A Week of Mondays – Day 1 #BehindTheBook

Today I started a new book. It’s technically the 12th book I’ve ever written but the 8th that will be published. (You do the math about my rejection-laden past.)

The book is called A WEEK OF MONDAYS. It won’t be out until Spring of 2016. But I get so many questions from fellow writers about my writing “process” I thought I’d use this new manuscript as an opportunity to share my writing process with anyone who cares to read about it. I’ll try not to hold anything back. There will be good days and bad days. I know this. Writing a book is like putting together a puzzle, except you don’t have the box so you don’t know what the picture is supposed to look like. You kind of have to figure it out along the way. Sometimes the pieces fit nicely together. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes you’re missing pieces and swear the dog ate them. Sometimes there are too many that seem like they’ll never fit. Sometimes you think you’re the greatest writer on the planet, sometimes you want to throw in the towel and just look at pins of nail art for the rest of your days.

I will be vague from time to time when talking about specific plot issues. And that’s to avoid giving away any spoilers about the book itself.

I hope this diary of sorts will be helpful to fellow writers. Writing is such a solitary pursuit. So this is me, attempting to peel back the layers of loneliness and expose some of the truth about writing a manuscript. Or at least some of my truth.

This is a total experiment. I’m not sure how this whole live blogging of a manuscript will go. Be sure to leave me feedback and let me know if you’re enjoying it. Or if there’s something else you’d like to see in each post.

So without further ado, here’s day 1:

Stats:

Date: 9/3/14

Words Written: 1350

Total Words to Date: 1350

Pages Written: 7

Total Pages To Date: 7

Chapters Completed: 2

Total Chapters to Date: 2

Time Elapsed: 72 minutes

General Mood (1-10): 9

Notes:

Beginnings are always fun for me. New character, new world, new flaws to play with. This was especially fun after coming off three sci-fi books in a trilogy, the last of which was especially dark. It was really exciting to stretch my legs and do something light and “voicy” again. A normal teenage girl. No super powers, no evil corporations chasing her down. I felt like I’d come home after visiting a foreign country for three years. I was able to settle into the other country and even get used to the new food or the funny way they pronounce words, but this. This feels like home.

I’m writing from a pretty extensive outline (25 page) that I spent about two weeks perfecting. So that should streamline the plotting process, but there are always surprises.

I’m liking what I have so far. I fiddled around a bit too much with the first paragraph. (I normally don’t like to edit as I write, but as this was the beginning, I was eager to get it right.) The opening lines are still not right, but I’m letting them sit for now. I’m confident I’ll come up with something perfect later. This character is really different than anything I’ve done and she’s highly entertaining. She’s very whimsical and in her head. I’m really looking forward to returning to her tomorrow. I was tempted to write more, but I always like to stop while I’m still excited. It gives me something to look forward to tomorrow and ensures I’ll be eager to write when I wake up.

I do feel a bit anxious knowing that this “honeymoon” period of the beginning of a new book won’t last (how’s that for jaded!) Soon I’ll be bemoaning the whole thing and sick do to death of this girl. But for now, I’m determined to enjoy it while I can.

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September 3rd, 2014

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