Diary of a new writing project. Day 18: cleaning sprints

I used one my most faithful, always working writing tip during this blissful daylight creative writing time: cleaning sprints.

This week word count goal: 15 000 words
Word count so far: 12 427 words

I had three free day hours to work on the YA-Wip today. Three ! As my new early morning tv friend would put it: hooray!

I used one my most faithful, always working writing tip during this blissful daylight creative writing time: cleaning sprints.

Better then looking endlessly at the screen, or re-writing a sentence ten times and get all bump out. Plus, less chores left for the weekend – wishful thinking helps sometimes.

A little sweeping here, folding laundry there, dealing with dishes (which feel like it could be a full-time job sometimes). 5 minutes of brainstorming – aloud more often then not – and I am back in front of the manuscript.

No rest for the wicked

This coming weekend is a activity free weekend. That means: nap time writing session will be available!

Will I reach 15 000 words? I am going to try anyway.

Thanks for reading this post. Find me on twitter and or take a look my Writing Boards on Pinterest.
Until next time!

Writing a novel: How to know if your novel idea is working?

A publisher said to me once, in a rejection letter, that the characters in my novel were clichés. Another publisher, in yet another rejection letter, said my novel was too classic, not original.

Since then, whenever I start a new writing project, you bet your sweet bottom I wanna make sure my novel idea is working.

A publisher said to me once, in a rejection letter, that the characters in my novel were clichés. Another publisher, in yet another rejection letter, said my novel was too classic, not original.

Since then, whenever I start a new writing project, you bet your sweet bottom I wanna make sure my novel idea is working. And working well too.

How to know your novel idea stands out for the best?
It depends.
Like you didn’t know that already! But, the thing is, it does depend.

I consider two main factors to begin with:

  • novel genres
  • type of novel (retelling, original fiction, autofiction)

What to research:

  • The targeted readership (age, country)
  • The editorial bottom-line of the publishers in the chosen genres
  • The published books in your genres, from now up to as far as you are willing to go in the past.

Even if I pretty much write for readers from age 9 to 109 (everybody is a Young Adult this days), I still keep in touch, read a ton, follow the news, check out the best-selling list every month on big and small bookstores websites and newspaper.
What is hot and new now won’t work anymore in 18 months or so. Beware, the book world is a business…

Ok, basic knowledge gathered. Next level please!

What to do next?

Read as many books as you can in your genre of choices.
While reading the most recent novels is critical – in order for us to see what is « working » right now, I also lean towards old titles.
And, I also make a point to go back several books decades sometimes. It is a good learning experience, I find, to see how literature for youngster readers, for example, evolved in the past twenty years or so.
I recently read a Middle-Grade commercial ghost-written book from 1984 and boy, oh boy, am I glad women and LGBTQ+ rights are being taken more into account these days.

And then… I write a resume of the story and I also try to sell it in one line or two, as if it was a movie.
That way, I can see the tropes I’m gonna use and make sure I used them in a fun, original, stand-out way.
I don’t mean something mind-blowing over the top crazy. I just mean, you know, what if an orphan wizard was to meet the daughter of a famous presidential couple during a strike for climate, and they discover they are both there to protect the leader of the strike from a terrible prophecy/treat.
Suuure, it hasn’t been written before.
But, the characters are a bit cliché, plus the set-up is really, really in the right-now, which might not translate well in 18 months from now. Hell, in two months from now.

Writing a resume (synopsis works too, but I hate synopsis) helps me figure out the rough shapes of the bones of the story. I can then see if I’m right into cliché town and I can figure out how to get out of there BEFORE it’s 60 000 words too late.
Like I did.
Twice.

Also, very, very important: a critique partner (two max) should help work on your manuscript and beta-readers should read the manuscript. Unlike author Bridgid Gallagher in her post on CP’s and beta-readers, family doesn’t count as beta-readers; plus, if they don’t like the manuscript, it will create a weird situation (just trust me on this one).

Thanks for reading. I hope this post helped you.
To all my fellow crazy writers on a quest, a bid thy farewell.
Until next time!

Diary of a new writing project. Day 17: beautiful mess

This story is going very well – of course, I’m at the very start!

This week word count goal: 15 000
Word count so far: 11 047

I got an eye cramp.
Did you know that you can have a cramp in your eye?
35 to 44 years on Earth, and I first experienced it today, while drafting away! Ha!


Today, I used my list of to-do’s before writing, to see if I could be as productive today as I was yesterday.
I guess I could have done better but I’m fairly happy with the results.

This story is going very well – of course, I’ve only just started writing it!
Nevertheless, I feel at ease in a contemporary-ish setting. It has been a while…

Also, I can see the writing tips science paying off on that new project. I can’t remember where I got that writing the backstories at the same time as the outline tip, but it is a good one. Must confess, I find the backstories more useful than the outline.
I love being able to go to my characters’ backstories in a heartbeat instead of figuring it out as I go. It really does help.

Although they are rough backstories, it still super useful to have the basics handy. I am still adding some stuff, erasing other stuff. Overall though, I can find their family history, the main events that shape them to be the characters they are at the beginning of the novel.

I say this, when I look back at the manuscript, I feel a bit scared. It still follows the outline main « guidelines », but the story is so different now.

My main concern now is the flow of it all. Conflicts follow action follow consequences. It’s all there, but it might be too much. I feel the urge to edit and clean up that beautiful mess.
However, powering through has proven to be much more effective… and fun.

Thanks for reading the diary ramblings of a crazy writer on a quest. If you wanna start at the beginning, be my guest.
Until next time!