Sunday, June 26, 2011

Lessons Learned

Now the work begins. I've finished the first draft. I just made it to my word count goal. But I think it will continue to climb, no worries.

The differnce between That Girl and Bum's Rush are a lesson well learned. Bum's Rush took me three to four years to complete, then another six months for editing and publishing. I went from 90K word count to just over 70K word count. It was my first novel and will always be special to me. That Girl The first Draft took six months to complete. I don't know how long rewrites and edits will take, but I guarantee it won't be three years.

What did I do differently? Well, for That Girl, I started with a plan and made an outline. Though I haven't looked at that outline for a few months, it got me started and started quickly. The outline took weeks to complete, but it really sped up the process. The next difference is I just wrote. I admit to weakening and rewriting some of the first chapters, but for the most part I sat down and wrote without editing. There are other difference, but these are the time savers.

A lot of work lies ahead, but it should go fairly fast. I haven't made a deadline, deadlines for me are hazardous. You put a limit on something and that's all you're thinking about instead of thinking about writing. It adds a lot of pressure and promotes procrastination. I'm guessing it should be done by Christmas, maybe before. Ya'll will be the first to know about it, though.

Take care and stay dry.

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12 comments:

  1. That would make a great Christmas present for yourself!
    I agree with the outline sentiments. Things seem to progress quicker with a road map.

    Good post, and good luck!

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  2. Awesome. It is so hard for me not to edit as I go along, so I'm impressed you accomplished gagging the internal editor so you could just write. Have you removed the gag yet, to do the revisions? Was the inner editor mad? :)

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  3. I love the rewrites. It's where I get to be creative. All I had done previously was to put words on paper, anyone can do that. Now I get to add character to the story, separate personalities, build a world for them to live in without worrying if I'm ever going to get to the end. But gagging the inner editor was a precess like grabbing myself by the neck and throwing myself against a wall.

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  4. How awesome your new ms only took 6 months to write. Sounds like your plan worked!

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  5. Congratulations on finishing your first draft! That's always the best feeling. Good luck with rewrites. I think they are toughest part of the writing process, but rewriting is where you prove your meddle as a writer.

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  6. So it's normal for the outline to take awhile to complete. That's makes me feel better. I love your writing journey. It sounds a lot like mine. I'm currently polishing edits from betas for my YA novel to resub to an interested agent. I'm also starting a new MG series, but am stumped at the moment. Maybe reworking the outline would help.

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  7. Thanks for sharing your writing journey with all of us. Congratulations on finishing your first draft!

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  8. Good luck finishing by December:)

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  9. Congratulations and good luck, I admire authors because they create something out of nothing.

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  10. I am jealous. It seems like I will never finish my first draft! But that is just what it seems like. Well done.

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  11. Congratulations on getting this far! It definitely feels like the real work comes in after that first draft is done. Good luck with it!

    Tina @ Life is Good
    and I are joining forces in a followup A to Z challenge. We're going to visit and comment at each of the original A to Z participants, and we hope you'll join us!

    Shannon @ The Warrior Muse

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  12. Reading this has made me realize that what I've written is a first draft and that's so encouraging. I'm thoroughly enjoying reading this.
    Valli (the daft nut behind NyXy and other characters)

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