Productivity: 0

 I have made 0 contribution to any of my works in progress this week. This is clearly not good. And still, instead of writing, I'm blogging! I mean, really!

I have actually reduced my word count by 1000 words by taking out that pesky chapter 19 that's just not needed. There you go, I've done something to the book. I can't explain this lack of productivity. Over the summer, in August, I was working my socks off on this novel. 

Being back at Day Job certainly takes a lot of brain energy and I am wiped out in the evenings. And every other available moment is spent with my little family. 

What else needs to be done? Well, now that chapter 19 has been snipped out entirely and anything that was relevant pasted onto the front of chapter 20, all the chapters need to be renumbered. 

That just leaves the complete rewriting of chapters 20-25, but I don't know where to start. What's wrong with them? They're a bit thin. I'm reading books to my son and they just seem to rich and full of things happening in the background. It's like the saggy middle strikes my novel again. 

I'm analysing the books I'm reading, trying to work out where I'm going wrong. For example, in one I'm reading to my son at the moment, nothing really happens in the first half of the book. The MC goes to the place the action is going to happen but it's not until the midpoint where the actual plot HAPPENS. The midpoint is very clear, everything changes and the bad guys close in afterwards. 

I need to be more horrible to my characters. In the book I'm reading to my son, the MC doesn't have it all rosy in the beginning of the book. He's bullied, he has to do things he doesn't want to, like attend parties of people he doesn't like, and he's persecuted by people who don't like him through no fault of his own. 

That could happen to Lexi. Instead of just having fun in the Hub, she could have to do things she doesn't want to, like cleaning, or fixing, or going in the gunge tank. It could be anything. And Tim could be having a great time, to show the contrast between the characters. Tim didn't want to be there in the first time, but he's enjoying it, and Lexi did everything she could to get there and she's not having a great time. It would be the fuel to the mistake she makes at the midpoint that puts in motion the rest of the story. 

I may actually have something here! I knew doing a blog post would be a good idea. The trouble is, seriously, where do I start? 

Never Finished

 As I've mentioned before, I am reading my novel aloud to an audience. I don't know if it's the story or the way I read it, but my novel is currently being well received. 

The thing is, it's far from perfect. I'm looking at the structure of my novel now as I'm reading more (having more time to read now that my book is 'finished') and watching films more, I'm seeing where magical elements could be added to make it more wow. 

For example, after the catalyst (the incident that starts all the conflict off, ie Harry getting a letter from Hogwarts) in my novel, there's still adventure and conflict, but there's no wonder. Things happen that I think (hope) are interesting, but no awe. 

I've really streamlined this part of the book. I've cut out the superfluous detail that didn't really help the plot or the character development. I have some wiggle room with my word count now, especially as I'm going to cut out chapter 19 completely. (I just need to go through it to see if there's any plot or character development that can be moved to an earlier or later chapter.)

Now that I have a bit of wiggle room with the word count, as I'm at 59k words whereas the limit for my genre is 65k for a debut novel, I can see about fleshing out any thin or flaky parts of the novel. 

I know that chapters 20 - 25 are a bit weak and need filling out a bit. I mean, there's trimming the superfluous and then there's leaving the novel completely bereft of detail, plot and fun. 

Another thing I'm thinking is that my chapters are too short. I have 43 chapters, because they're roughly 1000 words each. That seems a lot of chapters to me, so I think I need to restructure the novel. It works quite well reading for a short period of time, however, so I'm not sure. And my audience quite likes the chapter headings. They ask for me to tell them what the next chapter is called, and guess what might happen in it. 

I'm struggling to focus on editing my manuscript while I'm reading it to my audience. You can probably tell because I'm writing this blog post instead of working on the novel. It's open on this PC, lingering in the background while I type. I've chopped out the offending chapters that I want to work on and set them aside from the fourth draft of this novel. 

The thing is, I've made notes on the one I'm reading aloud. What if I change things and then the notes are irrelevant. Or if the notes make the changes I would have made unnecessarily. Those notes are based on actual, audience reactions. And I don't feel as if I can work on it until I've finished reading this draft aloud. 

The answer is simple... 

.... work on the new novel! 

If I knew where to start it, I would! 

From the Start

 Plotting a novel from the start is a very different experience than just setting out writing not knowing really what the destination is going to be. 

I didn't think I was getting anywhere, but comparing this photo to a previous one, it does show that the book is taking shape. There's not much for the second half of the book or the ending, but that's ok. 

I feel like this is the blurry outline of my novel and it will all become clearer as I add in the specifics. 

 I know my main character's main want: to go to school. 

I know my main character's flaw: she doesn't know enough, she lacks the knowledge to achieve her goal or even maintain the status quo. 

Knowing those two things, according to the plotting books and story writing guides, is the main part of writing the novel. Hopefully it'll all just fall into place from here on. 

In Other News... 

I'm reading Book 1 aloud and realising that it has a few problems in chapters 22 and 23 especially and I probably will cut out chapter 19 altogether as it doesn't add anything to the plot or the character development. The one or two bits of information that we might need in chapter 19 could easily be slipped into other chapters. 

The remaining chapters also feel a little thin. From chapter 19 to 25, I've felt like the writing could be richer, there could be more added to the chapters to make the world a little more sparkly and interesting. 

I'm working on it! 

Plotting a New Book

This is the first time I've plotted a book from the very start. I don't know if this is the correct method of plotting or even if this is a method that works for me. I'm going to give it a go and see what happens. 

In an effort to improve The Book, I have been reading a lot about how to write a compelling novel. I've read Story Engineering, Story Genius, Plot and Structure, Save the Cat!, Structuring your Novel and Writers' and Artists' Year Book and after all that, I think I finally have an idea of what I'm aiming for. 

I think reading multiple books saying the same thing in different ways really helped me to understand what they mean. After reading Story Genius, I read Plot and Structure and understood Story Genius much better. And after reading Story Engineering, I read Save the Cat! and understood both books better. 

