motivation

Rereading, Spice and Tone Change

/ ccsocialcreative / 2 Comments
Photo credit: StockSnap on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! I hope you all had a great weekend. It was an interesting one around here with fireworks and a brief blackout, but hey, that’s Summer, amiright?

Quick update, I have added a new page to the site: 2025 On the Bookshelf If you missed the Summer reading post, it contains the books I mentioned there and more and will be updated as I continue to add those that I’m reading throughout the year. Hope you’ll check it out if you are looking for reading recs or Prime Day goodies. (Remember that Prime Days have now begun and run from July 8th-11th. You can find my associate links around the site and on the bookshelf page as well.)

So now that’s out of the way, let’s get to this!

I’m once again rereading my manuscript because somewhere in the last two weeks, the tone of the story has really gone off the rails. What started out as a romcom that I’d hoped the legendary Nora Ephron would approve of, suddenly went to a more serious and darker place I wasn’t expecting. Not to mention, it also got a bit, let’s say, ‘spicier’ than I was going for.

So it was time to take a major step back. I tried rewriting chapters and found that I kept ending up in the same place. I’m chalking it up to the Summer heat finally frying my brain and a few juicy books I’ve read in the past few months. However, for this particular book, I had never planned on it going in that direction.

I’ve decided to put those new chapters aside, maybe rework them for a future project that is leaning more towards that particular genre, but for this book? I want to keep it lighter, funnier, more romance and less smut. Not that there’s anything wrong with a bit of spice, but seriously, my mind went to a place that even I didn’t know it could go. So maybe this whole therapy thing needs to be looked at again? Who knows. At least I started to see the shift change before I wrote any more so I could put a stop to it.

Thus, the rereading.

Going back to my earlier chapters has been great for me. Not only am I finding editing errors, I’m also finding where I can combine my much shorter chapters into larger ones. So numerically, I’m not as far along as I thought I once was, but flow wise, it will read much better. I’m also finding the humor again which is what I really needed to do. 

This particular story does have a deeper backstory and one that I think needs a voice. So I have no issues with having a slight bit of a darker reality behind it. However, when the entire story started to take a more dramatic route, I knew it needed to be changed. When you as the author winces at your own work? It’s time to take a step back.

I’ll be honest, I have trouble with criticism. Of any kind. But with my writing? I get instantly defensive and either get angry or curl up into a ball…it’s just a reflex. Reading and rereading my own work these past two weeks, I’ve been criticizing myself like crazy. How could I let the story go this way? What the hell made me go to the dark side? Why would I ever have a character do that when I have never established any such behavior from them during their development? As harsh as I have been on myself, I can at least look at my writing through fresh eyes as I reread these chapters. Why? Because as I read them, they don’t even read as if I wrote them! So I feel like I am critiquing someone else’s work.

By the way, this is a reason why I don’t do reviews. I hate getting anything of mine reviewed, so I won’t do it to someone else. I will only share what I like. If I don’t like something? You won’t see it. Anywhere. Here, my social media, whatever. But if I like something, I’ll throw a post onto my #booktok or add it to my bookshelf page. Artists of all kinds from sculptors to musicians to writers and beyond put their hearts and souls into their work. To criticize them to me, (and me only here), can feel very personal. So I try to keep it more positive by sharing the stuff I really enjoy.

Anywhoo, back to my book for a quick moment…I am now halfway through the reread and it has really been helping me get the story back on track. I’ve taken more notes in the past week of new story ideas than I have in a month, so hey, maybe I’m onto something here! After all, this project has certainly been going faster than I would have thought. It’s a story I have been excited about getting out there. I’ve also been waiting for the other shoe to drop. One that will slow me down, block me from moving forward and lo and behold, I hit it.

Whatever you are working on, take the time to go over it constantly. Then go over it again to keep the flow going, the continuity, the voice. Make sure you are keeping with the vision that you’ve had for it all along. Sure there is room for change, maybe your vision has also been altered. Just make sure you are doing it in a way that will make YOU proud. I’m not saying that the darker stuff I wrote wasn’t going to work. In fact, in some ways, this book could totally go in that direction. It’s just not what I wanted for these characters, so I’m going to stick with the original plan. It’s what’s best for myself and for this work. (Then maybe, I’ll add the spicier stuff to the next one.) 😉

And that is where I’m going to leave you for today! Thanks as always for following along my strange journey and hope that you are getting something out of my rambles.

