Author Topic: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017  (Read 39738 times)

Izybat

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #200 on: June 26, 2017, 04:31:05 PM »
I've had a rough couple of weeks, and haven't written a word in almost two weeks. I need to get myself back on track.

How's everyone else coming along?

Very poorly. Haven't written a word for two months.  But now the kids are out of school, I think I'll be able to start up again soon.  It got very hectic what with end of year concerts, fairs, and parties. I'll start again tomorrow morning if I get up early enough.

You can do it! I managed to push myself back on track. I think I wrote 6 out of the last 7 days. My book is now at 82,000, and it's getting near the climax of the story, which should be very exciting. I'm hoping to finish the book in the next month or so. Then on to the hard part, editing and revising.

Pooperman

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #201 on: June 26, 2017, 04:45:23 PM »
I've had a rough couple of weeks, and haven't written a word in almost two weeks. I need to get myself back on track.

How's everyone else coming along?

I'm going to spend some time tonight on it. Currently, 3k words left to go before initial editing. Then I'll have to do a gender switch and a 2nd edit. Finally, I'll assemble the monstrosity that is a CYOA. 6k words -> 150k words because of minor changes and additions and pathing weirdness.

Izybat

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #202 on: July 01, 2017, 08:10:50 PM »
I've crossed over 86,000 words. It has occurred to me that by the time my book finally gets done, it will likely be much longer than it "should" be, but I'm actually okay with that. I've written several books before, but I've never taken the next step and actually edited them or revised them. I figure once I get to that stage, there will actually be a long list of changes, and probably quite a lot of text that will get cut. I'm hoping that the editing process will bring my book back within a reasonable range. I'm hoping to finish this particular first draft within the next month or so. Then on to the hard part...

Missy B

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #203 on: July 17, 2017, 02:28:41 PM »
I can't believe I only just found this thread.  Thank you so much for starting it SeaKayEl!!

I would love to have a place to talk about my writing since I don't know anyone IRL who is a writer.
It's almost as alienating as being Mustachian.  I thought people would be more enthusiastic about my writing since it is clear that I am very passionate about it.  And I am interested in their hobbies and pastimes and avocations, so why can't they be interested in mine?   But friends and family don't get it at all.  They won't even read my work.  Does anyone else find that?

Oh, this is normal! And understandable, I think. Writing is such an internal process, it isn't like talking about photography or kayaking or gardening. I actually try not to talk about writing at all with f&f, unless its the business end of it. Having said that, I do feel very supported by my family in that they always ask how it's going and are excited when I get something published.

I don't expect them to want to read my work or that my work would necessarily be a fit/entertaining for them... there's no reason to expect that. Everyone has their own preferences and taste for genre and style and voice. Also, nothing turns you off faster on a story than the feeling that you *have* to read it.

The other thing is, having f&f being really interested in your writing might make you feel good, but it doesn't help you write. Not write faster, not write better. You can tell yourself a story about how the fact that the people close in don't really care about your writing is why you can't write, but that would be a lie.

What's really important to me is 1)  getting out of my own way so I can tell my stories 2) learning craft, always learning, so I can get better at telling stories. And while its nice to have other people who relate, no one else, even other writers, really fully understands what is going on in your head.

Pooperman

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #204 on: July 17, 2017, 02:33:39 PM »
The group project of a novel is finally released :). Still working on my erotic CYOA. Looking like I'll have it out in about 3 weeks if all goes well.

Izybat

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #205 on: July 17, 2017, 03:57:48 PM »
I'm almost at 95,000 words, which is the longest book I've written to date. I'm right at the climax of the book, so I think if were to buckle down and write for several hours at a time (rather than < 30 min) I would probably have the book done in a week. My husband is going to be out of town this weekend, so that might provide the perfect opportunity to knock it out. Until then, I'll just keep trudging along.

Izybat

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #206 on: July 28, 2017, 05:19:56 PM »
Well, I think I did it. For real.

I just finished the first draft of my current novel. 101,049 was the final word count. Right on target for what I had envisioned. The book is still really rough and needs a ton of editing, but that's a problem for another time. In fact, I think I'm going to try out the advice of pretty much everyone and put my book away for 4-6 weeks before I reread it. Hopefully, by then I'll be more objective about it's merits.

It's been a long damn time since I've finished writing a book. It feels great.

joonifloofeefloo

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #207 on: July 28, 2017, 06:11:27 PM »
Hey izybat, great job!!!!! Wow!!!! Congratulations :)
You really stuck through it. Total score, big time!