Briefly, a book can be split into 4 parts. The setup (0% - 25%), the fun and games (25% - 50%), bad guys close in (50% - 75%) and the finale (75%  - 100%). Save the Cat breaks each of these parts of the novel down into beats. 

There's a beat sheet on Jami Gold's website which is amazing and really useful. None of this is my own idea, everything's come from everyone else. I'm still learning. 

I think the beat sheet is useful because it shows you roughly where each event should take place. It's not a noose, telling you what you should do, but a guide to help you aim for certain mile stones. 

You should absolutely read Save the Cat! if you're interested in this sort of thing, but briefly:

• Act 1,it starts with the Opening Image
  The opening image is a snap shot of your hero's life. Something that tells the reader exactly who your character is at the very start of the novel. 
  
  
• Theme Stated
  This is where someone not a main character says to the main character what their flaw is. Maybe someone tells the main character they're too aggressive, or too scared, or too greedy. 
  
  
• Catalyst
  This is where something happens that tells the main character that their life needs to change. Maybe they find a treasure map or their boss shouts at them for something they've done really wrong, or they have a huge fight with their spouse. 
  
  
• Debate
  This is where the main character make a choice. In HP it was when Harry went to Diagon Alley. It can be an actual debate or preparing for the next part of the book. 
  
  
• Break into Act 2
  This is where something monumental changes for the main character and they enter into an upside down world of Act 2, which is markedly different to Act 1. 
  
  
• B-Story
  This is often a love story, but it's something else that's happening in the story to help the main character to realise their flaw. 
  
  
• Fun and Games
  You said you were writing a romance, this is where the romance comes in. You said you're writing a science fiction, then make spacey science fiction things happen. But remember to keep up the conflict, the tension, make every scene be purposeful. 
  
  
• Midpoint
  This is the moment where everything changes for your main character and they really think about their flaw. They still don't do anything about it though, because it's still the middle of the novel. 
  
  
• Bad Guys Close In
  What happens in this beat depends on what happened at your midpoint. But your main character is now more purposeful and had a better understanding of the challenges they're facing. 
  
  
• All is Lost
  This is a low point for your main character, obviously. 
  
  
• Dark Night of the Soul
  I'm still figuring this one out but I think it's where your main character realises their flaw has caused all the trouble and they have to change to fix it. 
  
  
• Break into Act 3
  This is where your main character summons up the courage to do something about IT. 
  
  
• Finale
  Save the Cat! says that there are five steps to the finale. 
  
  
• Gathering the team, it's when the main character either calls on friends to help or gathers tools to help them achieve their task
  
  
• Storming the Castle, it's a metaphor but it's when the main character has a go at fixing the problem head on. 
  
  
• The High Tower Surprise, again another metaphor but like when Voldermort was hiding on Professor Quirrel all along
  
  
• Dig Deep Down, where the hero summons all their courage for one last stand
  
  
• Execution of the new plan, because the old plan couldn't work after the high tower surprise, or it does work but they have to use it a different way. 
  
  
• Final Image
  This is what your main character will look like after they've been through this ordeal and come out the other side. It could be a mirror of what they were like in the beginning of the story. For example, if your main character was getting told off by their boss at the beginning of the story, they could be getting a medal from their boss by the end. Something like that. 
  

While I've been plotting Book 2 of my currently unpublished series, I've been keeping all these plot points in mind. I try not to think of them as constraints but rather a road map that you could use anywhere, and for anything. 

While I'm sketching out ideas, I've used postit note so I don't cover my book with scribbles of things I don't like. It also allows me to pile on ideas and switch things around if I want to do it a different way. 

I've had an idea for my opening image which shows the main character in her status quo world, doing things she's used to and familiar with. I know what's going to happen in the debate, I'm sure of what Break into 2 is going to look like and now I'm just working on the other beats. Fun and Games, and Bad Guys Close In are the most difficult parts for me. I write a saggy middle. It's what I need to work on. I always have an excitement packed setup and an action packed finale, but in the middle, I have pointless ramblings. 

Well, no more! Now that I am plotting out my novel, I should be able to make it work better and only include scenes that move the plot on or show character development, or ideally, both! I have to remember:

Action - Reaction - More Action

Let's see how this first draft turns out!

Also, I'm entering Pitch Wars today, so wish me luck! 

How Did the Editing Go?

I have posted before about going into editing and using a number of editing books to help me with the process. I thought I'd report back and let you know how it went. 

I used Fix Your Damn Book by James Osiris Baldwin. I really liked this book because I really connected with the voice and the first thing James says to do is to be kind to yourself. Sometimes I need a reminder. 

There are a few things I was looking for when editing my book, and I took all these from Fix Your Damn Book. 

As I was reading through, I was looking for: 

• identifying the writer's voice, and keeping it consistent throughout
• accents, appearance and culture
• balancing description, exposition and action
• catharsis - why have it switch off when you can have it blow up?
• characters
• head-hopping and faulty exposition
• lazy writing
• plot holes
• pacing
• scenes - do they have a start, middle and finish? Do characters have time to reflect, make a decision and act on a decision?

I had this written on a note next to me so I don't forget and kept it in mind while I was reading through The Book. I'm not saying that the editing was perfect at this point, but I think I got it. 

I started editing immediately after finishing The Book, the next day in fact. James says in Fix Your Damn Book that you should leave your book between 2 - 6 weeks to let it sit and do other things in the mean time, before editing. I didn't do that, mainly because I needed to be finished in time for Pitch Wars. 

Luckily for me, I have a terrible memory so sometimes it is as if I've left the book for 2 - 6 weeks because sometimes I forget what I've written. I forgot that I'd cut out a teleportation scene that did nothing except show that the setting had teleporters. I was going to rewrite it and make it more interesting but it turned out I'd cut it out. I left it that way. 

The first round of edits on the 1st draft, I moved scenes, edited whole scenes and tried to make sure the book flowed. I cut events, moved them and added conflict. I tried not to do a line edit but I find it really difficult to leave clumsy writing if I spot it so I did do some line editing but mainly I took my metaphorical scissors to the manuscript and chopped it where I thought it needed chopping up. 

