And it's done! The final draft of my novel, SPIRIT QUEST, is done!

The final draft of my novel, SPIRIT QUEST, is done. It clocks in around 99,100 words.

I have two Alpha Readers going through the manuscript now and need to recover their comments. When they're done with that, I'll have a read through of the entire thing. But, I want to put a bit of distance between myself and the manuscript. I'm also hoping to cut it down to 98,000 words.

As for how I feel? I'm pretty damn happy. It's been a long road. The idea for this novel surfaced over two years ago. The core of the novel was written in 2012's NaNoWriMo. In 2013, I had an opportunity to pitch the novel and it was well received which prompted me to take that 50,000 and craft it into a real novel. I had a 5,000 word document just of the one-line descriptions of all the little bits and pieces in the story I needed to fix. And that's done!

I know I'm not done done. I can expect at least two more rounds of significant editing (one from the agent and one from the publisher), but I'm taking a moment to enjoy where am. I can look back at 2012 and the two plus years it's taken me to get here with this nice, big, beautiful manuscript and take a deep breath.

Up next, I'm going to spend some time brainstorming ideas for the second and third novels. I also have another project that I NaNoWriMo'ed in 2011, ELEGANT DARKNESS.

NaNoReWrimo For Me This Year

No NaNoWrimo for me this year despite having "won" for the past 3 years. I'm in the middle of the second draft of my novel Spirit Quest.

However, I don't want to let the energy of NaNoWrimo slip away, so instead of writing 1,700 words a day, I'll be rewriting my novel. NaNoReWrimo.

I'm really pleased with the first 100 pages of my 105,000 word novel, about 22,000 words. So that leaves me with roughly 83,000 to tackle over the 30 days, 2,800 words a day.

A few thoughts on tackling second drafts

There's the notion that you'll clean everything up in the second draft. I'm writing the second draft of my novel Spirit Quest and I'm finding that it is indeed when you clean everything up, but I never expected to be cutting so much material and rewriting. Perhaps this effect is due to the NaNoWriMO process, which I treated as getting 50,000 words on the page.

I've had a secondary character push herself to the forefront of my story and demand to be cast as a co-protagonist. Rewriting the early part of the story, she fit more naturally into the story and seemed like the perfect character through which to introduce the supernatural. One of my alpha readers also raised this issue as a concern as the main protagonist doesn't really come into play until chapter 3 and is first seen through that secondary character's pov.

I'm not really fighting the process. It's evolving and I'm writing my way out of it. I never expected the second draft to be as volatile as it is. As this story is meant to be the first in a series of novels with these recurring characters, it's actually added more fun to the concept in that it doesn't all have to revolve around one character and each character can shine at different points in the overall story structure.

A look back at 2013

Yes, it’s that time of year again, where I self-indulgently look back at the year that was 2013. The year ended with a whimper as I was sick for most of December with a variety of ailments that led me to believe I was someone’s science experiment.

In contrast, the year started off well as I attended the Borderlands Boot Camp in January. I learned a hell of a lot from F. Paul Wilson and Douglas Winters and met a great gang of writer folks. Unfortunately, I felt the experience overall was a bit of a downer and really tested by confidence as a writer, which is something that I constantly struggle with. The amount of time I spend second guessing myself and my talents is startling. But, I know I’m not the only one that feels that way.

I took me a considerable amount of time to recover and I think I’ve built myself up stronger than before. And this resurrection of sorts was great timing as I prepared a pitch for the San Diego Comic Con comic creator connection event in July. While I didn’t find a suitable artistic match to go forward with my comic book idea, it did teach me a lot about the art of the pitch.

And that experience paid off as I built up the courage to pitch to a Del-Rey editor at the San Diego Comic Con. A few months later, I received an email from the editor asking to see my novel. So that submission package has been my focus for the end of the 2013.

I worked on the plot for Spirit Quest and hammered out 50,000 words during November’s NaNoWriMo. It wasn’t the most beautiful prose, but it was a great exercise to work through the swirling story ideas I had.

And for the past month, I’ve been tightening up my synopsis for Spirit Quest and fleshing out characters. I’m really looking forward to 2014 and using it to make a leap in my writing career.

Next Steps After NaNoWriMo?

