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!! Well, it is official…there is a new name for my site! Welcome all to New Chapter Cove! Woo hoo!!! (And yes, there are a lot of exclamation points. I’m excited.)
Last week I had let it drop that I was going to be changing the name, (and url) but I was waiting for June to begin to do so. Well, here we are and it’s time to usher in the new era for this site.
In case you missed the last post, I’ll do a brief rehash of why the name change has occurred: I had started the site originally when I was doing social media marketing consulting and content writing. I wanted to make it a resource for other writers to come and find places where they could submit their work, a notion I still have yet to include here. (Sorry.)
However, now it’s years later, the site has evolved to include documenting more of my writing journey and I wanted a name that would reflect that. Thus, New Chapter Cove was born! There’s always a new chapter to be written, read and every day is a new chapter in life. Why cove? Because my favorite place in my city is the cove area by the water. It all just fits.
So I welcome you to the New Chapter!
I will address one thing, in last week’s post, I mentioned that it would be called ‘next chapter cove’ and while that was the plan and the logo was made, when I was reconfiguring the settings, I accidentally typed ‘new’ while I was registering the url and well, things happen. So while I am a little mad at myself for blowing the name a little, New Chapter is growing on me and I hope it will grow on you as well. 🙂
And that is where I will leave you for today. Just wanted to make the official announcement and let you know that the change has been made. I hope you will continue to follow me here and more posts, as always, to come.
Thanks for being here and here’s to the New Chapter!
Hey guys, welcome back! Yes, I’m back as well! I have been MIA for the last week because, well, life happens. Thankfully, it was almost all good. I just couldn’t find the motivation to write a post instead and kept on writing my new book. However, I’m here and hopefully, so are you!
It has been an interesting time around these parts and so happy because I got to see a friend from elementary school I hadn’t seen in over 40 years! We were the two in class who were always in trouble for laughing, passing notes (yes, paper notes) and just could never keep a straight face when we were together. We found each other on Facebook and have been trying for quite some time for a meetup and last weekend, it finally happened! I’ve pretty much been smiling since. We picked up right where we left off, still making each other laugh and had a great time. So I hope you will take this as inspiration to reach out to someone you’ve been thinking about for a while. We are only here for a short time, make each moment count!!
While I’m talking about moments, I’ve been using many to work on the rebranding of this site. I’m sure you’ve noticed the changes in the look of the site and a new name is in fact coming. I’ve already created the logo and the new url and site name will reflect it as well. I’m very excited about this change as it will be much more relevant to the current one that I chose many years ago. My original name, CCSocialCreative was born out of my social media management era when I was working for someone else then went to consulting and had many different plans for this site. I now introduce the new name coming: New Chapter Cove!
New logo!
Why this particular name? Because the term ‘new chapter’ refers to both my writing journey, reading journey and every new day presents a new chapter in life as well. Cove? Well, that is from my favorite place in my town and I wanted to incorporate it somehow. (Could it be that my romance novel era is seeping into my subconscious? After all, a whole lot of romance titles have the word ‘cove’ in it. Nah, it’s about my favorite place here.)
The new name and url will be implemented in the coming days, so if you suddenly see updates with a different name, it’s just me being me. 🙂
I’m sure there are questions out there, several I’m sure I’ve been asking myself. However, I’d like to address some odd ones in regards to my writing and kind of wondering if anyone else has had this asked of them as well. During the writing of both my first book and the one I’m currently writing, the most asked question has been, “how long will it be?” I find this to be the strangest of all the questions. When I handed out the first six chapters of my first book to a few friends and family members to get some feedback, most asked this question. I first took it as an insult. After all, were the first six chapters that bad that they didn’t want me to continue? But after thinking about it, a couple of them asked this even before they read it! So my next thought was, why ask this? This time around, I’m now 27 chapters in (yay me) and it’s happening again.
Since I’ve already established here that I do not use an outline when I write and am known as a ‘pantser’ writer, meaning, I let the story take me where it wants to go, I’m still baffled by the question. After all, the last few novels I’ve read have all been different lengths…the longest being well over 40 chapters with the shortest just 26. We write until the story has an ending. If it looks like it will continue, well, that’s what ‘series’ writing is about! I think for me though, I’d never go up to a songwriter, an artist or another creative and say, ‘so you still have more to go’ or ‘how long will it take for you to finish?’ I also have had, ‘where did you come up with the character names?’ That one though, I can see. After all, when we create worlds, we also have to create names and personalities for the people you are reading about besides the story. However, I think what I find most interesting is who asks what questions.