The second round of editing was to check that the chops made sense and to go through the scenes to cut or add sentences/paragraphs/words that were or weren't needed. I must have chopped quite a few words from the manuscript as I went from 65,000 down to 59,000. Fingers crossed the chops were right for the story. 

The third edit was going through each line and making sure it flowed correctly, it went together with the story, the parts where I'd stitched the story together were seamless. I also had to check POV because it turns out, when I'm tired, I switch POV backwards and forwards even in a single sentence. I checked spelling mistakes, typing errors, character names and everything was in the correct spot. 

What I wasn't supposed to do in this round of editing was add in an entirely new challenge for my protagonists. However, reading the novel through from the start, which went a lot quicker when I wasn't trying to edit the entire thing, it made a lot of sense to link an event from the middle into a challenge in the climax. That was only an additional 500 words so I didn't think it mattered that I added it in at the wrong part of editing. It is an evolving process, after all. 

There is still one scene that I don't like at all. I took it out to edit it, or completely rewrite it but I'm not sure what to do with it. I know the aim. Hopefully a publisher or agent will have an idea for that part, or a Pitch Wars mentor if they pick me. 

All in all, I think I did follow the Fix Your Damn Book method for editing. I definitely knew what to look out for when editing. Consistency in voice was not something I'd thought of before. It's about the voice.That's one thing I kept an eye out for in my book when editing. 

Fingers crossed that this has made my book compelling. 

What's Next?

I can't sit on my hands and do nothing. I could take up one of my other hobbies but that wouldn't fix my need to keep writing! 

I think the next step for me is to enter the query trenches. I am going to apply for #PitchWars. This is a mentoring program where writers help writers to improve their craft. 

I know that I've finished my book as much as I can do on my own, and I'm hoping that if I can get into #PitchWars and really make my novel shine. 

However, I might not get picked. With 70+ manuscripts for each mentor or mentor team, there are a lot of manuscripts that are either better than mine or that the mentor connects with more than mine and that's ok. 

If I'm not picked, I will enter the query trenches. A query is a letter/email you sent to an agent or publisher which pitches your book. The query consists of a short (200-300 words) blurb about the book, a bio and a personalised paragraph explaining why you've chosen to submit to that agent or publisher. If I get picked, I'll go into details about my pitch but as I've never been published or taken on as a writer by anyone, I doubt I'm in a good position to say what a good pitch is. 

It does take a while to get a rejection back from an agent or publisher (I've never had an acceptance so not sure how long it takes to have an acceptance back) so in the mean time, I'm going to be plotting book two in the series. 

I'm really excited about this because I wasn't sure if I should start my series with book 2 and have book 1 as a prequel but in the end I picked book 1 because I thought that goes towards what I'm trying to say, the message I'm trying to put across. I have had book 2 in my head for years and now I finally get to write it! 

I also had the final image of the series pop into my head. I don't know what inspired it. I was just idling one day this week and it flooded into my imagination. The end of the last book of the series is going to be absolutely epic. I can't wait! 

Another thing I need to do is plot the series! That's fairly important. I know book 2 is going to be about learning the new environment the character finds herself in. After that, book 3 is going to cover more of the wider environment that the character lives in, and include more of the galactic community. I think I just need to add some specifics into the plan so I know what's going to happen and add some foreshaddowing into book 2. 

IT'S FINISHED!

Well, it's as finished as much as I can finish it on my own. I know that if it does get picked by an agent, they're going to want me to change a few things, and if it gets picked by a publisher, they'll want to change some things. 

So, when I say it's finsihed, I think I mean as much as I can do on my own, it is finished. 

I feel as if I've just walked up an enormous hill and I can finally stop and take in the view. 

My husband has been incredibly supportive while I've been writing and now I have time to pause, I'm feeling so completely grateful. 

I have printed out The Book, double sided and comb bound it so it feels like a real book. It's too big, and floppy, and sometimes the combs pop out but it's as real as I have at the moment. 

It feels so surreal to say that it's finished. I started writing this book in the summer of 2017. Three years feels like such a long time. The number of characters I have add, cut and repurposed seems incredible. One of my characters has changed his name so often that I have to really think about what his name is now. (It's Yeren, he's a Yeti.) 

Yeren is actually the character that's changed the most. First he was a bar tender in a pub, then a coffee shop owner, then a tourist guide and now he's settled in his role as chief engineer. His personality and accent have both changed over time too, and his prominence in the book. He was a side character who chipped in with observations and information, and now he's a mentor. 

It's funny to think back on the characters and their characterisations at the start of writing the book, when I started writing, before I learnt about how to write. 

I think the breakthrough with this book was learning about the Midpoint. None of my books had a midpoint but they certainly had a saggy middle where not much happened except rambling about the place. Now, I've built up to the middle, had a dramatic incident, and it all changes then until the climax. 

Now I can only hope that the book is picked up by #PitchWars, and if not, that it's good enough for the query trenches. Fingers crossed! 

Designing My Writing Schedule

I have a Day Job, that I love, that demands a lot of my time. Writing is my passion. I'm happiest when I'm writing and when I'm not writing, I'm thinking about writing.

To be able to write effectively and produce quality work, I had to make a writing schedule.

As an ex-pantser, a schedule is all new to me. I didn't know what would be coming so I used to just write as I went. However, I have planned this novel down to the tiniest arc, so I knew what needed to happen in each chapter. (Subject to creative change. - When I say I had planned it, if the story went another direction, I just re-planned accordingly.)

The main thing I had to consider when I prepared my writing schedule was the fact that I had to be Kind to Myself. I am one person and I can only do so much. I have children, a job, family commitments. All of this needs to be considered when planning your schedule.

I planned to write roughly 1000 words each writing session. For me, this is a manageable number, especially using my plan to help me. I type very quickly so I knew I could manage to write that many words.

I don't have a picture of my writing schedule but the editing one is here:

With my writing schedule, I didn't plan to write at the weekend. If I found I had time or had some ideas, I did add them in here and there, but mainly the weekends were family time. (This wasn't true for my editing schedule but I feel as if that's a different process.)