So, if you were fortunate enough to be among the few who "won" NaNoWriMo (41,940 of 300,000 participants), congratulations! Give yourself three big cheers.

But, if you're like me, you're wondering now what? This year's NaNoWriMo writing project was part of a 90,000 word novel I'm writing, so it might be a little different than you if you've actually written a novel from end-to-end over those 50,000 words.

The next larger step is to create our second draft and there are an infinite number of ways you can go about that. One suggestion is to let some time pass and allow yourself to put some perspective on your work. I tried to do that one year and I found that I had lost a lot of momentum and it took almost half a year for me to really get back into the project.

So, I'd recommend you continue working at it, building off the momentum and euphoria that you currently have. The approach I'm trying is to write a treatment of my story, a synposis, maybe 5-10 pages of everything that has happened in my story. In that compact form, I think I can work with the story structure and identify its weaknesses before jumping into any kind of editing or re-write.

Take time to make sure you have all the pieces in your story in the right place and that every chapter and scene builds towards the climax and drive the plot forward. It can be terribly difficult at times, especially if you're struggling with a scene or chapter that you like, but you also know just doesn't fit. Yank it and come up with a new scene or chapter. You'll be surprised that it'll probably be better than the one you first wrote and will also be a better chain link in the overall story.

Best of luck!

Hitting the Halfway Mark for NaNoWriMo 2013

Today is the halfway point in the arduous journey that is NaNoWriMo 2013. I've just typed by 26,962nd word, just shy of the 54% completion mark. It's incredible to look back at what I've written so far, just over a hundred double-spaced pages in fifteen days.

What have I learned so far?

Trust your instincts. Go off in different directions that you intended and see what happens. You might end up scrapping it, but don't dismiss the idea.

Don't be afraid to write the scene again from a different angle. Ideally keep going on forging ahead, but if you've left behind a scene that just doesn't feel right, spend some time rewriting it, try it from a different person or POV. Play around, explore it, you'll be pleasantly surprised at what you might discover.

Don't get discouraged. By now, a lot of my original ideas have been written on and it's that 2/3 part of the novel that's difficult to get down. It's hard work, but keep at it.Sometimes the flow will just take you, and other times, you'll be checking your word count every 50 words!

And here's a great little NaNoWriMo pep talk by Neil Gaiman, who knows a few things about writing novels... http://nanowrimo.org/pep-talks/neil-gaiman

Keep up the great writing!

James Patterson's advice for NaNoWriMo

A bit more NaNoWriMo advice, but this time from best-selling author James Patterson. Love #2 and #3.

1. Outline. If you already have: gold star; proceed to the next piece of advice. If you didn’t, don’t worry, because it’s never too late to go back and make an outline. An outline isn’t something to be scared of, it’s just a chapter-by-chapter description of the scenes that, lined-up together, make your book. On the count of three, tell me the story that unfolds in your novel. All the way to the last chapter. Now write that down. There’s your outline. Easy, right?
   
2. Lie to yourself. Honesty is a great quality, but we’re writing fiction here, so you’d better get used to a little light lying. Tell yourself you can do this. Tell yourself your book will be great. The world will love it and you’ll be the next J.K. Rowling, J.D. Salinger, Art Spiegelman, or whatever flavor of author you hope to become.
   
3. Get into a writing routine. Think it’s hard to write every day during NaNo? Most professional writers keep this kind of pace all year round. Holidays, birthdays, vacations—you name it, we’re writing. The trick is making writing into a daily habit. Same time. Same place. Same hot beverage of choice. Every. Single. Day. Again. And. Again.
   
4. Don’t do it alone. If you live with somebody, tell them to be unpleasant to you if they see you doing anything else during your writing time. Buy them a water gun. If you live alone, have friends call and check on you. And if you have no friends, you will have no trouble writing a book in 30 days. What else do you have to do? (I’m not knocking friendless people. We’ve all been there.)
   
5. Don’t stress. I don’t mean to undermine the above, but remember this is one month, not your entire writing career. Try hard, learn from it, and if you don’t get to 50,000 words, figure out what you did wrong so you can get there next time.