Again, several closest to me have asked about length. One or two about names. But when I was at a party last month, I sat and talked to someone I hadn’t seen for a while and when we were talking about the new book, this woman was the ONLY person to ask me what it was about! Wouldn’t that be the most obvious question to ask a writer? I certainly think so. Just as I would ask that songwriter, ‘what is your inspiration behind the lyrics’ or a screenwriter, ‘what is the new movie about?’ I would never think to ask,‘how long will it be?’ I’m baffled and yet, I keep writing. Because that’s what I do.
Anyway, I had to get that out and as I’ve said in previous posts, this blog can sometimes be a sort of therapy for me and yes, I now feel better.
And that is where I will leave you for this week. I will try once again for multiple posts in the coming weeks and as always, hope that someone out there got something from this ramble of mine. I appreciate you guys so much and thanks for sticking with me!
Until next time…Cheers!
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Hey guys, welcome back! First things first…I’ve been working on the site here and there. This week’s little addition and subtractions can be found in the sidebar to your right. I’ve decided to create a shop for the site that will have fun merch featuring my own designs that cater to writers and readers alike! So I took down the other shop icons and hope you’ll check out the new one. I am still building it with new designs and importing some other ones, but do have a couple up there now. Just click on the design to see all of the cool stuff you can find for gifts and yourself. I know I don’t normally push any kind of shopping or affiliate links on you guys until the end of my posts, but I’m excited about my Dashery shop!
Ok, enough of that, let’s get to it shall we?
I read a ton of stories and watch lots of videos from fellow writers trying to learn from them. Everything from their processes to how to publish and so much in between. One thing that seems to be a recurring theme is that many have a routine for their writing. I personally never did this. I write when the story needs to come out. When my creative juices are flowing. I couldn’t understand how others could just ‘write on command’. I can’t tell my story, ‘look, at 6pm, I’m going to sit at my keyboard and write you.’ It’s just not me. And if you’ve read my previous posts, you know that authority and I do not get along and that is how it felt to me. Like everyone was telling me that I ‘had’ to do it this way or else. So, I didn’t.
Imagine my surprise when just this week, as I was setting a cup of tea down and grabbing my keyboard to lay down a new chapter, it hit me. Shit, I did this at the same time last night…and the night before. I really started to think about it and yes, somehow, I ended up with an accidental routine! How the hell did that happen?
It’s sad but true, I have apparently caved. Happy to say though, it’s not because anyone told me to do it! (I have to maintain some of my dignity damn it.) I have become so focused on routines lately. For example, when I have dinner or how I get myself ready for a binge reading session…it’s not because I am a boring person. Ok, I may be just a little bit these days, but I started doing this because of my memory issues. If I fail to follow a routine for some things then I miss a step and then I’m just lost. Crazy? Maybe, but it’s how I roll.
By the way, allow me to just state for the record that I wasn’t always like this. I used to be spontaneous, fun and out every night! There was never a set in stone time. I didn’t have to do things one by one with a mental checklist to make sure everything was taken care of. I’d go for spur of the moment day trips, stay out until after closing time and there was no such thing as binge reading. I just went out and had a blast. (I miss those days!)
To now have designated times where I get myself ready to type something has me baffled, but you want to know the punchline? It works!
I have been very serious about this new book I’ve been writing. I always thought my draft of my other story would be the one to get out to the public first. But the more I write this new one and the more I get involved with both the story and the characters, the more I’m thinking that this one is the one I may want to present first. I’m having fun with it and I can’t wait each night to get to it. The strange thing is that I have lots of time before my ‘keyboard appointment’ happens to get it started early each day and yet, it never feels right when I do. I need it to be at the same time every night so that I can involve myself back into where I was the night before. And thus, my routine was born. I grab some kind of caffeinated beverage, my iPad, my keyboard and get myself comfy for a few hours of writing. With the exception of just a night or two here and there (I’m fighting a brutal respiratory infection as my parting gift from Covid back in early March), I have been loyal to this system and in the last two weeks have written eight chapters.