I factored in days where I was seeing friends or eating out and wouldn't be able to commit as much time to writing on that day.

My writing plan was realistic, kind and achievable. I had a deadline in mind. I didn't want to be writing the first draft in September so it had to be finished in August. But, baring that in mind, I was able to create a schedule that was something I could stick to without exhausting myself or taking time away from family and friends, or just chilling out.

I have to admit, I did sacrifice Me Time to make sure The Book was finished. I think it was worth it. And I love writing!

In a nutshell, for me, my writing schedule was

• realistictic
• achievable
• kind

For example, a typical week would go like this:

Monday
- write scene 3 (1000 words-ish)
Tuesday
- read scene 3, write scene 4 and 5 (1000 words-ish together)

And so on. Having a schedule to follow made me more focused, meant that I had a target for that day and that I wasn't pressured to write the entire book in the evening, squished between putting the kids to bed and my bedtime.

It doesn't always work, however. I have written a querying schedule but I was back to work in September and found that I'm too exhausted to stick to my schedule. I'm going to work on it.

It's Been a Long Slog

Now that I'm getting closer to the point where this book is actually going to be as finished as I can make it, I'm looking back at the process that got me here.

I started my book in the summer of 2017. I remember the moment I got the idea. I was talking to some children about a young adult book I'd been working on, but didn't feel as if it was going anywhere.

As we chatted, the idea for This Book slowly formed in my head. It started with the image of two children flying a spaceship to the Moon. Why were they in a spaceship? The story actually started as a build up to the children somehow getting aboard a spaceship, knowing how to fly it and then zooming off into space.

But I had to think about where they lived, what they'd be doing. The very first draft of The Book back in 2017 actually looks nothing like the finished one, except that the two main characters have remained constant.

I thought about adding in a little alien friend and about changing the settings. The main characters primary carers have lived, divorced, been absent and died all in different drafts.

Like many writers, I also have a demanding Day Job, so writing has been done in dribs and drabs. It's not until I made a writing schedule that I really made progress on this book. I've never tried it before because how can you schedule creativity? But actually, it made me more focused. Istead of writing an entire book in an evening, squished between the kids bedtime and when I passed out exhausted, I only had to write two scenes, or a chapter. It made everything so much more manageable. It also meant what I was working on that day was better quality because I wasn't trying to rush through it. For me, the difference is really noticeable.

I did the same for my editing schedule. I made a pretty editing schedule in my bullet journal whereas with my writing schedule, I just added it to my normal weekly tasks so I don't have a pretty page to show you.

As you can see, on the first day I bunched together six chapters which really wasn't very realistic. It was a weekend (I think?) so I did manage to finish it off but I wasn't able to do much else that day.

I made a much more manageable editing schedule for the following days. And, as you can see, I made notes to myself on the schedule too, where I've merged scenes/chapters and split scenes or chapters.

I also tried to balance out where the midpoint was, by moving chapters or scenes to later parts of the book. There are two pieces that would fit after the midpoint, so they were moved to help things balance a bit better.

Now I'm just on the final edit. I'm checking it all makes sense, the words are all where they should be, the plot holes are filled in and everything works as it should do. Then, The Book I started in 2017 might actually be finished, properly finished, for the first time.

I've learnt a lot about writing in the mean time. I still have those first drafts in the folder for this book. I can't face looking at them. I've read a lot of books about writing. I've read books and blogs and vlogs and posts about editing. Hopefully it's all made a difference.

So, What's Happening?

I haven't been blogging as much recently and there's two reasons for this:

1) I am back at Day Job so I'm much more tired in the evenings and don't have as much energy for personal projects. It's really noticeable by 8:30pm, I'm exhausted and my mental energy is next to nothing.

2) The small amounts of energy I do have are spent on working on the manuscript. This isn't leaving much time for blogging, but I'm back!

How's The Book?

My manuscript at the moment is with a very kind beta reader (my dad) who is helping me with repeated sentences, things that aren't clear, grammatical errors, etc. Then I generally do make the changes he's suggested. There's one sentence here or there he's said to delete but I think they work for cadence and for my voice, so I've kept them.

After that, I'm reading the book aloud. This has helped me spot any errors that aren't clear, because my audience asks questions!

For example, one of my characters was hiding but the audience thought the character wasn't even there at all. I had to rewrite a part of that scene to give a clue that the character was the house afterall.

So I'm working on reading the second draft aloud and using that to compile the third draft. In theory, I'm going to have a very polished manuscript on my hands!

Even I can say it's the best I've ever written, but I'm not sure if that's saying much.

Self Published

I've always wanted to have a copy of my own book in my hand. It's the dream. I love watching the unboxing videos because they're amazing. 

I once thought it might be nice to have a copy of my book that I

published by myself. Just a one time thing. Even if it never gets published, I'll still have a copy of it.

I've been looking into it and Lulu.com have been recommended by other authors. 

I once asked my husband for a published copy of my book as a Christmas present. It turned out that I needed to do a complete rewrite before Christmas and didn't have it finished in time for it to be a Christmas present. 

It's going to be finished in time now! 

What do you think? Is it better to wait until it's the official published copy, or just have my own copy published by myself just to have the book in my hand? 

Beta Reading

Now that I've finished editing the first draft, the book is with my beta reader. I've had the first 12 chapters back, just hanging on for a few more.

Then, I'm going to read through it again and check for anything that doesn't make sense.

There's nothing more anxious than waiting for beta reading feedback.

While I'm waiting for beta feedback, I'm going to be working on my synopsis and my query letter.

I've got a book on that too! I'm going to be reading and hopefully my synopsis will be good.

It's really hard to condense all the story into just one page of text and make sure all the cliff hangers, tension, plot threads shine through.

After lots of hard work and with fingers crossed, hopefully I'll get it right. 

Second Draft Done!

It is such a nice feeling to get to the end of the book and know that my first pass through it is done!

I've really enjoyed reading my book. There's lots that needed to be changed,

edited, adjusted and moved. I cut out a lot of words and even merged two chapters that had no jeopardy. Making each scene in those chapters shorter added a bit more conflict, I think.

