Write a book this year

[GlumyGloomer]

I started back around February I think, and hoping to finish the first draft before the end of the year.
Anyone else fancy a chat/support thread?

I actually managed -200 words yesterday!

I decided to go back and edit the first chapter which cut it down a bit. It’s supposed to be a middle grade / YA book and all the feedback from Scribophile I’ve had is that the sentences are too long so I thought I’d have a look at tightening it up and using those improvements going forwards.

@MrsRussell

I'm sort of torn, for my boy - Julian Sands in his youth would have been a shoo-in but he's kind of saggy and bald now so hard pass there I think.

Kali I use word but then upload to Google Drive so I have a copy EVERYWHERE. Not only so I don't lose it, but that way if I'm sat in the car and moved to add another few words I've got the most recent version, especially at this stage where I'm tending to wander off in God knows what directions and then find out that I can't do the thing I want to do because history or chronology.... the joys of writing a series!

I also buy notebooks from The Works, one per book, and scribble down plot rubbish while I'm just doing other stuff. As one does.

Thank you! You’ve just given me the simple solution I was looking for as I wrote on my phone (in notes), a notebook, word docs at pc.... and was getting a bit lost. I’ll switch to google docs and do it that way :)

Sometimes I find there’s too much technology- I just want simplicity!

@GlumyGloomer

Setting the bar high there, Winched! Around 600 words today, through to after school when the really fun stuff happens. Hello *@GoddessKali and @BreastedBoobilyToTheStairs*! I have a number of unfinished projects, which I hope will one day become finished projects. All stuff that would require a bit more sit down and focus time than I have at the moment to do them justice.

Hiya @GlumyGloomer

Today is the day I’m going to organise myself and start pulling together all my scraps into one document.
I must have at least 15 notebooks, hundreds of scraps of paper, I have giant poster sized stick it notes (they’re amazing!) and hundreds of voice notes and written notes in my phone.

I feel like I’ve already written a book - it’s just here there and everywhere lol

@WitchyWitchFace

Hi, all. Hope you don't mind my joining. I'm writing the first book in a three book series. I'm currently at 17k words and aiming for 1k a day. Sometimes this might work out as 2k one day and 0 the next. I've set myself an ambitious task of 3k this evening to hit 20k total. My plan is to self publish later in the year. I even designed and created a book cover yesterday just for motivational purposes. I am planning on paying out for the covers to be professionally made when the time comes but I did enjoy having a play around and it did help with motivation!

Love the idea of designing the book cover to keep you motivated! I’ll do that too as my background is marketing so I’m stimulated most by visual creativity :)

Not entirely sure how many words today, but I've just hit 33k. That's 3k since the thread started
I did design a cover for my first book, but the art was too amateurish to use. I still really like the design. If I ever fix and republish that book then I'd like to get a proper artist to execute my design..

Kali how did the note collating go?

Nice going glumy!
I’m editing- got through around 8k words the last couple of days. Hoping to get the same tomorrow.

I'm up to 3.6k on my new project, and spent a good chunk of time plotting and creating some backstory, including while while I was walking the dog earlier today. Inspiration comes from the strangest places! Hopefully will find some writing time tomorrow so I don't lose momentum now I have more of a general outline. Seeing other a making progress and talking about their work is a huge help. Happy writing!

I'm progressing slowly, but am up to over 45k now.

I've got to the beginning of the end now. I know how it ends, but not totally sure how we're going to get there. There's about three or four different thoughts I have.

Other thing I'm wondering is how much revenge I take on the bad guys for a middle grade book. Ds says full blood, guts and gore.
I've got one chap, he's friends of the bad guy, but most of the time has been fairly sympathetic to the MC. I'm not sure if he's going to be very sorry and redeemed or hit by the fallout. He does know what's going on, and has been going along with it, but that's partially because he's fairly laid back and wants the least hassle.

I feel your pain Margaret I've just got the first full-on brawl coming up and I cannot decide if the underdog is going to win (unbeknownst to our piratical crew, the underdog has been a senior officer on active military duties for most of his adult life) or whether the underdog is going to have the crap kicked out of him in a pile-on just for the variety of it.

Once again have written Some Words (can't be bothered to work out how many). Also spent some time trying to figure out how many days to spread my remaining events over. I started writing without much of a plan, but I'm getting to the stage where I really need one. I almost completely forgot about a sub plot which could either involve the main characters' absentee dad, or foreshadow a bit of time travel shenanigans for a later book. I'm torn over whether to set myself up for sequels or just make it a stand alone and then move on to one of the other ideas I have lined up.
Margaret if he's been a fun character to write then I would redeem. If he's been a pain in the arse then crossfire

@GlumyGloomer

About 200 words today. Hello *@WitchyWitchFace* . How are you planning to publish? I tried KPD but it was a flop due to lack of promotion.

