Hey all, welcome back, hope you all had a great weekend. I’m going to jump right in, because I’m so excited to announce that I have finished the first draft of my book! Woo-hoo!
I still can’t believe it’s done and of course now the hard work really needs to happen, the serious editing. If you’ve been following along here, you know that I’ve been editing like crazy throughout this process including over the course of five rereads of the manuscript. However, just as I feared, I went over the word count goal. Not even by a little bit either.
From doing all of my research on how to get published traditionally, when submitting to a literary agent, there is a magical word count number that will get you noticed. Depending on the genre and the agent, it can be from 80,000 to 140,000 with the sweet spot being about 100,000. Mine isn’t even close to this.
When I checked my count, I was more than shocked to find that since April, I have written, (are you ready?) 437,404 words! And no, that is not a typo.
I knew I was in trouble when I was combining the chapters into one document and Google docs wouldn’t allow any more chapters into it. Did you know that there is a 1.5mil character limit in docs? Well, now you do. And so do I! I had to break the book up into two separate files.
I’ve done editing work in the past for others and have been brutal when I needed to be. But this is my own work. To me, every word is needed for the story to unfold properly. I’m now rethinking this of course. It is unbelievable to me that I have to cut almost 340,000 words of my own work. I have only rarely in my life used the word unfathomable, but I think this occasion calls for it.
Apparently I write the way I talk and if you know me in person, you know this to be true.
So now comes phase two. Lots of cutting, lots of red ink on printed pages and lots of my work going down the drain as I figure out how to shape this story into something that will not only get the attention of an agent, but will make sense and be readable to my future audience. To say that I’m totally screwed is an understatement but I am up for the challenge!
Of course the real challenge is also going to be not writing the sequel while I’m editing this one…although I have thought about using what I cut from this work in the next book. Seems sensible, no?
Anywhoo, that’s what’s going on here. While I’m more than happy and ecstatic that this book is now in its next phase, I’m already panicked about the work that needs to be done. For now? I’m going to enjoy the accomplishment and maybe, take the night off.
And that is where I’m leaving you for today. Until next time…cheers! ☺️
Hey guys, welcome back! I want to take a second to say thank you to everyone who has been reading my ramblings. It means so much that you come to see what’s been going on and those who keep coming back? I love you guys! I do hope that means that you’ve been getting something out of what I’ve been writing about. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I never take for granted those who support myself and this site. It is more than appreciated. ☺️
And now, the ramblings!
In my previous post I was talking about all the rereads of my manuscript that I’ve been doing. What I failed to mention is that because of reading it over and over, I haven’t been doing a lot of actual writing. I had stalled out with coming up with the last chapters. So I figured if I read the book all over again, it would not only spark ideas, but would also be a chance for more edits.
I had been adding to the book during editing, so in that respect, I have written a sentence here…a few words there. However, over the last two days, I’ve written a chapter and a half and it feels so good to be writing again!
Creativity is a tricky thing. I don’t care what your thing is. Meaning, whether you write music or books, create ceramics or works on canvas, make jewelry or bookmarks (that is also me), we ALL go through blocks. I made jewelry for over twenty years and there would be months when nothing would come to me. No ideas whatsoever. Then suddenly, I’d get a burst of creative energy and I’d make ten pieces in a few hours. The spark will come back, it’s really the definition of ‘trusting the process.’
I wrote an article for LinkedIn years ago, (I’ll post the link below), called Creatives Inspire Creatives. It really is so true. I could look at a photograph and get inspired because of the way the photographer made me feel. I could read another author’s book and suddenly an idea, (that has nothing to do with what I’m reading by the way, just want to make that clear), will hit me. We feed off of each other. There is something about the creative mind that attracts others and for that, I am truly grateful.