I hope, anyway.

I find I second guess myself a lot. I've been reading all these books about reading and just hoping that I'm doing the right thing.

Scenes can only stay in the book if they have a mission that moves the plot along or shows character development. They have to contain conflict, stakes, have a clear beginning, middle and end. There's so much to remember and I hope that I've included it in every chapter.

It's such a relief knowing that it's done, for the moment. I'm going to leave it now for a couple of days and read through the next draft and see if it flows after the first edit. All I want is for it to make sense, flow, become a page turner and be a good story. I can make it into a good story just by wishing it, right? Right?

Log Line and Elevator Pitch

So now that I've edited and polished and perfected my manuscript, I need to pitch it. All those thousands of words down to 100 or even less. 

How on Earth do I do it?

I think Gareth Powell, author of the Embers of War trilogy did it best with his suggestion of how to write an elevator pitch. He says on his Instagram account: 

In order to [avoid problem] a [flawed character] must [try to achieve goal] but when [complication] they realise they must overcome [antagonist] and [personal flaw] by [action] before [deadline].

If this isn't the most incredible way of writing an elevator pitch, I'm not sure what is. Gareth goes on to say that this is how he plots out his books before he starts to write them. It helps him ensure he has all the elements of the story he wants before writing the story. 

If I put the book I'm writing into this pitch, her problem is that she doesn't have a home really, so she is avoiding being homeless. 

Her flawed characteristic is that she's impulsive, thoughtless and a bit of a maverick. 

She wants to go to a space school, but she causes her own complication and can't go. Not only that, but the antagonistic force appears and starts causing problems for her. And she has to do it before the antagonistic force appears to destroy the world. 

I also wrote a tag line for my book:

To save the world, and herself, 12yo Lexi must face up to a destiny she doesn’t want before she loses everything.

 

Not sure if that's a great one or not, but I liked it. As I said, I'm still working on it because I want to get things ready for #PitMad. I can do three pitches so I'd better get them right! 

Step Three: Line Editing

This is the type of editing I'm better at: editing the actual lines and sentences.

I much prefer changing or editing what I've written rather than how it's been written or where the different scenes should go.

Here, I'm looking for congruency, conflict and cadence.

Are the scenes in the write order? Does it makes sense? I think that's really difficult as the writer to work that one out. I wrote it, of course it makes sense to me! I'd rather have something like this on a list for a Beta Reader but I do think it's important that I have a first look at it.

I have picked out some things for example, the antagonist at the end of the story wears a mask to represent another character. Well, that's not happened before and the importance of the other character isn't really emphasised earlier in the book so I think I need to introduce both of these things much sooner as they don't make sense.

My novel is also lacking conflict. My two main characters go into this lovely little alien world where no humans have ever been before, and it's all lovely and fine. I need some conflict. They have the over all threat of somehow being thrown out the alien world, which would devastate both of my main characters for different reasons. There are characters who would like to see them leave and go out their way to make that happen. But when those characters aren't in a scene, that conflict isn't there and everything is nice and lovely.

I can create conflict between my two characters. My female character is impulsive, a maverick, she likes to rush in and see what happens. My male character is cautious, fearful and likes to stand back. He's happy to see other people get in trouble as long as no one tells him off.

Also, my characters' flaws will create conflict, such as her maverick behaviour getting her into trouble, or his fearfulness and anxiety are holding him back from what he wants.

Creating consequences for all the actions they have will cause conflict. And they will make mistakes which will also add to the tension of a scene. If your main character has two goals which are conflicting, that will create tension. My female lead has two wants that, while they don't seem to be initially opposing, do come up against each other so that she ultimately gets nothing she wants.

If your character is alone a lot, they have less to argue with, or long for. And if things go wrong, even if they're unlikely, that will help to create tension.

I'm not good at conflict. I am far too nice to my characters but as I've mentioned before about my midpoint, I have managed to be nasty to my main character in particular.

Hopefully the line edit will work out the kinks.

Developmental Edit

Step Two of the Fix Your Damn Book edit is to do a developmental edit.

As far as I can gather, this means checking through for a number of things:

• identifying the writer's voice, and keeping it consistent throughout
• checking the novel fits into the traditional three-step structure, or the structure that you've chosen for your novel if you're writing a novel based on a structure from a different culture or tradition
• accents, appearance and culture
• balancing description, exposition and action
• catharsis - why have it switch off when you can have it blow up?
• characters
• head-hopping and faulty exposition
• lazy writing
• plot holes
• pacing
• scenes - do they have a start, middle and finish? Do characters have time to reflect, make a decision and act on a decision?
• the ripple effect

Phew! Is that enough to think about on my first read through edit? I feel as if I have to keep a thousand things in my head when I'm reading through, just to check the entire thing fits together well.  

I've still got to rewrite the scenes that weren't working to make sure they do, or reduce them down, or cut them entirely. I am thinking that they could be a conversation between the two main characters, and I could really do with scraping back the word count so I could add in something else later in the story, and/or thread in a subplot that I'm lacking at the moment. 

So, this is my next step: developmental editing. I'm also trying to get my pitches reading for #pitmad on the 2nd September. 

The more I work on this book, the more I wonder if it's complete rubbish and if it should be scrapped. 

Diagnosis

There are a number of steps to editing a novel. I've bought Fix Your Damn Book by James Osiris Baldwin. I'm working my way through it, and I think I have a grasp of how I'm going to start editing.

I've started with Diagnosis.

First he says to rest your book for two to six weeks, depending on how much editing you've already done. I'm trying to get my novel ready for Pitch Wars so I'm not resting it. I wish I had because I think my editing would be more effective, but hopefully I can do my best in the time I have.

When I'm diagnosing, I'm looking for weak plot, poor characterisation and lapses of tension. I'm also keeping my eye out for lack of detail, or details which contradict each other.

He also says to take this opportunity to write the synopsis and the tag line for the novel as this is when you're still in love with your book and can write the dream ideas for it.

