First of all...
Wheee! I got a happy email from Agent Laura concerning my revision which means that I can stop holding my breath (and let me tell you, you store up a LOT of oxygen holding your breath for a week)!!!
So now I'm just tampering with some last minute details which means I'm moving toward the next step in this whole publishing process and that makes me SO BEYOND excited I don't know what to do with myself.
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!
But now onto the point of this post. Just to recap for anyone who doesn't know, it basically took me 5 years (of active writing) to figure out not only how to write a novel, but how I write a novel. And when I stumbled on what I believed to be the magic formula this summer--banging out (or rather word vomiting) STOLEN in 6 weeks, I thought YES! THIS is how I shall write every book I write from now on forever.
BUT, I'm having some serious issues recreating that formula.
So I've been considering WHY I can't replicate my book writing strategy:
A) I'm still working on book 1 and mentally have not been able to move onto book 2
B) I'm le scared
C) I've been abducted by aliens and had my brain reprogrammed to write my novels in a new way
D) I'm in denial that every book is different
E) All of the above
F) None of the above
Personally, I think it's a mix of A & B, but you never know. So for all of you seasoned novelists (those wise folks who have written *gasp* more than one book) what have you discovered?
Did you use the same technique every time?
Plotting?
Pantsing?
Loose outlines?
Tight as night outlines? (What is tight as night? I have no clue but it sounded good)
Or did your formula vary? I am very curious!
I just got my critique back on my latest ms too! Now I'm editing... As for how I write my books, I have a routine now, though it took about five books to get it down. I like a loose outline that I can use as a guide to keep me on track but that I can also tweak and play with too. Once that is done I hand write everything in a notebook~the paper kind~(cause I can take it everywhere with me) then that night or the next day I enter it into my computer. Works like a charm! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteFor me, every book has been a little different. Because the things faced in each one are different and what is going on in my life while writing is different and definitely has an impact.
ReplyDeleteI outline, but my outlines are usually very loose, and after I start writing, I tend to go with where the characters lead and look at the outline again after I finish. But even the outlines themselves and how closely I stick to the outline has changed for me with each book.
Good luck to you with finding your writing groove for book 2.
I have not written multiple novels, obviously, but being the super-cool person that I am, I have written multiple 50,000+ words fanfiction stories. (Like I said, I'm cool.) And even for those, I found that I needed a different strategy for each one. Sometimes it depended on the character--different one are more forthcoming about what's going on in their lives. Sometimes it's the plot itself--sometimes I could hold it all in my head, but other times I needed to write it out in detail to figure out the point of the story.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on progressing through the steps. I'm sure once you find your rhythm with the new book the flow will come.
ReplyDeleteHeather, Yay congrats on your critique and editing! I think I like a medium outline--I like to know what will happen in each chapter, every secret revealed, every question asked, every major plot point and where it ends, but otherwise I make stuff up as I go along and I do tweak as I go along too and then change everything. I can't believe you handwrite! OMG!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLK--WOOT you are commenting on my blog! EPIC! Hmmmm I feel like that happens to me a bit too, but my characters don't really go in a different direction than I planned, they just sometimes take a different route to get there.
Sara, hehehe I have to concur that you ARE super cool, and super fly!
Charmaine, what an awesome name! And thank you for commenting and I hope you are right:-)
I think it's mainly that you're distracted by the thought of a super-cool mixer sometime in July or August. Just a thought....
ReplyDelete:D
Obviously! I can hardly think about anything else. Every writer/blogger in Philly better get together soon or I'll never write again! Le Sigh!
ReplyDeleteHmm, well every writer has a certain style that he/she goes by when it comes to writing a book. I guess you have to balance between keeping your style and preventing every book you write from sounding the same/similar. That's still a struggle for me at times.
ReplyDelete~TRA
http://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com
TRA, thats true and important to remember, although Im not that concerned with that actual style issue at the moment since Im working on a sequel so it needs to sound pretty similar, but Im very concerned with the style of my method of getting there.
ReplyDeleteI think it probably is a bit of A and B, but once you calm down a bit you'll settle into what works for you.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it takes not thinking about writing for a bit, get out and play, people watch, do other creative and fun things.
Read.
Jot down ideas for number 2 in a notebook, as they come to you....eventually the juice will flow.
You'll find your way.
I've only been writing fiction intensely for one year, so every new project that comes along is a new way of doing stuff, building on the old.
ReplyDeleteHey congrats on getting your happy email!
Lola, thanks! What's funny is I actually know everything that's going to happen, I'm just weirded out by the fact that its all in my head and not in a word document. But maybe that's enough, knowing in my mind...or Ill calm down and write my plan out. I like having things on paper. Easier to read than my own mind;)
ReplyDeleteLydia, thank you!!
Yay for getting the email and being able to breathe. Wouldn't you hold in carbon dioxide if you hold your breath? oh right... that's not the point.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if my answer is as useful since I'm not at the send out stage even, but I do very different novels. So, I don't have an exact formula.
My romance/erotica draft was done in one month, well except last two chapters, but I'd spend the month before outlining and such. Mutant novels are very different, YA & adult, with both fast and slow writing. Supernatural war books go formal in tone. So, I just plain write different stuff overall.
I'm sure whatever it is, you'll get there in the end.
Dawn, lol yeah.....I thought of that after I hit publish and thought about changing it and then decided....I'll let it go. Theoretically I'd be holding in the oxygen I had previously acquired before the breath holding....but yeah the CO2 would accumulate. Also thanks for the insight into your various styles:)
ReplyDeleteI've been all over the place. I tried outlining and failed. I tried winging it and failed (as well as succeeded). The last book I finished had a loose outline, including chapter summaries (which was the first time I've ever used them) and it was a roaring success. With my new WiP I have a basic idea of where I want to go but other then that I'm winging it. I've come to realise every book is going to be different so I'll just try my best. If I feel like I should outline, I will. If I feel the best process is winging it, I'll do that instead.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the happy email. And breathe. lol.
ReplyDeleteI'm still on my first complete MS but I'm a pantser.
I can only focus on on wip at a time. If I have other ideas I start a new document, type out the idea and leave it alone.
I've tried outlines but I find I just know how it starts, the middle and end.
Revision is another story. lol.
So I'm not at this level yet but am thinking of writing another story. I'm trying to figure out how to approach it. Not sure what to tell you--sorry.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the edits and good luck.
I want to hear more about the mixer.
Jade, YES chapter summaries were exactly how I wrote the last novel.
ReplyDeleteLindsay, thank you and wow you're a pantser. That boggles my mind! I think Im the same way though about focusing--one at a time, which will have to change soon, or at least become a more flexible.
Christine, thank you! Oh and all the writers/bloggers in the Philly area are trying to get together--are you near Philly? You'd be more than welcome to come!!
I usually plot from the start, but things have been different while I'm trying to plot a sequel. I keep wanting to write by the seat of my pants. It's like the ideas don't come unless I'm sitting down typing.
ReplyDeleteVery strange.
Good luck!
I just want to say that I think it's unfair that you didn't even give C a chance. I'm pretty sure that happens to me on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Tere, Im working on the sequel too, maybe that's why.
ReplyDeleteJEM,LOL yea you're probably right...maybe I've seen you up there?
I enter it into my computer. Works like a charm! Good luck!
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