Chasm Update

Book 2 of the Gateway Trilogy, Chasm is currently with Beta Readers!

I like to get the opinion of readers in between passes by my editor, as they are ultimately who decide whether my book is successful. (Both in sales, and more importantly, in conveying the themes I'm trying to express.) It's in the "polishing" stage, meaning the story line is set, but I'm working on transitions, readability, etc... Once that's done, it goes to the proofreader.

Just thought I'd keep you posted. The book launch party is August 11th, and the novel will be available via Amazon by September 1, 2012.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

I'm not Gonna Lie...

It's been rough going this past week. I came back from Europe feeling invigorated and inspired, and then... I'm not sure what happened. Maybe it was just life that happened. I started feeling less than thrilled with what I was writing. Then I had a relationship rift I needed to heal. You know how draining that can be. The next day came the $1100 tax bill from incorrectly reporting my earnings in 2009.

I gave myself a couple of days to check out and recover, but it's been a few, and I haven't. I still feel blah and I still am not excited about where my story is going, even though logically, I think it's going in the right direction. I've just lost the juice, the passion to get the words down on paper and I'm afraid that I might not find it anytime soon.

And it's not just a passion for writing, I'm kind of feeling turned off by most things, which is a red alert for someone who suffers from depression. I'm doing my best to weather the storm and I hope it doesn't last too long.

On Scrapping Most of My First Draft

I was talking with a good friend about how I wouldn't be using the majority of what I'd written for the first draft of Book 2 and she reminded me of a story about an artist (who's name escapes me) that would paint an entire tree, even if the final piece would only depict a few limbs. When asked why he would do all of that extra work he said that if he didn't paint the whole tree, how would he know where the branches belonged?


This was comforting, because I know that even if I don't use much of what I've written, it all serves the overall story. I got a better understanding of some new characters, and found ways to increase tension in the plot. Ultimately, I'm changing things because I think it will make for a better novel, which makes the effort worth it.


So, I'm busy with draft 2, even if half of it will really be a first draft. Wish me luck!

Outlining Versus Winging It Redux

So, in a recent post I discussed the differences between plotting out a novel in its entirety and going with the flow to see where the story takes you. At the time I was planning to try detailed outlining, thinking it might save me from the dreaded "shitty first draft" by replacing it with the "shitty first outline." My reasoning being it would be easier to fix an outline than a draft.


Well, after two weeks of frustration, I'm admitting defeat. I am not an outliner. I went around in circles on the same plot points. Which isn't to say the experiment was a total loss, in fact I have a rough outline for the next two novels of The Gateway Series, but I was simply unable to move beyond a certain point.


Yesterday I sat down for a long day of writing, and using the notes I'd made, banged out over 2500 words. What seems to work for me is to have a general plot sketch and then let the story evolve as I go. Before I write each scene I plot out what needs to happen in the scene and what the character motivations are, their goals, etc. So I'm essentially outlining, but I can only get so far ahead of myself. I'm reminded of this quote:


"It's like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."        ~E.L. Doctorow


Shitty first draft, here I come!

Formatting Woes

So frustrated… Even after paying for formatting of my novel, Gateway, I recently discovered that a handful of my italicized phrases didn’t end up italicized. This wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that my heroine hears a “Voice” and I used the italics to differentiate between her thoughts, and Its thoughts. I've fixed the problem, but the book has been on sale for a month, so scores of people got a version that I’m sure is confusing. Heartbreaking… Anyone who thinks self-publishing is easy, either hasn't done it or doesn’t care about putting out a quality product.

Outlining Versus Winging It

It's an age old debate among writers: Is it better to plot out the details of a novel before actually writing it, or start with a solid idea and maybe some character sketches and see where the story takes you?

I've definitely done the "no outline" approach. When I completed the first draft of my novel, Gateway, I was participating in NaNoWriMo, which is the absolute definition of winging it. I plotted as I went, going with the flow and getting those words down. At the end of it, I certainly felt accomplished--I'd finished draft one of my first novel! I also had a feeling that half of what I'd written was a steaming pile of crap. And it was. Which doesn't mean I'm not profoundly grateful for my NaNoWriMo experience. Half of it might have been crap, but the other half varied from meh to pretty good. The core of the story remained the same in subsequent rewrites, though several plot points changed and became stronger.

I came to realize that I had the same issue with writing my novel that I had with writing screenplays. My characters and dialogue were good, but my plotting, specifically in the middle of my book, needed vast improvement. The beginning and the end were strong, but the middle portion fell flat. There was a raising of stakes, but not enough.

In draft 2 I made lateral moves, changing plot elements, but not necessarily strengthening them. Between the 2nd and 3rd drafts I read some books that really enlightened me. One was Plot and Structure. Another was Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. The first was very helpful. The second was demoralizing, but also helpful. What a blessing and a curse to see all the cliche, amateur mistakes I'd made! Having written multiple screenplays, even having been paid for one, I didn't consider myself an amateur, but I sure had made some of the mistakes of one. Having an editor read the 2nd draft and give me excellent notes was also invaluable. Needless to say, draft 3 was much stronger.

So, what does this have to do with outlining?

Well, last year I picked up another book: First Draft in 30 Days. Unlike the NanoWriMo method, (which, again, I take no issue with) this book advises outlining, and I find myself being won over. Here's why: My main issue is with plotting. I did some major re-writes during drafts 2 and 3 that I think I could have saved myself with a very detailed outline. In essence, this outline replaces the first draft. It will be 30+ pages  by the time I've finished, with every scene mapped out, including objectives, character points of view, etc... Just today I came up with two plot points I'd like to incorporate that I think will strengthen the novel and propel the story to book 3. Had I simply started writing, I'd have to go back and alter all of the scenes which pertained to said plot point changes. (Dialogue, actions, reactions) Now I just need to change a few sentences of an outline.

All this isn't to say that outlining is better than not outlining. I think it depends on what genre you are writing and what you know your writing strengths and weaknesses to be. If you aren't sure yet, just go with whatever feels right for you, and then re-evaluate once you've read the results. I'm very glad I did the freeform NaNoWriMo way. I don't think I'd have finished my novel without that quick first draft. I haven't ruled out doing NanoWriMo again this year, in fact. For book 2 in The Gateway Series, however, I'm trying the detailed outline method. Once I've done it both ways I can make an informed decision on what works best for me.

How about you? Do you like outlining, winging it, or a combination of both?

Ebook Promotion

Below is a link to JA Konrath's blog where he lists the self-promotion tools that worked for him:

What Works: Promo for Ebooks

If you aren't subscribing to Konrath's blog, you should be. (Assuming you're interested in self-publishing) He's very generous with his knowledge. Not to mention, the guy is prolific...