Writing, Revising, and Publishing

Note: If you are wondering about the story behind Mom Novelist with a Deadline, click here for my Confession.

I'm still in the middle of finishing up my Fourth Self-Published Book. For the last month, my Saturdays and Sundays have looked like this:
Where can I get this? Seriously.

 Dust bunnies the size of The Easter Bunny are everywhere. The toilets are a week overdue in needing to be cleaned.
I wish I was bionic sometimes.

But I have not been slacking. I've been putting in time at The Day Job, time at The Momming, time on The Treadmill, and time at Writing/Revising/Drafting/Rethinking.
The Post-Draft 4 Checklist
The Pre-Draft 6 Checklist
"Procrastinating" by creating covers

The revision food. That I consumed way too quickly!
What exactly does the writing process look for like for me? I broke it down:

 Fast-Writing (July 11-15)
I fast wrote this story, thinking it would be an 8,000-word story. I wrote 6,000 words. (I try to get to  2/3 to 3/4 the number of words I'll need. You'll see why soon enough.)

 Fast-Writing Other Stories
July 15-July 19 (Next book in the Rent a Man Series)
July 26-August 6 (Next book in the His Favorite Series)
I fast wrote other stories, giving BMRAM: Glampfest! a breather.

 Draft 2 (August 10-August 15)
I proofread and I revised to create Draft 2. I didn't use notes, but I just read for, well, my insane moments, i.e., I tried to fix the parts that looked like a first grader had transitioned and plotted and characterized. I didn't perfect anything, and I embraced this knowledge. 

To attack this task, I imported Draft 1 into Scrivener and worked chapter by chapter so my brain didn't become overwhelmed and explode. My word count at the end: 8,000.

 I Sent to Alpha Readers. This is where my critique partners* read through my story and tell me who they hate and what they hate. Very, very valuable information. *They have been my CPs for 10 years. We're online CPs now, since they live in Phoenix and I don't anymore.

 Draft 3 (August 26-September 3)
I created a list of everything that was missing after the initial post-Draft 2 read-through. I looked through my revision checklist that I had gathered from multiple writing books, and I put down ideas for tackling those revisions. 

Example: Make Anna charming and likeable.

I inputted those notes to create Draft 3. I put the story back into Word and began formatting it for Createspace. My word count at the end: 10,000.

 Draft 4 (September 3-September 5)
I put the story on my iPad as a PDF. I read off of that but wrote notes on a legal pad (there were too many notes to put directly on the PDF--talk about creating the feeling of "Overwhelmed!" if I had done that!). 

I proofread and revised. I also changed the name from Labor Day to Glampfest. (Labor Day had passed. I didn't want to date it.)

 Editor. This is where big picture stuff and really confusing phrasing is caught.

 Draft 5 (September 6-September 7)
I proofread and revised superficially for Draft 5. I created my last checklist.

Draft 6 (September 7-September 9)
I proofread and revised for Draft 6, inputting things from that last checklist. 

Example from last checklist: Insert more of the mother's voice in Maggie's head.

My word count at the end: 22,000.

 What's Left:

Draft 7
-Print out on paper. (My fourth method: the other three methods were Scrivener, Word, and PDF on my iPad.) -Proofread aloud. 
-Fix as I go.

 -Import into Scrivener.

 -Create a Mobi to look for formatting issues.

 I Will Send MOBI to Omega Readers.These are romance readers who like romance and aren't overthinking like a writer would be.

 Draft 8
Input edits from Omegas.

 The Finish Line
I will insert changes. I will publish. I will be awesome.

The entities I'd like to thank for helping push me make these deadlines and creating a better story:
Writing Challenge: http://writingchallenge.org/septwritingchallenge-badge/

Follow on Twitter with #SeptWritingChallenge

Cherry Adair's Butt in Chair Challenge: https://www.facebook.com/groups/686209854724056/

 After I publish the book (September 15 is my go-to date!), I shall be doing this:


That. Looks. Ah-mazing.

 Because I have a LOT to choose from (this is just 9 of 52 on my Kindle):
Oh where oh where do I start. Me thinks the novella, 
Beginning Again, since I'm in the midst of Novella City.

 So yes, I am still revising. I had hoped to be done by September 1, but there was too much yet to do. 

Then I aimed for September 8, but my energy wasn't up to par with my optimistic expectations (I have to get to bed by 1 am or I'm useless). 

I would be ready by September 11, but that's a day that I don't want to launch anything on, out of respect for the day.

 (Bad segue alert.) Both of my leads, by the way, are Gingers:
Maggie and Bugs are both redheads. Sparks, sparks, and more sparks!

 Too bad I couldn't have had my story done by on those dates. Maybe once the days are 48 hours long... Or, I could live on Venus. The day there is 116 days long. Um, yes please!

 Until next Sunday! (The Eve of the Launch!)


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Contemplating, Reassessing, and Regrouping

Image
A Review of What I Did: Writing, Revising & Publishing  Bad Mom Rents a Man: Glampfest! Easy enough. o_O On September 15, I published my fourth story since I started my self-publishing journey in July 2013. This was my sixth published book (the first two were written for Dutton) and it was my seventh completed manuscript (that first one, an amateur sleuth, may see the light of day if I can ever figure out the hook!). This post is about what I learned this time around in terms of writing, revising, and publishing. Writing This was one of three books I fast-wrote in July. I wrote approximately 40,000 words in about three weeks, even while on a 10-day vacation. I've never done this method before, but so far, so good.  Why I liked the new way I was writing: -I would sit down and know I was just writing down words that were going to get better one day. Not then, just one day. And so I wrote. Sometimes, I would hit my daily goal of 2,500 words in one hour...
Read more

You Have a First Draft! Um, Now What?

Image
The confession behind this blog: Read here.     This is what my November looked like, as I think most writers' lives (those with a deadline or who were competing in NaNoWriMo) looked like. Writing in the kitchen, drinking hot chocolate Writing in the Starbucks, drinking a skinny hazelnut latte Writing in the bedroom, drinking up the words Writing in the dining room, drinking water Writing in the family room, drinking them in Writing in the office, at the desk, most likely drinking Diet Dr. Pepper Writing in the office, on the sofa, definitely drinking Diet Dr. Pepper All that writing and now you're done. DONE! Now, though, what should you do? -Put it in a drawer? -Put it on Amazon? -Put it in the mail to whoever that was who published JK Rowling? This one's easy. I'll give you a minute. Got the answer? Okay, here it is… … … … Put it in a drawer. Everyone . Enjoy the month that is Dec...
Read more

Interviewing My Story, Finding the Plot Thread, and Understanding My Characters

Image
The confession behind this blog: Read here.  This week, I had a major break-through: I DON'T NEED TO WRITE AN OUTLINE BEFORE I WRITE THE BOOK. Yes. That's right. The pre-writing tool we've been told must be done before we write anything? It has now become a post-writing tool. And I thank my years of teaching college English courses. What I Used to Do This was a majorly mind-blowingly development. I had always done (or rather, NOT done and felt guilty about not doing it) proper outlines and character interviews pre-Draft 1. I thought pre-writing was for anal idiots, and I was not an idiot.  I wanted to jump into the story. Feet first, of course. (Because I was not an idiot.) This is not to say I write by the seat of my pants. I always need a plan, a Pinterest Board, a Polyvore collage.  I just don't want a 100-pages of outlines and character notes. Or, as I call it. The Book Before the Book. And yes, I would write an outline of s...
Read more