Last Minute Tips for NaNoWriMo

Here's a handful of last minute tips for NaNoWriMo:

• Don't forget to read my first article: jasonshayer.blogspot.ca/2013/10/nanowrimo-2013-advice.html
  
• Believe in yourself. If you're like me, you'll be plagued by self-doubt throughout November. It's going to be a rough first draft.
  
• Don't get caught in rewriting. If you think of a better way of writing a scene, just write that new scene. Don't go back and edit.
  
• Don't stop reading. I know it'll be difficult to just have to the time to writer your 1667 words a day, but also make sure you take a few minutes to read each day as well.

• It's a marathon, not a sprint. Stick to your word count. If you fall behind, you still have a lot of time to catch up!
  
• Just write. Apply the seat of your pants to a chair and write.
  
• Have fun!

The journey towards 50,000 words begins with but one word...

NaNoWriMo 2013 Advice

"Once more onto the breech!" Okay, so who's with me. 50,000 words in 30 days (or 720 hours, or 43, 200 minutes).

I've done it 5 times in the last 6 years and dragged my sorry carcass across the finish line all 5 times.

Here's some unsolicited advice:

• Go in with a good idea of a synopsis/outline. When you carve out the daily time to write, make sure you know what you're writing about. And don't be afraid to go off on tangents and explore other ideas. But, it always helps to sit down and have a direction to write in.
• Set a goal of pounding out 1800 words a day, a bit more than what is required (1667 words a day). Why?  It always feels better to be ahead.  Not to mention, there will be days when you won't get any writing done, so you need to build up enough of an advance to stop feeling guilty about not writing.  
• Use a spreadsheet with 30 days worth of word counts to track my daily progress.
• Carve out some time, whether it's late at night or early in the morning, or over lunch.
• Get your family/significant others' buy in. Tell them what you're trying to do. I really does help to tell them your word count goal as they can encourage you. Or at least give them a timeframe for when you'll join them for dinner or come to bed!
• Maintain some social presence. You can't bury yourself in your novel. Getting out occasionally will help and might even help if you chat a bit about your work in progress.

Let me know if you have any questions...

You can buddy me over on the NaNoWriMo author page at http://nanowrimo.org/participants/jshayer

Looking back at 2012

Before jumping into my 2013 writing goals, I’d like to self-indulge a bit, and look back at my writing accomplishments of 2012.

2012 was a bit of a crazy year that saw us undergo an almost 4 month renovation of our home. There was a lot of work involved before, during, and after the reno that sucked all my free time. However, despite all of that, I kept my Marvel 1980s blog updated and regularly contribute to Biff Bam Pop and two articles to Back Issue magazine. My short story, “Dirt Man”, was published in the Biff Bam Pop anthology, Strange Worlds.

I also made a lot of headway into my first Trevor Galloway novel. So much so that I used it both for submissions for various writers grants and for the Borderlands Boot camp. Unfortunately, I was turned down for those grants, but I was accepted into the Boot camp which is happening at the end of the month in Baltimore.

In early November, I attended the World Fantasy Convention held here in Toronto (Markham, actually) and met with a lot of other writers and was reminded of the amount of work demanded of even a part-time writer.

Also in November, I pounded out 50,000 words for NaNoWrimo detailing the YA exploits of a young woman with mysterious powers over shadows and darkness. In December, I felt a bit burned out after NaNoWrimo and it took me a while before getting into the right mind frame to tackle the Top Cow Talent Hunt. It was a deadline deal as I sent off the script and synopsis on December 31st and should hopefully find out the results by the end of the month!

So, looking back, it was a solid year that I’m hoping to build upon during 2013.

Post-NaNoWriMo writer’s block

I experienced this last year as well. Coming off the marathon that is NaNoWriMo, I find myself creatively drained. I finished on the 27th of November and gave myself some time off, until December. But, come December 1st, my motivation was fleeting.

So in an effort to rekindle that motivation, I need to set out some goals.

1. Submit a Top Cow Talent Hunt proposal by Dec 31, which consists of an 8 page script and a synopsis.
2. Submit a 4,000 word short story for The Hero Comes Home 2.
3. Critique the submissions from my fellow Borderland bootcampers. There’s 16 submissions, including short stories and novel proposals. (Due January 26/13)
4. Start my reading for my latest Back Issue Magazine assignment. (Due April/13)
5. Do some research for my YA horror novel, Elegant Darkness.
6. Create a synopsis/plot breakdown for Elegant Darkness.
7. Re-approach my serial horror novel, End Times.