One major change I’ve been doing with this book that I didn’t my first time around is the whole ‘editing as I go’ process. I think when I wrote my first story I was so determined to get it all down that I wrote first and then went back to edit later. Which is a big reason why it is taking me so long to do. This time however, I fully edit the previous chapter before writing the next one. I do not allow myself to write any new words until I have slashed, corrected, moved around and in one case, completely rewritten an entire chapter. It is only then that I print it out.
By doing this, it not only lets me put my best work forward, but it also familiarizes me with the story thus far. Where did I leave off last night? What was that detail that one character dropped? Did I mistakenly mix up a date from chapter one? Asking myself a million questions is vital; keeping a printed hard copy next to me so I can quickly reference between chapters is super helpful; I also keep my trusty notebook to write down any ideas that come to me for the next chapter…this is a major tool for me.
Just last night I thought I had finished writing my latest chapter and it was perfect timing as I got incredibly tired and my eyes and fingers were just on fire. I was about to congratulate myself for doing a whole one in like 3 hours when I realized something was missing. I looked at the notebook and sure enough, there was a major passage I had handwritten out that I wanted to include in this scene. So ok, I didn’t officially finish. At least I know in advance where I’m picking up tonight! I didn’t do this at all with book one or its half of a sequel that I’ve started. Why? I have NO idea. This has been incredibly helpful and it has been making this story flow much easier as well.
Writing, like anything, is a constant learning process. I’m proud to say that I not only I have not only been learning from other authors but I have been learning from myself as well! I feel that I am growing as a writer the more I get done. My hope is that at the end, when this book is finally out there for all to see, it will be well received. (Please please please let everyone like it!)
And that is where I will leave you for today. Thanks for hanging out with me again and until next time…
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Amazon big book sale still going on until April 28th. Don’ t miss this, there are some awesome deals going on right now.
Hey all, welcome back! I will start off with super quick but VERY sincere thank yous all around to those of you who made my numbers jump! I was more than surprised to see how many came to visit here over the past few days and I guess the saying is true, ‘if you build it, they will come.’ Or at least, I hope that’s the reason. Anyway, thank you all and I hope this means I am on the right track here. 🙂
I do have two quick apologies: The first, I am having all kinds of trouble accessing my comments and have no idea why. I cannot see them nor can I respond to them (just like twitter so go figure) so please do not think that I am not interacting with or ignoring anyone. The other is for the url debacle going on. Yes, you can officially use my ccsocialcreative.com domain but there are name server issues on godaddy’s side and that is also being dealt with as well. Alrighty, now that I feel better, let’s do this…
I have never had the issue that many writers, actors or directors have had where they say something like, “I hope to be the next Bette Davis/Paul Haggis/Jane Austen.” Nope. I just wanted my work to stand on its own and make a name for myself. When I was much, much younger and doing more journalistic pieces, I studied the different writings of sports and news columnists to true crime authors, with the mindset that I could take a little from column ‘a’ and a little from column ‘b’ and develop my own style that wouldn’t fit into any specific box. I didn’t want my readers to pick up something thinking, ‘yep, a chick wrote this’ especially since my main focus through high school was to become an investigative reporter. I wanted to create a neutral voice so that the subject matter was the main focus of the piece.
I had started writing for school newspapers young, including the first elementary class in our school to ever create their own paper! As I got older, I took political science classes and history extra credit courses and learned not only of the time periods and of course the facts, etc, but I also really paid attention to how these stories were written. Yes, I still did want to write the next great novel, but I was young, foolish and by high school, went off the rails quite a bit as far as the whole academic thing. I began being the angry news writer. My columns were directed at fighting the system that just suspended me again for cutting class or whatever my offense was that particular week. Good to know that my fallback position was a nice ‘steady’ theater dream that made those around me wince at the slight mention of it. (Although, not my parents, go figure!)
It was during those earlier years that I discovered my love for non-fiction. I wanted facts over fake. I wanted depth vs naivety and I wanted nothing, NOTHING to do with Shakespeare. I was somehow able to avoid the Bard somehow in both my writing journey and my theater work. As badly as I wanted to become a writer, I was never into the classics. I never read Jane Austen, but I will admit that I saw a version of Sense and Sensibility once! Damn my crush on Hugh Grant!
I had always loved the show Kiss Me Kate, we even did in high school. Once, when a PBS showing of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew was on (for which the musical is based), my mother thought I’d like it, sat me down and I got through maybe three minutes then asked if I was being punished for something.
