It seems wrong to pretend like today is the day that all this began. I'm not here to lie to you. I really want these posts to be an honest representation of how this process is going in the hopes that it helps someone, anyone. Also, I am selfishly hoping that by doing this there will be some accountability for me. Admittedly, I have a tendency to not finish things I start. I let the world (and massive amounts of self-doubt) get in the way and I give up when the going gets tough. It's a rough balance, allowing myself to quit while really wanting to become an author. {Enter copious amounts of guilt and self inflicted pressure here} So here we are, the real talk!
I've been playing with the idea for this series for a few months and actively working on it for two (I think). Somewhere in the middle, I decided I hated it and started working on something else before I slapped myself silly and came back. From the get go, the goal of this series was to write it all and self-publish rapid release style on Amazon. While I would love to traditionally publish some day, that was never the direction I saw this series going.
I can get a little obsessive about learning the craft of writing. I'm pretty sure my husband hates me a little every time another Amazon box shows up on the doorstep. I have so many, too many, books on the best methods for writing a novel. Recently, I've started getting my "how to" books on Kindle so that he never has to know I'm feeding my addiction. But here's the problem: Everyone does it differently. There is no tried and true way to write a novel or a series of them. A lot of these two months has been crafting and organizing my own method into one space that makes some semblance of sense. I tried doing it all on my iPad, but damnit, I love paper. Then I had to transfer all my notes to physical binders, a task I have yet to complete. I built worksheets and templates using tidbits from all the books in my arsenal and then I went through and filled most of them out. For every book. For every character. Mostly. I will have some prep/paperwork to do before every book, but I have completed the bulk of it and today I will begin writing the novella or prequel to the 5 book series.
I have charted and graphed and then done it all over when I didn't like it, but I finally came down to a schedule I think I can manage. Two months per book. One week for prep work and crafting a more detailed outline (I have all the basics already laid out), then write write write, followed by one to two weeks for a revision on that book (depending on where I'm at in the two months deadline). And then I move on to the next book and start the process all over again. At the end of the 5th book (or 6th depending on how you want to look at it) I will probably do two full series revisions before sending them off to the professionals and getting everything in order to publish. It will be hard. Life will get in the way. The holidays are coming up and that means a lot of traveling for me.
But this is it.
I don't have dreams of being a best selling author. I don't have dreams of making millions for writing a romance series. All I would like is to make back what I put in financially and a little bonus to help supplement my husband's income. And to create books people love. It isn't about the money for me, but making a little would definitely help. I don't think anyone says, "Hell no, I don't want any money."
My problem is that I have several finished books that I think are amazing, until all of a sudden they're garbage. I can see my future and it looks pretty bleak. Write book. Love book. Revise book. Loathe book. File book. Start new book. Repeat. That's where this series comes in. I'm going to write the whole damn thing and then, when I good and hate it, I'm going to send it off to an editor and self-publish the damn thing. At this stage getting rejections will crush my soul. And I'll get them, I'm not an idiot. All those books on writing have said it enough times that I fully believe no one will buy my books right off the bat. So I've decided to fully immerse myself in laying it all on the line both here and in the self-publishing realm.
So, back to the process at hand. I've done all the prep work necessary to start my novella. I keep calling it a novella because that was my intention, but at the moment it looks like it may become a full fledged novel. I don't care either way. Last Monday I started all the book specific work I needed to accomplish to start writing today and I will, as soon as I finish up this post. My goal for this blog is to post every Monday to give updates, and I swear they won't all be as long as this monster of a post. I don't have that in me, but this was the first and a lot needed to be said. So........ HERE WE GO!
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