The Book Two Posts: Episode 12: Magic Moments and Changing Characters

Dear Readers,

First, I finally finished the EverMerge Gnome challenge, so here is my "Duck Duck Gnome"!  I felt that the Gnome challenge was very fitting since I'm still writing the Gnome Sweet Gnome series. I realize that not everyone will be impressed. 😸

It has been a strange time since I published my last book. There has been every type of distraction you can think of (a pandemic, for Pete's sake!), and I'm an easily distractible person. I had a lot of things tripping me up about the current work in progress, but I finally determined that I want it finished! Don't get me wrong. I'm actually really enjoying the writing at this point. My brain is really happy with the task and living in this other world. I mean, of course, we could ALL use a vacation from the real world right now, right? So this is the best possible scenario at this point! 

The Book Two Posts: Episode 11 - Plot Twists

If you have read my earlier posts, you know that I've been organizing my office. It was also part of a huge effort to reclaim my creative space from work, which takes up far too much mental real estate, for health benefits, to take back control of my life and space, and to get back to doing what I love.

The Book Two Posts, Episode 10: Fixing Broken Chapters

As I've pointed out in previous blogs, I've been having issues with one of my plot lines. For one thing, I just didn't enjoy reading Chapter Eight at all. It was almost painful to read, and I wasn't sure why. When I would reread what I had written to get back into the flow and reached Chapter Eight, I felt like, "Oh, that chapter. Not again." I just hated it for some reason.

The Book Two Posts: Ep. 9: Over 100,000 Words and Counting

I managed to nail down the beginning of the first chapter. For months, I wasn't entirely thrilled with it. I would take it apart and rewrite it, and still didn't feel like it was right. I started deconstructing again and added another paragraph that I feel is somewhat foreboding and sufficiently sets the tone for the story. I finally had that moment where I felt like this is it.

Time and Inspiration

When I got to work this morning, I was actually entertaining the thought that I might have a chance to work on the book since I knew I had very little work when I left the night before. Unfortunately, that never happens. Every Friday, I get slammed. If there was no work the day before, they send me everything else all at once. So, instead of a possible relaxing afternoon where I could work on the book, I was busy looking at actual work. But that's okay. It was Friday.

The Book Two Posts, Ep. 8 and Organizing

The book is at nearly 98K now, and I'm currently in the process of rereading, editing, tightening, polishing, and moving things around in a way that makes sense.

There are still a few problem areas to be fixed before I'll think of it as anywhere near complete. I think that it flows well in most areas, and I'm still struggling with one or two plot threads. I'm hoping that moving things around will help solve some of the issues. It's like I already had a solution to the problem, but I wasn't making the most of it.

About Writing: Ep. 4 Taking My Time

I've listened to a few authors vlogging and blogging about writing fast or writing more slowly, and the pros and cons were discussed. I will not be rehashing their material here. This post will be mainly about my thoughts that rose to the surface as I mulled over what works for me.

The Book Two Posts Ep. 7 AND About Writing Ep. 3

Because, sometimes, it's hard to talk about progress without talking about process. 

I spent a good bit of time today rewriting the climax. There are things I forgot to add to it, and there are things I have to go back into the earlier parts of the book to add. I recently removed a chapter that was several pages long, and, even so, it's  over 96K words now. I'm not too worried about the length. I know that I will be polishing in the third draft, and, as long as it makes the best use of the words, I'm happy with it. That's what the third draft will be all about.

The Book Two Posts Ep. 6: Friday Eve and Climaxes

A lot of the time, I come up with thoughts for blog posts while I'm in the midst of doing other things. Then, they slip my mind because I'm doing other things. Life has been pretty hectic for the last, I don't know, five years? I sometimes feel like I don't even have time to day dream, which is just plain wrong.

Anyway, back to writing updates. :)

The Book Two Posts Ep. 5: Chapter Breaks

In case anyone wondered, the book is definitely a book. The word count is inching its way toward 100K, but I have plans to remove a chapter that may become a standalone short story or novelette, possibly a give-away. That's actually a good thing because, inserted into the book, it seems out of place. I've spent a good while working on the timeline and calendar, rearranging some chapters, and trying to decide if I should put my chapter breaks in different places or merge chapters.