First Step: Plot Planner

I've written out my plot planner now. It literally just says what my two main characters do in the scene, who is in the scene and what the links are to the subplots. It's a very dry document that wasn't fun to write, but it was fun to read through my novel.

This has highlighted my saggy middle, however. I've got two scenes where the main characters are separately learning about their world and picking up the skills they need to achieve their goals in the climax.

These are the only two scenes in the entire book where there is no tension, no conflict, nothing to drive the scene. I can either cut them down completely, turn them into a paragraph each which appears in another scene or rewrite them.

Chopping out these scenes entirely would help with my word count. They're mainly filled with info dumps dressed up in a pretty way. I could even compress them half the size and put them together in a chapter. I'll have a look when I come to rewrite them. They certainly need work.

Dues Ex Machina

I don't quite use this at the end of my novel but there are new elements introduced so I think I need to work on that as well. It just needs a mention of these things earlier in the book for the main characters to notice and that will sort it out a bit.

I'm Not Precious

Chopping scene or even part of a scene might seem a bit drastic to some, but the over all story and the journey the reader takes with my characters is what's important.

There's one scene where one of my main characters appears with singed fingers and soot covered hair, so it's possible to imagine what he's been up to without writing an entire scene to explain it. He also has a bit of dialogue to describe how it went, which also shows how his attitude is changing.

Better Get Back to It

As ever, thank you for reading. I'm not sure if what I'm doing is right, I just want to make the best story I can for the children who get to read it. Hopefully, the adventures of Lexi Walker and Tim Chen will inspire others.

Synopses - Don't Like 'Em

Is there anything worse than having to condense your beautifully crafted novel into a page of text? It is my least favourite part of writing.

I even enjoy writing a tag line or blurb more than I like the synopsis. I'm finding myself browsing on Twitter and Facebook or writing blog posts instead of sitting down and just focusing on the synopsis.

It's so easy to write! All I have to do is read through the book and write what happens. It's that simple. I can make the synopsis more streamlined after that and only include what's actually important to the plot, but it's just the act of doing it that I'm finding painful.

Actually, I got so into reading what I'd written that I forgot to add to the synopsis!

I suppose I'm lucky that I have an awful memory so reading my own book is sometimes like reading something brand new. I don't remember what the characters have done or said and I really enjoy finding out. I also start editing as I'm going along which I really shouldn't because I don't even know if I'm going to keep that scene or completely rewrite it all together!

Another part of writing the synopsis that I find tricky, is that the book makes perfect sense to me. I know why my hero is sulky or why the door was locked, because it's my world and my ideas, but sometimes I forget that the reader can't actually look inside my head and understand perfectly what's going on.

Also, I printed out my novel, ready to edit but while I've been going through it to write the synopsis, I've been changing things. This means, I'm going to have to print it out again.

The first synopsis I'm writing is a dry one, one that simply says what happens in the book. The next one will be an ideal synopsis, with everything happening in the correct order and all character arcs perfectly aligned.

One thing I don't think I have in my book, is a subplot. I think I do need one, but I'm not entirely sure where to put it or how to write it in. Also, I am dangerously close to the maximum word count for a middle grade science fiction novel. If I add too much, something else will have to get the snip and I don't want to do that.

I'd best get on with writing this synopsis...

The End

It's finished! It's taken over three years and this the second time I've written the words The End but I think it's finally finished.

Well, not finish finished. It still needs to be edited.

I ended up buying Fix Your Damn Book by James Osiris Baldwin. I really liked the writing style and one of the first things he says is be kind to yourself, so I had to buy it really.

So far, I've read that editing my book is a 4 step process. I have to diagnose the problems, do a developmental edit, a line edit, copy edit and proof read.

I have got a lot of work to do before this book is finish finished. I'd better get on with it.

Inspirational Images

Today we watched A Wrinkle in Time with the kids. I knew about it, the plot and the premise, but hadn't seen the films and I haven't finished the novel.

When we reached the end of the film (no spoilers) I saw this image and I just thought: That's what I want my novel to be!

Meg Murray looks like my character Lexi Walker, except that Lexi doesn't wear glasses.

I often see authors posting aesthetics of their books but I've never seen anything that reflects how I see my novel so make my own but this is it. This is just how I see it.

Editing

As I'm quickly approaching the end of my novel, I am going to have to start editing it. Urgh, don't want to! Can it not be perfect as it pours out my head?

I suppose not.

There are a lot of books to help with editing. Fix Your Damn Book by James Osiris Baldwin looks On Editing by Helen Corner-Bryant and Kathryn Price. There's also Editing Bootcamp: A Fiction Writer's Guide to Self-Editing Part 1 by Dola Basu Singh. and The Little Book of Self-Editing for Writers by Bridget McKenna. I need to invest in one.

interesting, as does

My problem when editing is that every word in my book is my baby and therefore precious. I think I feel as if, if I chop something, I don't love my story enough when actually trimming the rubbish out of a story is what makes it shine!

The fact of the matter is, every story needs an edit. It's rare that a first draft smashes it out the park straight away, and even if it does, there might be spelling mistakes or something that requires an edit.

My novel has certainly not smashed it out of anything. I know for a start that a bit of conflict waaaay back in scene 20 needs to be brought forward to scene 15. There's not enough conflict in the Fun and Games section of my novel and Bad Guys Close In is too short. Bad Guys Close In is supposed to be 25% of my novel and at the moment, it's 10% at best. I think I need to insert a subplot that comes out in Bag Guys Close In, the second half of the middle of my book, that moves the story and the character development on. Subplot is not my best skill but I did plan on a love story, which I didn't end up using, and that could come about in this part of the book.

It's usually during editing that I think the entire book is utter rubbish and start again. However, this is the first time I've made it past 30,000 words in the last six months between three rewrites so I think I'm getting somewhere.

When editing, I'm going to break the novel down in to smaller chunks and edit each scene as its own little story. I'm going to use postit notes that I can move around to say what happens in each scene and where I can chop out words, sentences and paragraphs, or maybe even scenes I just don't need anymore.

And I'm going to invest in a 'How to Edit' book. Wish me luck!

