If you have been reading my posts on social media you know that I’ve been posting about my writing timeline. So, here it is, more in depth, and perhaps with a little different slant
Early Writings:
I have created stories for myself for as long as I can remember. Some that I created when I was pretty young make absolutely no sense to me today. I wrote some of them down, but I rarely wrote more than a paragraph or two. Until I learned about NaNoWriMo the longest thing I had written was a short story I had to write for a class.
The NaNo Years:
I learned about NaNoWriMo from a friend the weekend before it started in 2012. One of those stories that sticks in your brain had been in mine for a couple of years I decided I should write it down. Winning NaNoWriMo that year started an obsession. When we moved to California in 2013 I decided that instead of getting a job maybe I should try this writing thing and see if I could make a go of it. That lasted about 2 months. The thing I had not considered was that I am an extrovert and if I don’t get to be around people and socialize on a regular basis I become intensely unhappy. Getting an office job saved my sanity.
I “won” the next three years of NaNoWriMo, exploring my writing style and learning more about the craft of writing. I rarely wrote between Novembers. And I realized that though I nursed dreams of being an author, what I really needed to do was learn how to do the daily work of writing. In 2016 I started planning to re-write The Dragon Book and I did a bunch of exercises to flesh out the world, characters, etc. I attended my first writer’s conference and pitched the book to an agent. She wanted to read the first fifty pages and gave me a lot of really good advice. I embarked on the re-writing The Dragon Book. I finally finished the first draft at the end of NaNoWriMo 2017.
And Now?
And now the editing begins. First drafts are notoriously messy and mine are no different. I am in the process of revising. Getting to do things like reconciling the timelines of two different characters, and naming all the characters that I had left in the first draft as [goon2] or [black dragon]. I drew a map. And I figured out the muddling in the middle. It looks a lot better but still needs a lot of work. Most of my global edits are done*. So, right now I’m going through chapter by chapter and preparing the first part of my book to release to alpha readers**. Revising has been both easier than I thought it would be and much more difficult. Something that I thought would take me weeks took me an afternoon.
The Future:
So, if it isn’t obvious I am working toward publishing The Dragon Book, which will have a proper title at some point. At this point I am planning on indie publishing it either at the end of this year or sometime next year. So I am getting to learn the business side of publishing for myself as well as balancing that with getting my edits done.
Then, it’s on to the next book. I write stories that I want to read and there are a lot of them in my head. So, watch this space for the next exciting adventure.
*Until I find more global edits.
**If you are interested in being an alpha reader comment below or use the contact form to get a hold of me.