Later, I had lost an opportunity to go to American University as a journalism major and fell back on something steady, like theater. I was able to avoid Sir William’s work yet again and would opt not for monologues from say Romeo and Juliet but more from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I stopped writing for a number of years, a couple of decades really, then reemerged as a journalist with my own site. I coverered area events, wrote about local history and proudly earned my press badge, not working for anyone else but rather, myself. I then turned that into a job working for a tech company. With the creative freedom I had there, I loved writing for them. Unfortunately life took the turn that brought me here.
As time went by, I started to look back and see that I did still have the dream that I had as a kid. Write a book. But as we all know, the older we get, the less time there is to do things such as acting on our dreams. I say this, be careful what you wish for.
Quick backstory for the new folks…If you read my ‘about me page’ (see link in the top menu bar), you’ll understand my story a little more. My health took a header in 2016. I had to quit my job and the last 8 1/2 years (as of this writing) have been a roller coaster ever since. I went from being highly social and out all the time with friends to staying in bed 24/7. With the exception of a few months here and there when I actually felt good and got out and could walk the dogs and even run a little and play some wiffle ball, it would always follow with brutal setbacks. Each one gets worse and I end up back in my room. For almost a year now, that’s pretty much where I’ve stayed. However, having said that, from this bed, I’ve been able to create two businesses (nothing big and successful yet, but I keep trying!) and more importantly to me…I’ve finally had the time to write!
But write what?
I’ve always been creative for which I am truly grateful. But decades of reading only histories, autobiographies and the like left me little room for storytelling. Just for the hell of it, I was searching on amazon to see if anything would strike a chord with me in the, dare I say, fiction section?! They say never judge a book by its cover and I didn’t. However the title intrigued me and for the hell of it, I hit the ol’ buy it now button. When it arrived, I couldn’t put it down. What was stranger still was that as I was reading it, a story of my own emerged.
That first draft took forever to finish. I was so sick in between chapters, it would literally be months before I could even look at it again. I’d have to go back and reread what I had already written to refamiliarize myself with the story, characters and setting. I had many setbacks during that draft and only finished the entire thing in early Fall of 2024. It…took…years. But my goal of finishing it was achieved and I literally cried when I printed the entire thing out to edit and that pile of paper was staring back at me.
As I also used this time in bed, the last two years in particular, to read dozens and dozens of books, more ideas have come about. Between current waves of illness and editing frustration, I’ve now also written half of a sequel and then put that down (writer’s block issue) and began to write the first 7 chapters of the book I’m currently working on. One that I am really excited about! This led me to yesterday…
After doing an Amazon search earlier for some new titles to throw into my save for later for the big book sale this week, I was thinking about how to search for what I wanted my next reads to be. This got me thinking about the future. How will folks search for my own book? I don’t want to be known as the ‘next’ anyone. My stories can run into different genres and each one has its own arc. However, I don’t think I’d mind seeing, say for a romance, “if you like Emily Henry then you’d like…” or something along those lines. Look, I’m not trying to be someone else. Just want to be a (successful) storyteller in my own right and be proud to see my name among those whose books I’m loving these days.
It’s funny, thinking about it now, I don’t think that subject has come up in any of the author events that I’ve been to over the last few years. The question of pen names has, or the usual, “what gets you inspired?” But never, ‘do you mind being compared to anyone else?’ Maybe it’s out of fear that the author in question will then leap off the dais lunging directly at the person asking, then proceeding to stab said person with the end of the microphone? The world may never know.
What I do know is this…I’m currently a 54 year old thinking she is still 35 and that’s enough of an identity crisis for me. I don’t need to prematurely worry about whether or not someone will call me the ‘next’ anyone. If anything, I should just be flattered if they read my work and think I’m as good as the established authors who are already killing it out there! They are the ones who have paved the way for myself and others and I thank them all for their work…including Shakespeare.
And that folks, is where I will leave you for today. Thanks for joining me here again and as usual, any relevant links will be below. I’m still trying to find the sweet spot for post times so I appreciate your checking back to see I’ve done so!
Amazon’s Big Book Sale runs from April 23rd-28th. It’s an annual sale so don’t miss out on this years deals!
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My links above and in the right side bar can be clicked to find more great deals as well as my shops. You can also find my social links for this site and more at: linktr.ee/promosocially
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New site updates coming soon and I just thank you for having made it this far. See you soon!
New Chapter Cove 