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140,103 Literary Works • 673,002 Reviews
Spoiler
(the first draft of ForestVibesWIP)
Link to the Remarkable Retirement audiobook
Funnily enough, this is not an issue authors usually have - because usually authors don't get to announce their book deals until late in the process! I had the advantage of being able to announce almost immediately after formally accepting the deal, instead of sitting on a massive secret for six months. BUT. now I am finding out there's a downside, and the downside is being able to talk about my book for six months but having no TBR or buy links to share.
I got kinda spoiled with Edna, because small presses don't necessarily work the same way as big presses - so I was both able to announce right after signing the contract AND to share Goodreads links pretty much immediately!
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There's a phenomenon known among authors as "sophomore book syndrome" (although, properly speaking, it's not really a syndrome). Many authors find that their second book is extremely difficult to write after selling their first book.
I didn't feel this feeling for my second book, but that's probably because it was already written by the time I sold Edna! While I did do some edits with my agent - and, later, more edits with my editor - the big work of drafting the book and doing major edits was done before my writing career really started.
Unfortunately, "sophomore book syndrome" is hitting me in time for my third book...because this book (and any other book my editor might approve instead) is NOT written yet. I'm very, very aware that the opening chapters need to be halfway decent by the time my proposal is due. So that's been a big stall, since normally I'm able to get through a first draft by reminding myself that first drafts don't have to be good.
It's also been a struggle because beginnings are normally very easy for me. Usually, I have a clear idea of the book's opening and don't start to struggle until about 30,000 words in. With this book, I restarted the opening four times in the last three weeks, until finally I landed on an opening that did what I wanted and did it reasonably well. 0/10, do not recommend.
Today, I finally hit insert-page break-spacebar-spacebar-spacebar and started the fourth chapter! While I know there'll still be some serious humps to get over as I continue drafting, I'm so relieved to be past this major one.
I might still do more to this, but the longer I look at it, the more I like it the way it is, so idk.
*Well, the big things are done. I'm taking a break now, but starting Monday I need to go back and read the whole manuscript to make sure it all makes sense and also sounds good. And my editor could still ask for additional edits. And even if she doesn't, there will at minimum be copy edits. But the first round of big edits are done!
For this year's NaNo, I attempted to write my second draft of NettieWIP. I only got 20k into it during November, with an additional 1k since then. I've been focusing really hard on plot, because (a) that's my weakness, (b) mystery is a new genre to me as a writer, and (c) mystery requires a solid plot.*
*Not that other genres don't require a solid plot, but. idk. mystery requires more...plotting
Most of the time as I've worked on this draft, my writing sessions have resulted in very little actually getting on the page. It's been like pulling teeth to get myself to work on this instead of
buddy comedy matchmaking fic about Edna and the butler from a collab I did with some friendsthe second chance fantasy romance that bulldozed into me because I saw a rummage sale sign one dayliterally anything else.This morning on the way to work, I figured out a couple of plot things. But more importantly, I realized why I haven't wanted to work on the book: I've been so focused on plot - the part I'm bad at and the part I lowkey care about the least - that I've been neglecting my themes and a lot about my characters.
So! I'm starting over (again) instead of finishing this draft in the hopes I can make it more like what I want. I wrote out some reminders to myself that I hope to keep beside me whenever I sit down to write, so I'll remember that I have to consider theme and character when writing, not just plot.