Be sure to check out my links below and on the site and until next time…cheers all!

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You can find the new 2025 On the Bookshelf page in the main menu or click here.

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If you’ve gotten this far, thanks again and see you soon!! ☺️

Plot Betrayal, Extended Research and June was Hot

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Photo credit: StartupStockPhotos on Pixabay

Hey guys, welcome back! I am in shock that June is over. I mean, is it just me or did you also just blink and it was done? As someone who feels that Summer is the equivalent of living on the surface of a volcano while eating razor blades, the faster these months go the better. (Basically, I need Fall, I need Fall now!) Even though this is my least favorite time of the year, I can usually deal with it. With my very odd schedule of sleeping during the day, I miss most of the heat. However, my AC this year has decided to only churn out the minimal amount of coolness and I’m currently sitting in a room with both the AC and a fan on and it is still 84 degrees. But I digress…(sorry, just needed to get that out). 😬

This past week I’ve run into the proverbial wall that I’ve been afraid would come for some time. If you’ve been following along here, you know that my writing has been going pretty smoothly so far. I’ve gotten into a routine, a rhythm, a wonderful flow of typing, creating this story of mine and I’ve been so happy with it. And then…

I hit a chapter that is important to the plot. Like, super important to the plot. I wrote it out, let it get out of my head and then went on to the next. After I put everything away for the day to get ready for bed, that one chapter was replaying in my mind. I didn’t like how it panned out and the thing is, a good portion of the next chapter very much depends on the bad one.

So, ok. That night I went in and reread it. I could see where it went off the rails. I make a copy of it, (I write each chapter individually for just such an occasion) and rewrite much of the thing. Go on to write the next two and ok, I think I’ve got it under control. I usually print out a chapter after two edits but kept this one off to the side for now because I was excited about where the rest of the story was going.

In the back of my mind though, that one plot point was just not doing it for me. If it was a case of it being a sort of side story or one for a secondary character, I could forgive much of it for now and continue on. However, this is a crucial storyline and one that needs to be told with accuracy.

This has been added to the routine. I need time each night now to research how this scenario should play out. Granted, I normally love, LOVE researching anything. But I painted myself into a corner with this one. A ‘said in passing’ character trait early on, has now become important to the story as a whole. The problem here is that it is not something that I am knowledgeable about and therefore, my search history is now one that is unrecognizable to me.

By the way, I’d like to mention how hard it is to talk about this without giving anything away! I’m trying so hard not to reveal anything about my book, so to talk in generics is proving to be quite a challenge.

I recently started a booktok (under NewChapterCove) and have started to follow a number of authors. Not just to support them, but to also see if I’m alone with a lot of my journey. I saw a post yesterday where this particular writer said something about how he looks at his screen funny when his character does something he wasn’t planning on. I COULDN’T AGREE MORE! My characters have taken on a life of their own and for the most part, I run with it. But now here I am, over 40 chapters in now and scrambling to figure out this one scene that I just need to move past to get on with my life.

Which of course means that this has become my panic chapter. That chapter in a book where the reader goes, “seriously? This is where it’s going?” Said with all the sarcasm that one could muster btw. Which of course, is a nightmare for any author.

With this happening, I’ve decided to put it aside for now. I have so many other things I’d rather be writing, the next few ‘days’ in the story that I want to continue with and can’t rewrite that one nightmare chapter until the rest of this is out of my head. Only then, will I be able to rewrite the sequence of events to have this all make sense and fit with the rest of the story. Or so I hope.

So this is where I am now. With these now higher chapters, I’m still trying to work out how this will wind down even though I really don’t want this book to ever end. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing it and it has also become a special escape for me every night. The thought of extending it to a sequel or series to keep it going is still up in the air right now. I can’t think that far ahead until I can work out this rather brazen plot betrayal of mine.