Reading Aloud

There is nothing better than reading your novel aloud and hearing your audience react to it. Well, maybe there is: your audience asking for more.

I love reading my story. I think it's the most entertaining book ever written, well parts of it. And

tomorrow I'll probably think the entire thing is a load of rubbish. Such is the swing of confidence of the aspiring author.

I am very lucky that I have an audience for my novel and I think that's probably why I chose the age group and genre that I did.

I remember once, I was reading a fantasy story I'd started to a group of children. When the toys woke up in the story, the entire room, about 200 children, gasped! I think that was my best author moment ever. That story unfortunately didn't go anywhere as is the way with books I write sometimes. I have a good start but I don't seem to get the middle together.

Hopefully I've cracked that with this draft.

I already read aloud to myself when I'm reading my draft copies. It helps me to pick up where the sentences don't flow, or where a runon sentence could be broken down into two sentences. It's not a perfect method and I do miss a lot of mistakes, but it's a little like doing some editing as I go along.

My own children are far too quickly approaching the age that I write for as well. I have been running ideas past my eldest child and he's reacted to my story. He was scared at the scary bits but he didn't laugh at the bit that was supposed to be funny so I will have to work on that a little bit more, I think.

I love rereading parts of my novel that I haven't read for a little while. I like to go back and read parts I'd forgotten.

Reading aloud also helps me to cut out the chaff. I repeat myself a lot. Sometimes even in the next sentence. Reading aloud helps me to see that a little more clearly and chop out the lines I don't need, or merge repeated sentences together. You can often find me muttering to myself that I've written that already once.

As I'm approaching the end of this draft, I'm about to start Act 3, I'll be doing a lot more of reading aloud. I'm really looking forward to it.

Writing Word Count Tracker

If you haven't heard of the phenomenon that is Bullet Journaling, and you're into notebooks and keeping notes, have a quick Google.

I discovered Bullet Journaling in March just as we went into lockdown. I have a terrible memory. If I don't write things down, then I simply won't remember to do them. This is why I always forget to send birthday cards, don't pick up everything I need when I shop for groceries and am generally late or absent minded.

The Bullet Journal helps me a lot. It keeps me organised and hopefully I'm not missing any deadlines. (Incidentally, two people from Day Job have commented that I come across as really organised, so this must be working because I feel as if I'm the most disorganised person on the planet!)

Bullet Journalling for me wouldn't be complete unless I used it to help me keep track of my writing. Writing is a huge part of my life and while it isn't how I generate my income, it is how I spend a lot of my free time.

My notebook isn't as thick as I'd like so it doesn't contain ALL my notes, as I wish it did, (but I am trying to find a way to bind some more pages into it) but I do have a word count page where I'm tracking how many words I have written each day.

I out grew it.

But that's fine because it gave me the chance to come up with a new one! I love putting doodles together in my notebook. I love researching different layouts and experimenting with different styles. I don't think I've done a monthly layout the same each month, as I've been experimenting with what works best for my journaling style.

I found various different layouts for word counts, mainly from people doing Camp NaNoWriMo. Incidentally, I've never managed to do NaNoWriMo because I'm not organised enough! Also, August is really the only month I can do a WriMo so it usually doesn't work for me.

These are some examples of what I found, and they are fabulous!

by Bri Rudd

by Life on Island

by TCK Publishing

The article from TCK Publishing is actually really interesting and has a lot of good ideas for writing journal pages.

As fantastic as these trackers are, they're not really my style. I wanted something that reflected my book a little more. Something science fiction/space related.

It's also a children's book so I wanted it to be quirky and childish as well. I found some mood trackers that reflected my style a little bit more. I also ordered some stencils as I can't draw, freehand or otherwise.

I am in awe of some of the layouts some bullet journalists do. They are so creative and beautiful. That's just not me. I can copy, a little, and I can follow artists' instructions on how to draw something, but I can't do it myself.

So, using my stencils and copying some layouts I've seen around, this is what I came up with for tracking my word count:

I started at 30k because I wanted to have something to colour in before I got started. The only thing I don't like is that there's nowhere to write a date, so I can't keep track of when I'm writing. But, I have my writing schedule for that now.

It's not perfect, but it's mine and I love it.

Parent, Day Job and Writing

How on Earth do you have time to write, be a parent and have a full time job? 

It's a question I hear a lot and I'm not sure if I have the answer. 

I have been working on this book for three years now. I started it in the summer of 2017. I think if I didn't have children, if I didn't have a full time job, I'd have this book cracked by now. 

As a (currently) unpublished author, at least all my deadlines are self-imposed. I don't have an editor or agent asking me to do edits by this date or that. However, I have put my foot down and said this novel needs to be finished and I want to be querying by September.

This means, I have to try to find time in my busy day to write. So, what do I do?

I've put together some things that I do to scrape time together to write. This doesn't mean what I'm suggesting is the right thing to do or what you should be doing to find time to write. We each have different families and different demands. We each have to do what is right for our family at the time. 

Also, I'm not going to mention Guilt. Just assume it's ever present.

The TV

Sometimes, it is ok to whack on the TV. For us, it's all about balance. The children might watch a film, or we might watch one together but we're also going to play with lego that day, or play outside.

The same with tablets or old phones that they play with. I have a few moments of peace and they have time to relax and unwind in a similar way that I do when I've had a busy day. 

Garden Time

We are very lucky to have a garden, and on the few days of the summer where it isn't raining or unseasonably cold, I do encourage the children to play independently in the garden. I can scrape together a few minutes between sword fights, sand castles and water guns. (I love playing in the garden.)

Writing in the Evenings

If I'm not doing Day Job things in the evenings, I cram in as much writing as I possibly can. I am lucky that the kids generally go to bed and stay there at bedtimes so I can sit and concentrate on what I'm doing. 

I've just started reading the eldest middle grade books, so bedtime stories now also double as research!

I must admit that writing when I'm tired, home from work and brain-fried, I don't produce the best writing but that's what editing is for. 

No Me Time

Because of my self-imposed deadline, I have been focusing more on writing and less on doing things I enjoy just for the sake of it. That doesn't include family things like going for walks, but I have hobbies that have fallen by the wayside so that I can focus on writing this book.