Hi! WitchyWitchFace here, NC. Planning to publish on KPD but also plan to invest a lot of time and energy into promotion, marketing and advertising.

In other news, I've had a failure of a weekend. Didn't get my goal of 3k words done on Friday night. Did 1.5k, hit a stumbling block so pasted what I'd written into a text to speech site so I could listen to it and promptly fell asleep! And haven't written anything the rest of the weekend due to being spaced out on the highest dosage of codeine due to a jaw injury.

Might try and do a bit tonight but perhaps just a bit of editing.

Morning all. 1.5k into the brawl and it's getting messy. (The fight that is, not the writing.)
It's really interesting just as a creative exercise to be writing something which has absolutely no love interest in it, which is sort of set aside from the main body of the series.

Do any of you guys see themes developing across your writing? My (other) series turned up in an academic publication a month or so ago - that's not a humblebrag, I think there are about three other people who write about the same period as me and the same aspect of it so the author was a bit spoilt for choice! - and it was eye-opening to see how much what they thought differed from what I'd meant....

MrsRussel oh how funny. It does make you wonder how accurate the english syllabus interpretations are of it's assorted texts.
It's been very interesting to think about actually. Going through my assorted projects my themes are: 1, challenging authority, and accepting being challenged in turn. 2, atonement and reconciliation. 3, the difference between fantasy and reality. 4, free will vs utopia.
My current story is about identity and family. Although it's more fun to say it's about a boy who lives in a shopping centre and gets turned into a dragon
A few hundred words in today.

I want to read that Glumy.... I does love my dragons!

I love the sound of all these books!
A few more chapters edited and a couple submitted to my writing group for critique. Always anxious about the feedback but it’s so useful.

I managed to get the first draft of chapter 6 finished over the weekend although i know it needs A LOT of editing.

I managed to write half of chapter 7 in my head last night while I was falling asleep, but obviously i've forgotten most of it now . I really need some sort of probe that I can plug into my brain and download it because I do this all the time!

I've redrafted up to chapter 12 (of 25). But they were already in good shape so it didn't take long. The next few will present more of a challenge.

I LOVE the boy living in a shopping centre who turns into a dragon 🐉😍

When I actually finish it you are all welcome to read
Lots of editing going on, been ages since I've been in that phase.
About 2 sentences today, not a great performance but I got about 4 hours sleep last night due to teething toddler...
Baru is it an online group or an in person one (covid allowing?). Ages ago I went to a writers group, but it was quite a journey and I just couldn't keep it up.
Baking I think I do some of my best writing in my head. It's very annoying when it doesn't come out as well on paper.

Glumy it’s online. It’s a group I met through doing the Australian writers centre course Novel Essentials (which was very useful). A bunch of us wanted to keep critiquing and set up a discord server for it. We each do a submission of 5k words once a month and everyone feeds back. Really useful.

That sounds lovely, Baru.
I was thinking of giving scribephile (or whatever it's called) a go, but I don't have enough time right now to read anyone else's work. I'm sure the toddler will start sleeping properly at some point this year. I hope.

I was up till 11 last night plot-storming with a mate in Toledo who writes murder mysteries. Thanks for nothing, you useless reptile... I'm now wondering when my murders start. Pfuh!!!

Hope you got some more sleep Glumy.
Another day, another research rabbit-hole.

In a totally minor aside, the MC is having breakfast in a coffee-house in 1660s Fleet Street.
Black coffee - he likes his so you can stand a spoon up in it, weird boy - and very fresh spiced bread rolls.

I'm just about to get the breadmaker on.
That's either commitment, or distraction....

Hi all, hope I can join in. After far too long of just faffing around and putting off actually doing any writing, I am finally sitting down and plotting out a book.

Finding the time and energy is always challenging but for goodness sake I just need to get on with it.

Inspired by all of you ladies plugging away and putting the work in!

@GlumyGloomer
I normally like all my characters, even the nasty ones.

Slightly better, thanks MrsRussel, although the older ones woken me up now and I'm struggling to get back to sleep
Welcome @pixiedust21, well done for getting started! What genre are you writing? We've got quite a range on here.
Margaret I always have favourites! Feel slightly guilty now