I’m currently reading a favorite book series for the third time. The latest in the series came out this week and I wanted to familiarize myself with all the characters again. Thanks to the second book, I found where I needed to go with my own characters. Again, not taking anything from this author, it’s just that while I’m reading, my mind frees up and suddenly I get inspired. Not only that, I’ve been paying attention to how the books flow from one to the other as I’ve decided to make my current book its own series. I’m constantly learning from other authors and I highly recommend doing that. I also pay serious attention to the acknowledgments at the end of the book to see who they thank. Their agent’s name, publishing house, editors, everyone. It helps me to look them up and see if they are looking for submissions and if they’d be a good fit for my work.
Speaking of getting inspired by other authors, thanks to #Booktok, I’ve become online friends with several others out there. I can’t tell you what a relief it is to see posts that, while funny as hell sometimes, completely sum up what the writing process is like. From banging a head on a desk hoping to jog the mind into an idea, to trying to come up with a one hundred word author bio, to yelling into pillows when things just aren’t going right that day…it’s been like therapy for me. Booktok does for me what I hope this site does for you. Make me realize that I’m not alone in the struggle. We all go through our own little breakdowns now and then and we need to know that it’s not just us. I mentioned a few posts ago that I was battling the three hundred word summary for my submission emails. I was thankful as hell to see that MANY other authors out there had the same issue. So hey, it’s not just me! (And it’s not just you either.)
Booktok is also a great place to discover your next read. Sooooo many book recommendations out there and many by indie authors trying to get their work into more hands. I’ve discovered lots of new authors who are doing their best to hustle and show the world that months or even years worth of work are ready to be enjoyed. If you are a reader and want to check it out? There’s several hashtags to be used on TikTok to join the fun! #booktok #bookish #readng #booktokfyp and so many more. You can even narrow it down by genre: #romancebooks #darkfiction etc.
And that’s where I will leave you for today! Again, I thank you for being here and hope you’ve gotten something out of this post!
Have a great weekend! Until next time…
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If you’d like to follow me on social, including my own #booktok, shop my shops (including shopping directly through my linktree): linktr.ee/promosocially
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To read my article, Creatives Inspire Creatives click: HERE
(to see other past articles, hit the ‘past works’ on this site)
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Find a new title on Booktok that you want to check out but don’t want click one of my Amazon links to get it? That’s ok! I’m a PangoBooks Ambassador! It is a great app/site where you can buy used books nice and cheap!! I got two for $1.38 each on my first order!! Use my link to get $5 off your first order, click: HERE
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Looking for some fun Halloween tshirts and stuff? Be sure to check out my various shops with designs done by me: linktr.ee/stuffwemade
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The book series I mentioned above is the one by author Laurie Gilmore. Book one is The Pumpkin Spice Cafe. Just a note on this series…the covers are cute and cozy, the stories are small town romance and there is a bit of spice to them. So make sure the kids don’t think it’s something for them! (Never judge a book by it’s cover is so true here.) Bonus FYI…if you are an ebook reader, as of this post, you can get a FREE copy for Kindle/Kindle app through Prime Reading. For all formats click: HERE
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By the way, I’ve been trying to sell a domain for a few years now and the name would be perfect for fantasy writers, musicians, medieval folks, even Harry Potter fans. It was my old jewelry site that I shut down a while ago and I’d really like it to sell so I can stop paying for it. I’m not responsible for the pricing, but you can find out more: TheGoblet.com
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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you!! Being a ‘starving artist’ means every time you click on stuff on the site or donate to my Ko-Fi, it helps to support my site (and me too). I thank you again for being here and will see you again real soon. 🍁
Hey guys, welcome back! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I know we here in the Northeast for the most part had great weather. Of course, we here know that can change hour by hour so we revel in it when it’s good. Especially this time of the year!
