it's 2nd January but NaNo is 30 days so... Anyway, the good news is not only have I started with an hour's writing blitz but also two members of Cleckheaton Writer's Group will be joining me on my JaNoWriMo journey!

N, L and I will be keeping each other updated and motivated with regular email updates on our progress. L is aiming to do 30-40K words by the end of January to complete the first draft of her YA fantasy and I've pledged to do a minimum of one hour's solid writing per day. As I'm doing this draft longhand I've decided it's easier to count pages and time the writing rather than count words.

So, my goal is to write for a minimum of 30 hours on my latest story during January, after which I'll type it up and do a word count. I also promise to post regular updates on our progress.

And if you fancy joining us, just let me know!

JaNoWriMo anyone?

November was not a great month for me – almost everything that could have happened, happened, and so my attempt at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) was scuppered before it even began.
Unsurprisingly, December has been super busy, not just with Christmassy goings on but with a LOT of family birthdays and several other things which I won't go into. And yet, while everything seems to have been working against me writing-wise, I've been making slow, steady progress on a new story. It's a MG fantasy adventure (just for a change!) and will hopefully be as much fun to read as I'm finding it to write. However, I'd dearly like to ramp my writing up a gear – and so, I'd like to invite anyone who's willing to join me in a January version of NaNoWriMo, which I have unimaginatively named JaNoWriMo! Basically it'll run throughout the month of January, in the same format as NaNo but without the official NaNo badge of honour.
During January I'll put as many updates on my blog/twitter/FB page as I can and encourage anyone wanting to join in to add to my posts/tweets. So, with eight days to go, I hope you will join me, or if not, egg me on to complete a whopping 50,000 words by the end of January! But first, may I wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy new year :)

2,000 Page Views and a Finished Book!

I'm having a double celebration this week for the above reason. The page views thing is a pleasant surprise but I've been buzzing since Monday night over finishing the sixth draft of my book. Since the fourth draft I've edited out over 12,200 words (approx 14.5%) and I'm as happy with it as I can be with anything I've written (which is never 100%). So, I've handed it over to my trusty 'proofers' to check for typos and ambiguities. I hope they don't suggest too many changes!
It was only June last year that I finished the first draft. In early January I finished the third. Then I sent it to a couple of agents and a competition. The MS had started in the third person, was converted to first and then changed back to the third again on the advice of one of the agents - hence so many drafts!
Unfortunately I finished the MS too late in the day to call or text anyone so had to be content with email and FB and waking up B instead. He told me to calm down and go to sleep (which was fair as it was late) but I was buzzing so much that I had to do a chill-out yoga session and then read (a lot) until I eventually dropped off. I was still buzzing the next day - even my daughter waking me up at 5.30am did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm.
It's been pretty hard getting to this point though as our family have had to face a series of 'challenges' not including the fact I can only work when R is asleep - so that's VERY early in the morning or late in the evening. I've found that mornings work best for me (pre-7am) but it's always a struggle to tear myself from my MS to get ready for work and get R up and out too. And the last couple of days have seemed weird as I've been 'having a break' from writing/editing, something which I rarely do. And now I'm concerned that I better start working on something else soon or I might never start again.

Question: What obstacles have you faced when writing your MS? When do you like to write or, like me, is it dictated to you by circumstance? Do you think writing in short bursts is best or do you prefer to take it at a more leisurely pace? How long did it take you to complete the final draft of your MS?. How much of a break did you have after finishing your MS? Please tell, I'd love to know!

Endless Editing, Hiking in the Heat and the Quest for MG Fantasy Fiction Titles

I've spent most of the last 12 months revising and editing what was my first draft and think I'm almost there! As I'm writing middle grade fiction, one of the biggest challenges has been the wordcount. So far I've cut several thousand words but am concerned it might still be too long! MG fantasy fiction is generally longer than regular MG fiction but I still think I may be pushing it. P and K at my writers' group think I should stop worrying about the wordcount and they are probably right. So, I've promised myself this WILL be the final draft before I resubmit it to that agent who has agreed to read it again. Otherwise I will go mad!
Also it would be nice to work on something else and have something new to share with my writers' group, who I'm sure are bored senseless by me moaning on about the latest draft of the same story!
*Takes short break to eat dinner*
Right I'm back and feeling better for some food. We had a work day out in the Dales today - a 6 mile walk in 31 degrees celsius - far too hot to be doing anything, least of all hiking, but it was good to get out of the office. It was a bit like a school trip except no one got told off and a few people went (temporarily) missing! One of my colleagues has an 11-year-old daughter who likes fantasy/adventure fiction and wanted some recommendations. I suggested the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan, The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver and His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman.
This got me thinking - what ARE the best / most popular middle grade fantasy fiction books right now? Whenever I try to google a list of top MG fantasy fiction I end up with a mixture of genres / ages with loads of YA titles.
I would love to compile a list for reference, reading and recommendation and so, please tell me what you / your children's favourite middle grade fantasy reads are. (Middle grade is generally classed as 8-12 years but I'm particularly focused on 9-11).
Hope you can help!

