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Hey Nerds!
Sorry for the gap! I dove deep into writing and was so caught up I forgot to post! I’m back to discuss the first step in my revision process. During the month of October, I’ll go over how I plot my upcoming novels as I prepare for NaNoWriMo in November. I tell you this because at this point I already have my characters outlined. I do this while I’m in the planning stage of my novel, but after I finish my first draft, I always return to those character outlines. As I’m writing, I may discover a facet to a character I might not have thought of originally, or the character may have evolved from the original outline I did. Also, new characters tend to insert themselves into the story as I go along. I will add these characters in and flesh them out. I use the books created by Writers Helping Writers to work through my character traits, both negative and positive, as well as their emotional wounds. You can find these books here. This is one of the quickest parts of my revision process, because most of the work is already done. This step usually doesn’t take too long, having done most of the work during the brainstorming portion, but it is extremely important in making sure that my characters are dynamic and believable. Once I cross my T’s and dot my I’s with my characters, I move on to plotting. Hey nerds!
Camp NaNoWriMo is officially over and can I just tell you I am relieved! While I am my most productive self during NaNo events, by the end I am plain Jane exhausted. My goal was to draft my novel, The Lovers, which I set at around 50,000 words. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m a light drafter. While I plot and outline, I am still a discovery writer at heart. So my first draft ends up being the main beats of the story and any scenes that jumped out to me while I was writing. While it is common practice to let a novel “sit” for a while after drafting before revisions, I have found that doesn’t work for me, at least not at this stage. I’ve found a way that works for me and it involves immediately diving back into edits after getting my first draft down. Now, I’m sure my drafting and revision style will evolve as I continue to evolve as a writer, but this month I’m going to walk you through my revision of The Lovers. The very first thing I do when I am revising is to set goals. My first goal is to have the novel ready for beta readers by the end of September. Now, I know what you’re thinking: yes, that is a very ambitious goal. I am using this blog to hold myself accountable. Also, this novel is the one I’m using for my thesis for my graduate school program, so that has a deadline of its own. Now that I have my main goal, I break my goal into smaller parts.
Wish me luck, y’all. I’m going to need it.  July flew by. I can’t say I’m sad about that since the months of social distancing due to the pandemic have been, for the most part, slow. But, here we are about to enter August which means it’s time to round up my July reads. I had been feeling pretty down about the number of books I was reading, but now that I have them gathered in one place I can see that it isn’t as bad as I thought it was. Mind you, I do listen to about half of my books but I do what I can with a ten-month-old running around. Fable by Adrienne Young. I received this book through the Goodreads Giveaways section. I never win anything, so I was ecstatic to find out that I not only won a book, but it was an ARC for Adrienne Young’s new book. I first fell in love with Young when I read Sky in the Deep (Fiske...be still my heart) and Fable did not disappoint. I cannot wait until the second book, Namesake is out. Look for Fable this September.  Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2) by Cassandra Clare. Originally I was going to wait to read the final book in Sequel September, but by the time I finished this, I was too anxious to wait.  Muse of Nightnames (Strange the Dreamer #2) by Laini Taylor. I know most of you don’t know me yet, but I have a love for Laini Taylor that runs deep into my soul. If you’re looking for excellent writing, slow-burn romances, artfully developed character arcs, and exquisite worldbuilding, Taylor’s books deliver every time.  Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. By the end of this list, you may notice that I’m on a bit of a Jay Kristoff kick. This was the first of his books I read this month and it was a wild ride. I listened to the audiobook and it was a little hard to follow at first, since the whole book is written as a series of reports, but thrilling once I got into it. I really appreciate that it was performed by a full cast.  Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle, #1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. This took me a little bit to get into, maybe because it was in a similar vein as Illuminae and I went from that directly to this, but it was wild by the end. I cannot wait to read Aurora Burning.  LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff This was another book that took me a little bit to get into. I love science fiction, but the worldbuilding portion takes me a while to wrap my head around, but I was thrown for a loop by the end and I will be reading DEV1AT3 in September for sure.  Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3) by Cassandra Clare A lovely ending to the trilogy.
Most links (not affiliate links) are to my favorite local bookstore, Malaprop’s, here in Downtown Asheville. I love independent bookstores. What are you reading? |
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