I’ve personally still been sick. I had posted a few weeks back that I was dealing with something and this has been with me since. Ironically, it’s been going on just as I hit the anniversary of when my life was changed by illness. If you’ve read my ‘Bit of Personal History’ page in the About section of this site, you know that I’ve had quite a health journey over the last 9 years. (Ok the page still says 6, but that’s because I wrote it three years ago.) Well, this particular illness now is hanging on and it’s been frustrating as hell. Not that it is stopping me from writing and working on my book, but still, this happening at my favorite time of the year is really pissing me off. Sorry, but it is. But on to other things…
I’ve mentioned several times that I’m in a cycle of reading and rereading and rereading my manuscript. I’ve become rather obsessive doing this and again I want to drive this point home…YOU CAN NEVER READ YOUR OWN WORK ENOUGH!
Even with going on more than several times of reading this book, I keep finding things to fix, to add, to cut and of course, the dreaded missed typos that I may have missed the other eight or nine times I’ve read the thing. That’s ok though. What I’m finding, is that the jokes are still landing. The tears, both happy and sad, still fall in the right places and I’m genuinely surprised at lines I’ve written several months ago. I go into each read through fresh and I think that is helping the process.
I just finished another one right before I started to write this post. Sure enough, the last few chapters (not the ending, I’ll get to that in a minute), had me all over the emotional map and I was feeling all the feelings. I’d been waiting to read these last few for days, having been stuck on a few previous chapters for over a week, reworking them quite a bit. So when I got to these last ones, I surprised myself with what I had written. It had been a while since I read them and while I was dreading them, I ended up being happy with what was on the pages.
Let me go back a second…not dreading them in the sense that I thought they were bad. Just that they were the newest I had written and so little had been edited. Plus, to be honest, I hadn’t read through the last five or so chapters. I honestly forgot a lot of what was there. However, I’m glad I did because I really am happy with how this story has progressed and now that I’ve done this latest read? It is time to start gearing up for the finish line.
I’m not looking forward to finishing this book. I know I’ve said that several times that I don’t want the story to end. However, the past couple of days, I’ve come up with what I think will be the ending for this one and how I can bring these characters back for a sequel/series. It is finally starting to come together in my head and the only problem with that of course, is that I want to start writing the next book! Of course, I still have to finish both this one and finish editing my first novel. And that one needs a tremendous amount of work. Plus, I don’t want to leave these current characters. If I go back to my previous book, I will lose the momentum of this current one…really I’ve written myself into a vicious cycle.
This is the problem that I know a lot of us have. We get more story ideas and soon, our files are filled with started books, while very few are finished. That’s me. Right here. If you were to go into my docs, you’d find quite a few novels begun and only one fully completed.
I’m so determined to finish this current one and get it sent off with my query letter as soon as I can. I’m getting excited for it now. I really am. I know there’s still a lot of formatting, cuts and more to happen before I can send it off, but just knowing that it’s getting close is keeping me going! (It also makes me a little nauseous as well from nerves, but hey that’s life right?)
I would love to say what a great thing it is to have so many ideas. In many ways, it is. But it can also be more than overwhelming. For myself, it reminds me to take a step back. Reevaluate what’s important right now. I’m big on pro/con lists. I’m also big at writing down new ideas until they are out of my head, thus the several started novels in my docs files. (Insert head slap here.) This is where I should mention that I also keep reading a ton to get my mind off of all of this. The beauty of that of course is that it clears my mind for what’s next. So whether it’s reading, going for a run, watching a ball game or binging a show, doing something else can clear your head and find the answer you need. For me, while reading another book, out of nowhere I was sparked with the idea for my ending. I know a marketing guy who used to get his ideas from running. Creatives need other outlets to fuel their work. Right now, if my other outlets could help me get to my own finish line? I will be forever grateful.
And that is where I will leave you for today. Thank you so much for being here and following! Until next time…Cheers!
(you can also shop my linktree shop through there as well)
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If you’d like to help support the site, you can shop the links on here for gift ideas, blank journals and more. You can also use my Ko-Fi link by clicking: HERE
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If you’ve gotten this far, I appreciate it and will see you soon! Thanks all. ☺️
I wrote this poem many years ago. Our world was forever changed that beautiful September morning, without a cloud in the sky, suddenly darkened by smoke and ash.