For me, this can't be helped. I know how important this book is to me, and I just have to make some sacrifices to ensure it is released into the wild.

A Strict Schedule

Also due to my self-imposed deadline I have put myself on a writing schedule. I thought it would be impossible to write when I knew I had to but actually I've found it's really helped to get the story down on paper. Like they always say, you can't edit a blank page. 

Using the writing schedule, not only have I made heaps of progress but I also don't feel guilty on non-writing days where I did before. 

Be Kind to Yourself

This is an important one, I think. I am not kind to myself. Even when I'm playing with the kids or doing something else that I enjoy, I have that nag at the back of my mind saying I should be writing, not watching TV or (pre-pandemic) out with my friends.

But I have to embrace my ambitious nag and yes, I will be writing but this time is for me. It is ok to have a break or take five minutes for other things.

I am also very lucky because I have a lot of support in my husband and my Dad who will distract the children for a few hours to give me some time to write. I know not everyone is so fortunate so I am thankful for that.

That's How I Do It

I'm not sure if my solutions to the Parent, Day Job, Writing question are any good, or any use to anyone else but that's how I manage it. I get an hour or so here and there and hope that it all makes cohesive sense when it's all put together. 

Best of luck writing your novel and feel free to write in the comments any of your writing tips. 

So Excited

I am strangely excited about this but I have written the midpoint for  my work in progress. I am

ridiculously excited about this.

The midpoint of your story has to be explosive. Not necessarily literally explosive, but something your main character cannot recover from. It's a bit like the Step into Act 2, or the First Plot Point. There is no going back from the midpoint. 

Your hero should face a false defeat or a false victory. It has to be something that changes the mood of your novel from exploration to action. Story Engineer calls this Wanderer to Warrior. Instead of learning about the Act 2 world, your hero needs to be doing something about it. They need to be taking action, although ultimately, their flaw is still holding them back because they don't solve their flaw until the ah-ha moment in Act 3. 

My hero has just suffered a false defeat. She has been promised her A-Story goal. It's what she thinks she needs to be happy. All she has to do to get everything she's ever wanted is to not act on her flaw, the B-Story goal. 

Well, my hero acts on her flaw and because of her actions, she misses out on her A-Story goal, she disappoints her friends, she reveals some fairly chunky secrets she's been hiding and she learns some information she'd rather not know. 

If this isn't changing from wanderer to warrior, I don't know what is. There's no going back from this midpoint. She has literally destroyed everything because my midpoint is literally explosive. 

It's not perfect and it's not the polished product by any means but I think I'm so excited about this because I know where my story is going now. It has a good shape. There's a lot of editing to be done. I've already decided I want to move a scene forward in the book. 

But now, I think my main character is relatable. I think (hope, with fingers and toes crossed) that when a reader reads the midpoint, they'll be telling her not to do it. They'll be telling her to follow the A-Story goal, not to act on her flaw. 

At 37,000 words, my midpoint is waaaay too late for it to be the actual middle. I might have to move some scenes later in the book, change some scenes to paragraphs. 74,000 words (which it would be if this was the numerical middle) is a bit long for debut middle grade novel, even if it is a science fiction. I'm working on it though. 

But hey! Midpoint! Yay!  

My Beat Sheet

If you've not heard what a Beat Sheet is, it's based on the beats in a story from the Save the Cat! story plan. Each part of a story has it's own beat which happens part way through a story. You should really read Save the Cat! to understand it fully, and what each beat contains but roughly, it's like this:

Act 1: Opening Image - 1%, Theme Stated - 5%, Set Up - 1% to 10%, Catalyst - 10%, Debate - 10% to 20%

Act 2: Break into Act 2 - 20%, B-Story - 22%, Fun and Games - 20% to 50%, Midpoint - 50%, Bad Guys Close In - 50% to 75%, All is Lost - 75%, Dark Night of the Soul - 75% to 80%

Act 3: Break into Act 3 - 80%, Finale - 80% - 99%, Final Image - 99%

Save the Cat! also breaks the finale into smaller chunks: Gathering the Team, Executing the Plan, High Tower Surprise, Dig Deep Down, and Execution of the New Plan. If I'm honest, I'd love Fun and Games and Bad Guys Close in to be broken down into smaller chunks too, but you can't have everything.

I've also been reading Story Engineer, which I've talked about in earlier blog posts. It again uses a really similar story structure plan but calls it other things. Of course they're similar. If something works, if it makes stories entertaining and thought provoking, they are going to be similar. But I think with each interpretation of the story, each time I read a different book explaining it all, I think I understand it better.

This beat sheet from jamigold.com shows what I'm talking about in even more detail, with scene descriptors along the way.

I've tried to take everything I've learnt from all the different ways of scene planning and put them together in my own beat sheet. None of it is an original idea, it's all collected from the books I've been reading, including Story Genius. 

This is the one I made:

It's not perfect, but it's helping me to focus and write the scenes as if they're their own mini stories. Each scene has a beginning, a middle and an end. They have a mission, or a purpose and they all move the story on... in theory. 

Again, it's the Fun and Games beat where I find it most difficult to only include scenes that move the story on. But, I thought it might be best to write everything and when I'm editing, I can cut anything that doesn't move the story along. 

If the mission of the scene isn't character development, plot development or world building, it's out! 

That's another thing I learnt from Story Engineering: Mission of the Scene. Why is this scene in your novel? It can't be in the novel just because it's nice. If a similar scene moves the plot along and helps your hero develop, is it needed? Does your hero need to show their shrinking cowardice, increasing bravery in five scenes when one would do? 

In my beat sheet, I break the scene down into four parts. I've done that as a reminder to myself that this is a small story. It's a short story about two friends meeting for the first time, two friends deciding to investigate something unusual, two friends embarking on an adventure. Whatever the scene is about, it has to have a start and a finish, even if the finish of that scene happens in another chapter.

I'm not sure if it's any good, or any use, but that's what I've done so I thought I'd share it with you.