And that is where I will leave you for today. I thank you so much for reading and following along with my slight freak out and hope that if you are celebrating the 4th of July, that it is fun and most of all safe! (Leave the doggies at home too. Fireworks are the leading cause of the most lost dogs of the year.)

Until next time folks…be good, be kind, be you!

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No Sleep, Character Obsession and Just Kept Writing

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Photo credit: xaviandrew on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! I hope you all got to see the bonus post I did filled with Summer Reading ideas. If not, it can be found in the ‘new posts’ tab, I’l also link it below this post. I am planning to put it up as part of the On the Bookshelf page as well as I’ve been really neglecting the rest of the site this year as far as updated pages. Also, please note that my links show up on this site in a darker color. They are (unfortunately?) not as defined as other sites.

Anywhoo, let’s get the post at hand, shall we?

Just going to say it, I haven’t been sleeping. Part of it is because it’s hotter than the sun here in the Northeast these days (and other places as well) and my AC is struggling to keep things cool. I mean, 90 degrees inside isn’t exactly cooling things off. I did treat myself to some Gatorade so hey, living the dream!

The lack of sleep has had me writing a whole lot. I have the house to myself this week and with my odd sleep schedule of staying up and night and sleeping during the day, I decided the other day to see how long I could go just writing.

I mentioned in a previous post that I’ve developed a pretty regular routine. To give you an idea (read:recap) of how screwed up my schedule is: I always start by reading the previous night’s work and editing as I go. This usually begins around 4am. At 5am I’m most likely done and then I write the new stuff until about 7:30-8am or until I finish a chapter. I type very quickly, so a chapter can sometimes only take me two hours or a little more. For a little perspective though, some of my chapters are short at only 11 pages or so. I take a lot of meds because of medical issues and I need stuff to help me sleep. Sometimes I will take something about an hour into writing so that I can fall asleep by 9-10am. (Boring you yet? Sorry)

The problem with this a lot of times, is that I’m just getting into the story or getting more ideas for where the story can go just as the sleep stuff kicks in. Then I’m stuck replaying it all in my head making it hard to get any actual sleep. Again, I have the place to myself and had nowhere to go the other day. So I decided to try something and not to take anything. To see how long I could keep going with the story. To just keep writing.

When I finished what is a very pivotal chapter, I went to do a page count and I had typed out 31 pages! I started at around 5am and went until 1pm. I just kept writing.

Will I keep a lot of it? Will the chapter be broken up into two? Is any of it good? Well, that’s what editing is for! But to know that I could keep going like that proved to me that I’d like to try doing this more often. That stifling the creativity just as it gets rolling may not be the way to go. And yes, I have tried starting earlier than 4am. It didn’t stick.

This story has really consumed me. Suddenly, scenes I hadn’t really planned on putting in, are taking over and I’ve been surprised at how they fit into the story as a whole. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that this new book is being written in the first person. The main character has invaded my thoughts and when I put everything away at ‘bedtime’, the story continues in my head like a movie. I will lay there trying to clear my head, only to sit back up and write stuff in the notebook I keep near my bed so I don’t forget anything later on. Yet still, the storyline keeps playing in my head like this week’s Netflix trailers.

There’s also a few things I keep going over, especially now that I’m 36 chapters in. Do I change things up? Do I throw in a major surprise? Is it time to start thinking of this as a series rather than a standalone book? I’ve created some characters and a location that has become so real to me now and that has become a great escape for me that frankly, I don’t want to leave it. But that’s me. What will readers think?

These are the things that are now starting to keep me up at night. That and a whole lot of heat.

And that is where I will leave you for today. I’m sorry if this one wasn’t too exciting but as I’ve said before, sometimes I just need to get out the thoughts so I can move on with my life. 😂

I very much appreciate your hanging out with me for a little bit. I hope you are staying cool and hydrated and that if you like it here, you’ll share this site with your friends.

Thanks again and until next time…

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It’s Summer Reading Time! <—Summer reading inspiration by yours truly.

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Thank you for getting this far and see you next time!! 🥰

Editing, Escapism and Writing Fail

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Photo credit: Danikrabonekonek on PIxabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! Hope you are enjoying the new look of the place. I’ve been trying to make sure that all the links have been updated and may soon start a TikTok that will also reflect the new name, but I’m not rushing to do that. Still a lot going on, so stay tuned.