The Book Two Posts: The Rewrite Ep. 4 and Life

I'm in the process of working on the rewrite of Book Two, and I'm at least 29 Chapters into it, which is over halfway. The good news is that I've figured out how to address an issue that I've been wrestling with.

I won't really call it a block. It's one of those things that I've been asking myself how far down this rabbit trail do I go, and is this something I should do? I was trying to figure out the best way to look at the plot. Situations like this one are where I'm faced with those thoughts I had put on the back burner to deal with later. Then it's time to, as my mother would say, fish or cut bait. You have to decide which one you want to do. Nobody can help me with those decisions. They don't know enough about where I'm coming from or where I'm going to help.

The Book Two Posts: The Rewrite Ep. 2

First of all.... I got some feedback on the first 30 pages, and it was good. 😁 She wants to know what happens next, which I think is the desired reaction. That's when I told her I can't send her the next pages right now because I'm editing them and adding a new scene.😅

About Writing Ep. 1: Things I Use for Writing

This isn't intended to be a how-to post. It's more of a discussion of craft and to give you a look at my process. There isn't a right or wrong. Just a matter of preference. I watched videos where writers discussed their favorite resources, and mine were a little different, so I thought I would throw them out there for your consideration.

The Book Two Posts: The Rewrite Ep. 1

 
I recall being filled with excitement when I had about two chapters left to write in my rough draft. I was really pleased. I had lots of stuff going on, and things were interesting. After finishing, I had planned to shelve it for a while, but I just couldn't leave it alone.

It's Done - First Draft

I've just completed the rough draft of my third novel--which totaled to just over 80K words--although the word "complete" doesn't really seem correct here. Some of the chapters, especially the denouement ones, are just kind of thrown down. Extremely coarse, gritty, rough drafts.

The End Is Near

I am two chapters away from being finished with the first draft of my third novel. Some of the chapters are very skeletal, and I'm alright with that for now. With over 280 pages so far, I am securely in novel-length territory, and I know that it will be the perfect size after I've written those two chapters and fleshed out the rest.

Good Writing

It's been a very productive weekend so far. Yesterday, I put in about 4000 words, and I'm only about 14 chapters away from finishing my rough draft, which will be about 53 chapters long.

I always have an outline, but my outline is not set in stone. Sometimes there are issues that I didn't see, or an idea may be a bit too complicated to fit in. My favorite part are the ones I didn't see coming, the things that become solutions to problems and fit so nicely while adding layers to the story I never dreamed of. After weeks of trying to force a plot and struggling to add words to the page, it's kind of a miracle how it all starts to come together.

Hopefully, this will be finished soon.

Changes to Websites

To help simplify my life, I'm making a few changes to the websites. My Emily Night and Tara Sharp websites will remain up, but I will only be blogging here on Bunny Rose Books. This way I can keep readers up to date on everything I am working on and not have one blog remain dormant while I'm working on a book for a different blog. It seems like the most logical solution at the moment. :)

So, what have I been doing?

I started Nanowrimo in November, intending to finish my second Gnome novel. Unfortunately, that was about the time the holiday season kicked up and demands on my personal time made it nearly impossible to write. I don't think it's wise for me to attempt to finish any books during a holiday period, so I won't be signing up for Nanowrimo in the future.

I'm over halfway finished with the rough drafts for each of my books, the second book in the Gnome Sweet Gnome Series and a standalone YA novel. Each one has its own set of challenges.

I've been writing mostly on the YA novel this month and working on plotting and moving things around. I am looking forward to finishing the rough draft and starting work on the rewrite.

This book started out life as a short story. I like to write a story for Halloween each year, and that was how this book began. My one issue with writing short stories is fitting everything I want to tell into the parameters of a short story. I eventually discover that my ideas are novel ideas, not short story ideas. The story grew from short story to novelette to novella. I'm pretty certain that it will be novel length before I'm finished.

Also, when I started this story, I had intended that it would be a middle grade story. However, I've since decided to raise the age of my narrator to fifteen, and some of the material in it is scary enough that I think young adult age group is justifiable.

I'll keep you posted on progress on each of the books. I'm hoping that writing goes well and that I can finish these drafts soon!