The Final Draft

On Thursday last week I finished what I thought would be the final draft of my book. Except that it wasn't. I thought I was all done and the story would just need proofing for typos, grammar etc but when I totted up the word count I found it had increased by at least 20%. All feelings of satisfaction ebbed away as it dawned on me that I would have to cut, cut and cut some more to get the wordcount down again. I'm now trying to decide which scenes will stay and which will go, trying to comfort myself with the thought I could use some of the cut scenes in a future book instead. But even with my most trusted readers trying to help me it's still so hard to decide! I'm currently itching to print it out so I can do a proper edit but there's no paper and not much ink left. I've just placed an order on the site that sounds like a very long river and I'm waiting for their delivery. My plan is to print out the whole darn thing and lay it out scene by scene. Maybe then I'll see what needs to go and what should stay? Maybe...

It's All Downhill From Here

I'm about 50% of the way through my final draft and, if I keep this up, I might (although I shouldn't tempt fate) finish well ahead of my self-imposed deadline. It's taken a long time and a lot of hard work to get to this point. The characters and their world become more real to me every day and I often talk to B about them as if they are real people. Fortunately B is very good at humouring me. I sometimes wonder if it's the writing process itself that makes many writers become eccentric, although I suspect that some (like me) were half way there already! It's hardly surprising when you're constantly imagining conversations between fictional characters, especially when they're having arguments with each other!
So, I hope to finish this final draft by late May / early June. Once I've done this and given it one final polish, I'm going to resend it to the nice agent who offered to reread it. The thought makes me excited and a more than a bit scared. I will have done my best but what if she doesn't like it? What if no one else likes it? It's a sobering thought and one I choose not to think about most of the time. It's hard when you've spent years creating something that you hope others will like, especially children. It's a tough old world and everyone's a critic in this digital age. Let's just hope that enough people like it to give it decent reviews.
But better to try and all that. Here's to everyone who ever dared to follow their dreams, regardless of the consequences!

Anyone for Tennis?

I'm still making steady progress with my book but, as ever, the real battle is the internal one.
My greatest enemy has always been self doubt, a common affliction especially for writers and would-be writers when it comes to believing in their work. For me it's a battle I think I'm winning. At the moment every negative voice is being slammed down by a positive one. But I think there are many fantastic writers out there who we've never heard of simply because they don't believe in themselves enough. And yet they are as good as and sometimes superior to many writers who are already published! I wish I could make them believe how good they are and convince them they can succeed. And if I ever do get published and get to teach creative writing I reckon it would be worth spending half the class working on people's confidence. It's a bit like the top tennis players - they all have the same skill set / level - in the end those that win are the ones with the psychological edge.
Regarding my work, I've promised myself that the book will get finished and resubmitted before the summer's out. Maybe it'll even be finished in time for Wimbledon?

Slow Progress

I'm still working on what I hope to be the 'final draft' (until someone tells me otherwise!) However it's been slow progress this last week as R has been extremely poorly and I've been snowed under at work. So it's been a week of sleepless nights and overtime. I've always been a bit of a night owl but lately I've been in bed by 8pm every night. This has, unsurprisingly, somewhat diminished my 'writing time'. I've still managed to write every day (bar Thursday) but the going's been painfully slow. And, as I abandoned the fourth draft and went back to the start again, I'm only about 20% of the way through the latest draft. I think it's unlikely that I will get the whole book finished by Easter but I'm pleased with what I've done so far (a rarity for me!) Here's hoping I can get the rest completed to the same standard and that someone loves it enough to one day publish it.

Reviving my Darlings

I'm about 10% of the way through my fourth draft and I think it's working. I've rewritten most of the dialogue and I think it sounds more 'real'. And now that I'm using close third I can use two POVs. This should make the narrative more interesting/varied but it also means I can restore some scenes I really liked but had to cut when it was in the first person. It also means the MS will be longer, but you can't have everything. All being well, I'm hoping to get it finished by Easter.

One Step at a Time

One of the agents I sent my MS to came back straight away, which was great. But she wants some major revisions. So, guess what I've been doing this past week? I've completely rewritten the prologue and revised the first three chapters. Thankfully I haven't been short of inspiration so far. And I think it's a lot better than it was. But, just like the heroine in my story, I still have a long way to go. Oh well, I've always enjoyed a challenge :)

The Scariest Prospect of All

So, my search for a literary agent has begun. I sent out the first 6,000(ish) words, synopsis and covering letter to an agent who is currently looking for the sort of thing I've just written. Now all I have to do is wait. It could take up to 8 weeks for a reply and I've never been good at being patient. I'll just have to keep myself busy in the meantime and hope the time goes quickly. On the other hand, if she doesn't like / want it, will I be able to take the rejection? The pessimistic half of me wants the time to go slowly and the optimistic half of me wants it to go quickly! But if she says no, then there are always other agents. And in two and a bit weeks I'll find out whether I've got anywhere in the Write Now competition. In the meantime I'm waiting for two young critics to get back to me with their opinions on the opening chapters - and for me that is the scariest prospect of all!