Speaking of, this week I had a medical test done. Now, I’m pretty much used to every kind of test there is because the last 9 years alone has had me glowing in the dark from all the stuff that’s been done to me. But this one, I’ve had before and it is one I knew would be painful as hell. (I almost punched one doctor in the face and the next time I screamed until my throat hurt. But I digress…) So I haven’t really slept in weeks since they told me I had to have it done. Thankfully, it went better than expected, I wanted to hug the doctor who did it and I may even have some answers that no one else has been able to pinpoint, so, yay! In the meantime, I’ve been such a basket case about this I made myself a little sick. (Like cold sickness, not the regular nonsense going on in my life.)

Why am I sharing this? Because, this is a reminder to you…take care of yourself! Yes, it’s ok to worry about things. But not sleeping, not eating properly and just plain being a mental mess can lead to other ookie feelings. (Yes, that is a medical term I just made up.) I was barely functional the next day and I decided that it was some cosmic way of telling me, it was time for an unplug day!

I turned off all my devices and just read, for hours. Finished the second half of the book I had started over the weekend and got about a third into a new one. It felt great! Just me, the quiet and escaping into the lives of others was just what I needed. I know not everyone can take that much time to do this of course. Some have kids or hectic schedules. However, I’m throwing forth the challenge to you, to take at least one day a month and for an hour, two hours, or however long you can, just unplug. You don’t have to read of course. That is my personal escapism. Go for a walk, a bike ride, get ice cream, hell, take a nap! Just do something that makes you happy without looking at a screen. Summer is here, why not go swimming or go exploring your own town. You may discover an area you never knew about or stumble on a historic marker you never spotted before. Unplugging can feel so good and there is actually a part of me, after doing this, that regrets it when I turn the phone back on. There are times I’m just not in the mood to face real life again. So days like that? I may just shut it back off, pick my book back up and escape some more.

As for the other days? Well, I’ve been doing a great deal of editing the first chapters of the book. I’ve written 28 so far, but for continuity’s sake, I needed to go back and see if I had mentioned something in a previous chapter. So I decided to take the opportunity and re-edit the early chapters and go from there. SO GLAD I DID!

I stumbled on a major mistake I never realized I had made! I screwed up the entire timeline. There is a way to fix it, but I’m having trouble getting it done. I need to insert a new chapter but one that flows with the rest of the story. One that fits in seamlessly so that my readers aren’t aware that the chapter in question was never a part of the original manuscript. One that is stressing me out and mocking me every time I go to write it.

I was on such a roll with this book. Averaging about a chapter a day/every other day. Editing as I went. Story flowing. It was going well…a little too well. Normally I just write a chapter. It comes to me, I write it, I’m done. It’s just how my process works. But having to go back 20 chapters to insert a scenario that wasn’t meant to be a part of the story? Ugh. I had the feeling I was going to stumble at some point. Hit a speed bump and move on. Wasn’t expecting a major storyline snafu. And really, when in life do we ever get to use the word ‘snafu’?

I’ve now lost momentum on the higher chapters and will be editing the entire thing leading up to where I left off. I’m now hoping that will inspire where the story leads next. I’ve been making notes along the way to be sure that the storyline doesn’t get skipped over in such a way again. At least I get to spend more time with these characters I’ve truly grown to love.

The moral of this particular story? Editing is done for a reason. Not just spelling errors. Obvious? Maybe. When it happens to you? It’s a revelation! One that calls for another unplug day. See how it all comes full circle? (See how I can make anything into a reading session?)

And that is where I am leaving you today. We all have crazy weeks. This one was just a drop in the bucket for me. But stepping back, reevaluating things, unplugging and fueling the creative energies are all just a part of life. Right? 🙂

Hope you got something out of this post and so happy you’re here. Thanks for coming back and if it’s your first time visiting, welcome!!!

Until next time folks…Cheers!

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Odd question, Changes Coming and Oh yeah,I’m Back!

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Photo credit: JillWellington on Pixabay.

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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