Novel Update: Major Progress!

I have some super exciting news, my friends! As you know, I’ve been in the Author Conservatory since February of this year, working on my next novel and learning about writing, publishing, business, etc.

I introduced my first book concept in this post, but I ended up having to change that due to unforeseen complications.

So I drew up three new concepts and ended up picking my current WIP (work in progress), currently called Camp Victory. I worked on character arcs for two weeks (although I’ve tweaked them a bit since then), and I worked on the next two steps of outlining for nearly two and a half months.

And then I took a break from blogging on Monday, June 19. I posted that announcement that morning, just a few hours before my next feedback call.

And on that call, I graduated to DRAFTING my book!!! This means that all the prep work has been finished and polished, and I’m ready to actually start writing the book!

Guys, I’m so pumped about this! It’s been a long process, and being sent back to the beginning after a month of working on my first project was a setback. But I think it was for the best. I know that my first idea would have taken a TON of work and might not have even worked after that. I’ve learned so much through these last few months, and I know that there will be much more learning in the future. But for now, let’s celebrate! 

Here are some current stats for those who are curious:

After graduation, I took two days to work on my chapter outline, making sure I knew how to spread things out.

Then I worked out a writing schedule that (should) work for me to be able to finish in a good amount of time. Currently, I will be writing a little less than 2,000 words every other day and hopefully finish in three months or so. I’m leaving this estimation loose, though, because we all know life happens.

At the writing of this post, I’ve written 1½ chapters, each around 3,000 words long (UPDATE: I’m now at 4 chapters, so around 12,000 words!). I’m having so much fun writing this book and figuring out how my characters act, talk, and interact! I will hopefully have some character collages to share with you soon, but right now my main focus is writing.

I will try to continue posting twice a week after this, but I will have to determine how that works with my novel-writing schedule. But have no fear, I will keep you updated and try to post regularly, whether or not I have to change the schedule of how regularly that is.

And three tips for those who write, whether that be novels or nonfiction:

1. Keep God in mind while you’re writing. My reason for writing is to glorify God and get some good books out there. If I want to do that, then I must have Him in mind while my fingers type! Also, praying before writing is AWESOME!
2. It helps a lot to split your screen so you can see the document you’re working on and your outline at the same time! This helps me to stay on track so well!
3. Keep track of your progress! I have a handy spreadsheet where I document the day, length of time, and word count for each writing session. This is helpful for looking back and reminding myself how far I’ve gone!

Alright, I think that’s it! Thank you all for reading, and have a wonderful day. 😀

~Janet