Holy crap that’s a lot of work for about 22 days.

NaNoWriMo Winner!

I crossed the finish this evening at 50,031 words. I lot to digest, but I'm really pleased with the story that flowed out. I'll let it sit for a little while and then work on the outline and let the real first draft begin!

I need to catch up some reading as well as focus on reading all the story for the Borderlands bootcamp. So "The Elegant Beauty of Darkness" will probably have to wait until February 2013.

NaNoWriMo 2012

What the hell is NaNoWriMo? It’s a fun acronym for the National Novel Writing Month. What the hell is National Novel Writing Month? It’s a month-long marathon in which you dedicate yourself to writing 50,000 words in 30 days. Yes, 30 days, one month and at the end you have a novel. Well, probably more accurately, a rough first draft. That’s roughly 1,700 words a day. It might seem like a lot at first, but you’ll get used to writing that much in no time.

How does one accomplish such a goal? Sit down somewhere comfortable and type. Reach 1,700 words. Repeat until you reach 50,000 words.

Signing up for this event is easy. Go to http://nanowrimo.org/en/dashboard and register. Next, tell your family, friends, co-workers that you’re embarking on this perilous journey. This notification swerves two goals: to get their buy in for the amount of time you’ll need to write each day and to use them as motivation (you don’t want to lose face in front of your family or friends, do you? Get back to your seat and finish your 1,700 words.)

Above all though, have fun with NaNoWriMo. Are you always telling someone that you have this great idea for a story or a novel? Now’s the time to put this great idea to the test. Sit down and write about it.

Don’t go back and re-write, don’t worry if it’ll suck (it will suck, it’s a first draft), experiment, go down tangents, explore your idea and have fun.

Another goal of NaNoWriMo in my opinion is to get you into the habit of writing 1,700 words a day. If you want to be a professional writer, you’d better get used to that number on a daily basis.

In 2011, NaNoWriMo had over 250,000 participants, but only 14% crossed that 50,000 word finish line. Can you do it? Can you become a novelist by the end of November? See you at the finish line!

Hit the 50k mark on Endless Night

I just pushed ahead of the 50,000 work mark on my novel, Endless Night. It's not quite the 90,000 goal that I set out to accomplish, but I'm happy with having reached 50,000. I've been finding it hard to write on the novel and feel that I've been thinking about it way too much and need a break from it.

NaNoWriMo is fast approaching and I need to set aside some time for preparation, characters, rough outline, and some log lines. Looking forward to the challenge. Taking a stab at the Young Adult market with this one, so we'll see what happens. Stay tuned.

Getting organized and setting new goals

It's difficult trying to set up your goals and align your efforts with deadlines. As I mentioned in a previous post, I try to scout out potential short story markets and set up a schedule based on those.

Earlier in the year, I had set an ambitious goal of having the first draft of my novel Endless Night completed and even having a second draft of it done by November for the World Fantasy Convention. However, that goal become derailed as I really struggled with a lot of plotting issues. However, my efforts to submit proposals for grants and for the Borderlands Boot Camp helped to solidify the project.

Now, I'm trying to hit a minimum of a 1,000 words a day on Endless Night. So, between now and WFC, there's basically 6 weeks and with trying to pound our 7,000 words a week, that's at least 43,000 words combined with the existing 35,000 words would get me into the 78,000 words area or 87% of my goal.

I'd like to do NaNoWrimo again this year, but to try something different just to change my mind. That will give me the necessary time away from Endless Night and give me the month of December to close out those 90,000 words.

Along with these writing efforts, I have the following goals/deadlines:


Short story for September 30th - Dead North (reused an existing story that I liked a lot, 85% complete)
Short story for October 15th - Stories from the Asylum (haven't started)
Short story for October 31th - Urban Fantasy themed anthology (haven't started)
Prework for NaNoWrimo
Short story for November 30th - Urban Green Man (haven't started)
Comic book script and synopsis for December 31st - Top Cow Talent Hunt
    - complete research: read up on Top Cow comics
    - pick a character from the list to write about; think outside the box in terms of the character

Okay, now I'm feeling guilty enough that I should get back to my writing!