I stayed awake for a week, glued to every detail, every news report, scanning images online thinking “if only I could spot a victim and help from home.” I was obsessed in a way I have never been in my life. I had finally collapsed from exhaustion and then started all over again. I had been ashamed that I had been asleep while the world was collapsing. I felt I needed to stay up until…I don’t know what. I wasn’t thinking but then none of us were during that time.
We lost friends that day and in tribute, my mother went down to volunteer to help the responders and those working on the Pile. Her hardhat remains in our home as a reminder of her time there and how many didn’t make it home.
When I wrote this, I did so through tears. And every year, I post it as my own tribute.
May we #NeverForget what happened in NYC, DC and PA. And may we come together again as we did after that day. It should take a tragedy to bring us all together as one. 🕊️
Hey guys, welcome back! I hope everyone’s September is going well so far. I’ve been loving the cooler weather and reading during the rainy nights we’ve finally been getting. I’ll admit though, my mind has been blanking on what to write here, so let’s see where this post goes today, shall we?
While creating posts for the site has proven to be somewhat of a challenge lately, I’ve been uber focused on my book. I can’t stop thinking about it, working on it and it’s even affecting my sleep and dreams lately. It’s also starting to blur the lines between what’s real and what happened in a chapter…although that could be the meds I’ve been taking lately for an illness that just won’t seem to go away. (I’d like to chalk it up to that instead of losing touch with reality.)
In my previous posts I’ve talked about how I keep rereading my manuscript. I’m still doing that and in the process, have been rewriting sections, editing and adding to the text as a whole. Suddenly scenes that I thought were complete, are now really taking shape even more. If I haven’t said this before I will say it now: YOU CAN NEVER READ YOUR WORK ENOUGH!
Seriously, keep reading your work over and over again!
No matter how many times I read through these chapters, I continually find odd typos here and there that I’ve missed the other five-six times I’ve read it. I’m finding that scenes that I thought were fine previously, really weren’t and needed more detail. Character traits that seemed perfect in the past, I’m now realizing, wow, I missed something there! And never forget, continuity issues!!
I am constantly finding issues with continuity that I had no clue were completely off. If the story doesn’t make sense to you, it sure as hell won’t make sense to your future readers.
It amazes me that the more I read this book and the more I think I’m coming to the end where I can finally submit this work somewhere, the more I’m finding that it needs work. The more I freak out that I’m going to miss something major that will prevent me from getting this sold. The stress has creeped in and taken hold and I’m already dealing with a lot on the personal front and it is just adding to it. Life never stops moving and I have to keep telling myself that this is my own doing. That I created this issue myself and yet, this is so damned important to me. I just want it to be the best it can be so it can lead to something greater and eventually stop the other stress that is going on in my life.
I’m slightly losing it. But knowing this is the first step, amiright? So here I am admitting that yes, I am obsessed with my own work. There, I’ve said it. I feel a little better! Score one for being aware enough to write about an obsession for writing. (Did that even make sense?)
I follow many other authors on #booktok and one thing I love about doing that is knowing that I’m not the only one who is struggling like this. That’s one of the reasons why I started writing about my journey here. To possibly help other writers know that hey, it’s not just you going through this! We are all a little off center as most creatives are. It’s what makes us, us. It’s what drives us to create new works and want to share ourselves with others. We are not in this alone. Really, we’re not. So just keep doing you.
And that is where I will leave you for tonight. So see? Sometimes you can stare at the blank page with no ideas and end up writing something that is not only cathartic to you personally but that may just help someone else in the process!
Hope you got something out of this post and until next time…Cheers!
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If you’d like to follow me on social, including my #booktok: Click HERE
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And finally, if you’ve made it this far, I thank you so much. Every view, share, like and follow is appreciated more than you can ever know. See you soon! 🥰
New Chapter Cove 