Writing a Book in a Year

When I wrote my first novel, my goal was simply to see if I could get to the end. Did I have what it took to write a whole novel? I had no plans for daily word counts or a particular time frame. It was a simple goal. Write a novel.

Like many other authors, I worked full time, so I wrote in the evenings and at weekends. I had days or weeks when my motivation lagged and I didn't write. I see from my spreadsheets that book took me between eighteen months and two years to write and edit.

I'm horrified to realise the next two novels actually took me longer, although the word count is significantly more. They both took closer to three years including the elapsed time between writing and editing, and looking for agents or publishers and making the changes they suggested.

At this point I felt good about my experiences and the things I'd learned from writing the previous novels. For a long time I'd wanted to see if I could write and edit a novel within a year, and this seemed like the right opportunity. It was the first time since I started my initial novel that all my other projects were finished and I wasn't in between writing and editing something else. It was time to set that goal.

I definitely didn't choose the best year. We've moved three times since February and while I've still been contracting, all my work this year has been in company offices, so I haven't had the luxury of working from home and choosing my own hours. However, I have accomplished my goal *loud cheer and happy face * AND Still Death is a great book. 

I think there's much to recommend writing a book in a shorter length of time, or at least to be continuously in the world of your book and characters. This is why authors talk of the discipline of writing every day and living closely with your characters. You are more open to recognising the inspiration and ideas that come, and you don't have to waste time getting back into the groove of your story. My goal now is to write the next book in nine months (and it would be good if I could come up with a title much sooner!). Watch this space!

Still Death will be available from 8th November, but you can pre-order it from the retailers below.  After the launch it will be $2.99 but at the moment you can pre-order it for 99 cents.  

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Apple Store
Smashwords
Kobo Books 
 

Spring

 

The clocks went forward this weekend for Daylight Savings, and while it has officially been spring for a few weeks it does feel like it now. Right on cue the weather put on a stunning weekend, and the local beach and ice cream shops have been busy. 

In Auckland we enjoy a temperate climate, and so the variation between the seasons isn’t so great. Most of the trees are green all year, and some plants that only flower in summer in colder climates manage to bloom for most of the year, but it is still good to see the spring flowers making their entrance.

I recall walking through a short stretch of woods to school and enjoying the bluebells that gave the wood its name. In Cyprus there would be a short rainy season at the beginning of the year, and what was usually dry desert-like expanses would turn into fields of glorious yellow flowers overnight. In Wales, daffodils are a national emblem and during Spring they bloom in every available space. It is a glorious time of year.

I’ve been busy plotting and writing, and enjoying feeling of progress, even if it isn’t especially noticeable in word count (an amount of murdering my darlings has been taking place). 

A friend and I were discussing the impetus of deadlines the other day, most especially those created for no other reason than a date. As we celebrate Christmas during the summer, the schools are closed for the long summer break and families take additional leave from work.  With so many people away that means work projects don’t really take-off until February, and then speed up through the year. November and early December are usually frantic, and so by the time Christmas comes everyone is glad to have some time off. It is understandable as people want to finish projects before the summer break, and start something new when they return. 

Even though the New Year is just a date, it is also quite an impetus for finishing things off and starting something new. In that light I’d like to think my current WIP would be finished by that time – whether it’s manageable I’m not sure, but I’m working on it.

 

Deadlines and Positive Thinking

I've just finished a work project with a very tight deadline. I've had more than a few of those this year, and I enjoyed a wonderful moment of lightness as I uploaded the documents, and metaphorically watched them disappear.

Deadline is a very negative word. Out of interest I looked it up in the dictionary, the first two definitions were exactly as I had expected, but there was a third.

'(Formerly) a boundary around a military prison beyond which a prisoner could not venture without risk of being shot by the guards.'

And I thought my deadline was bad!

When I'm not actually stressing about a deadline I enjoy the work I do, and the fact that mostly I work from home.

I realise that it's not so much the activity, but how I view it, that defines how I feel about it.

So taking this idea further - enjoying every day is about looking at daily activities in a positive way.  Finding a way to make those tedious tasks more exciting or fun.  That's what we do with children, make a game of putting away the toys or clothes, or even eating their vegetables.

I'll let you know how it goes.