I wrote another book.
November is my favorite month. I love the changing of temperatures, colors, and of course, Thanksgiving. It’s only the beginning of a stressful time, which is one reason I wasn’t going to participate in NaNoWriMo (where you write a book in 30 days). With editing and getting ready to publish my debut book, The Right Design, in January, there was no time.
Wrong!
So, on November 1st, I began to outline a book that I was going to try to write. I’m a huge planner, but as a writer I’m a panster. However, when I tried to outline, something about it was different this time. It came easy to me and before I knew it, I was writing away. 1,667 words a day for 30 days, isn’t so bad. When the hubby came home from work I told him what I’d be up to, he was a little weary of the way I was going to challenge myself. (I was one stressed woman when I wrote “The Right Design” during NaNoWriMo in 2011). This time was different, so when he challenged me to write 3,000 words a day, I thought he was crazy.
…CHALLENGE ACCEPTED…
I hadn’t planned on doing something, but I did it. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought, thanks to my trusty outline.
Just by looking at the stats, it’s really shocking to know that I did this, and in the short amount of time. 19 days! (Yes, you read that right!) The best part was that I had only one breakdown, which happened the day before I wrote the words, The End.
Here are a few tips that kept me focused:
- Don’t stress! Now, I know it’s easier said than done, but not stressing about writing is a huge part of writing 50,000 words!
- Use a timer! With all the distractions that our phones and computer gives us, I bought a kitchen timer at my grocery store and set it on 35 minutes. This means that I solely focus on my WIP, even when I sat there staring at the blinking cursor. Using increments of a little over half an hour, helped me stay focused, but also allowed me to take breaks. When I came back, I felt refreshed and ready to set the timer again. As long as I got my 3,000 words a day in, I was good. 🙂
- Just write! When writer friends of mine gave me this advice, I really wanted to roll my eyes and say, “Whatever!” However, the reality of it is, their advice is so right on! No matter if it’s good or bad, just get it down. Know that you can always go back and change it later.
- Have fun with it! While I outlined this time around, don’t feel pressured to follow any kind of outline. There were several times when I had my characters talking to me, and telling me what direction their character wanted to go. I didn’t hesitate or question them, I just kept writing. Have fun with your characters or story-lines.
Here’s a look of the book after I printed it all out and flagged the characters with colored stickers (which I loved working with). Doesn’t it look pretty?
Right now, I have two working titles. They are either “Cards From Khloe’s Flower Shop” or “Khloe’s Flower Shop.”
Here is a little blurb:
Khloe Harper owns a flower shop and sends deliveries to other characters in the book. There’s a woman who’s 60, who is learning to love again, a dirty old man who sends flowers to his wife and mistress, a thirty-something woman who sends flowers to herself, just to receive attention at work, and then there’s a man who proposes to his girlfriend (only because she finds the ring), but he’s having second thoughts because he has his eyes on the flower shop owner.
**Thank you to all my family and friends who helped me survive those 19 days!
What am I working on now? Edits for the above WIP will be held off until after my book is published. in the meantime, I’m working on my last round of edits for “The Right Design” and working on promotion, along with formatting.