Flyingkea

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #208 on: July 29, 2017, 06:59:17 AM »
Well, I think I did it. For real.

I just finished the first draft of my current novel. 101,049 was the final word count. Right on target for what I had envisioned. The book is still really rough and needs a ton of editing, but that's a problem for another time. In fact, I think I'm going to try out the advice of pretty much everyone and put my book away for 4-6 weeks before I reread it. Hopefully, by then I'll be more objective about it's merits.

It's been a long damn time since I've finished writing a book. It feels great.

Woah! Well done you!

boy_bye

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #209 on: July 29, 2017, 10:02:05 AM »
Yay! Congrats, Izybat!

Flyingkea

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #210 on: August 30, 2017, 08:03:36 AM »
I've made progress, albeit slowly - my story is now approx 30k words long.
I also wrote a short story, which is 4.5k words long. Letting it sit for a bit before I go back to edit it.

Pooperman

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #211 on: August 30, 2017, 08:57:57 AM »
Still working on the CYOA. Most of the actual writing portion is done and it's mostly a case of just putting the pieces together for the ~170 sections that make it up. About 1/5 done putting it together at this point. Then comes a round of editing followed by release. The cover is complete and ready to go. It will be about 80k words when finished.

Izybat

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #212 on: August 30, 2017, 04:24:30 PM »
So my last post was about finishing my novel that I was working on. I did the reccommended thing and set it aside and didn't look at it  (it's going on 4+ weeks now). In the mean time, I've started another book.  I'm about 8,500 words into that one. I had a vacation in the middle of the month, and that wound up throwing me off so that I didn't' write for two weeks. I'm back at it though. Now I just need to figure out how to balance writing a new book (that's the fun part), with editing/reviewing the old book (that's the less fun part). Revising is not my specialty, so I have to make it work somehow.

Nick_Miller

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #213 on: September 28, 2017, 09:27:21 AM »
Just checking in!

@Izy, does your "finished" novel need content editing or just copyediting? I wasn't sure where you were in the process.

@Pooper, are you writing a Choose Your Own Adventure? Like an official one for Chooseco, or one that's similar in style?

@Flyingkea, what's your story about? Making any progress?

I'm working on my sequel, but I'm resting in October because as you all know, it can be mentally draining. Plus October is too awesome of a month to spend all it hunched over a computer.

Pooperman

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #214 on: September 28, 2017, 10:35:18 AM »
@Pooper, are you writing a Choose Your Own Adventure? Like an official one for Chooseco, or one that's similar in style?

It's for myself and in Amazon. This is the second one I've done. The first (NSFW) I did about a year ago. You click on a link in your kindle to progress the story and make your choice rather than flipping to a page number.

joonifloofeefloo

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #215 on: September 28, 2017, 10:38:01 AM »
haha, cool, Pooperman!!!!

Izybat

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #216 on: September 28, 2017, 01:39:41 PM »
@Nick_Miller - my finished story likely needs both copy editing and some story edits. I feel like the pace is off, but perhaps that's just me as the author. There are also a few "never tied this up" kinda things that need to be fixed. The good news is that I'm almost done with the first pass of reading/suggesting edits. I've been doing them on paper, so I'll still need to transfer the changes to the document, but it's good progress!

Also, I'm around 21,000 words into my next book, which is nice progress too. I was worried about working on two pieces at once, but it's going better than anticipated. Hopefully I can keep it up.

Flyingkea

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Re: Finish (or start) Writing Your Book 2017
« Reply #217 on: September 28, 2017, 08:17:06 PM »
Just checking in!

@Izy, does your "finished" novel need content editing or just copyediting? I wasn't sure where you were in the process.

@Pooper, are you writing a Choose Your Own Adventure? Like an official one for Chooseco, or one that's similar in style?

@Flyingkea, what's your story about? Making any progress?

I'm working on my sequel, but I'm resting in October because as you all know, it can be mentally draining. Plus October is too awesome of a month to spend all it hunched over a computer.

Thanks for the reminder, haven't done much in ages - kept falling asleep while putting the toddler to bed :/
Written a bunch today though :)

Story - sort of a modern day world, but people started randomly developing magic during WW1. My story is set about 5-10 years later, and is exploring different peoples reactions to magic. Perspective is from a woman who has fled an abusive marriage, and is one of the first people to gain employment for the primary purpose of using her magic. (She has the ability to suppress peoples ability to see the future and works at a casino)