autumn-rose-dereks

[autumn-rose-dereks]

there's something so ridiculously wonderful about timelines working out perfectly by complete accident (especially for a sequel)

[autumn-rose-dereks]

Quick Editing Tip: Down & Up

The words “down” and “up” are often unnecessary and can be edited out of your writing. More often than not, their meaning is implied in the words they’re attached to.

Before:

I sat down on the couch.

After:

I sat on the couch.

Down is implied in the verb “sit,” so it’s unneeded. Same thing goes for “up” in many cases:

Before:

I stood up.

After:

I stood.

Unless you’re a soldier, you probably aren’t going to “stand down,” so you can safely omit the “up.”

Of course, there are times when the words “down” or “up” are necessary. A quick test to see if they’re needed is just to delete them. If the sentence still makes sense without them, you’re good to go. If not, put them back in.

Hope this helps!

[autumn-rose-dereks]

My Writing Stages Explained

I write my novels in stages. I discovered these stages when I was writing my third WIP, and I firmly believe they are one of the only reasons that WIP ever made it to completion (or semi-completion, now that I've decided to re-edit one last time before I publish). So here they are for you to use if you like them!

THE STAGES:

Inspiration Stage, Outlining Stage, Character Stage, Paper Stage, Edit Stage 1, Online Stage, Edit Stage 2, Friend Stage, Edit Stage 3, Publication.

THE EXPLANATION:

The Inspiration Stage is when I take my very initial idea and I expand on it, coming up with a basic plot and getting a vibe/aesthetic. Usually, I do this through Pinterest and Spotify playlists for my characters and my worldbuilding. Worldbuilding is a huge part of the Inspiration Stage, because I struggle to move onto the Outlining Stage without having already set up the world I'm going to place my story in. (Sometimes I do an early version of the Character Stage here, too.)

When I'm satisfied with the Inspiration Stage, I move to the Outlining Stage.

The Outlining Stage is usually two or three weeks long and is when I take the idea and I make it into a semblance of a novel, outlining by chapters and fitting my characters in. Here the Outlining and Character Stages blur, because I'll usually do them both at the same time. I take my vague outline and I detail it, finding my connectors. I often color code my outlines so I can easily see my cross-references and my Chekov's guns that I have to come back to.

Then the "official" Character Stage happens.

After I've determined what has to happen in the novel, I figure out how my characters are going to react to these happenings. Usually I start my Inspiration Stage with some idea of what my characters are going to be like, so in this stage I take that idea and then expand on it. I find out my character's appearance, their backstory, their habits, their tells, their aesthetic. I come up with a word bank for my characters, and usually the main character will have a "before" and "after" word bank for before and after a specific event in the novel. I spend a lot of time getting to know my characters by writing blurbs that may not have anything to do with the story itself but help me understand them as a person. One of my favorite things to do is to create a personal timeline of their lives—it also helps me fit them into the overall story timeline much easier. The Character Stage is also where I do the worldbuilding that didn't occur in the Inspiration Stage.

And here we have the Paper Stage. The Paper Stage is one of the longest stages, but also one of the most important to me. I dedicate a notebook from my horde solely to the writing of this particular novel and I write every chapter by hand before anything else. Following the outline I already made, I write each chapter exactly as I planned it, deviating from the outline only if I decide something will absolutely not work out well later in the writing process. Writing on paper helps me slow down and not rush through the first draft. I can take my time and really process what I'm doing, because my hand can't move nearly as fast as my brain does when I write by hand. The first draft is only ever written on paper. Even the first draft I write online (the second draft) changes from the written draft, usually in small ways. My second draft and all those that follow, however many there are, are all written online after that point, because the bones of the story are already all together—they just need to be strengthened, and I think, at that point, I no longer need to slow myself down and process quite as much.

And here we have the dreaded stage: the Editing Stage (split up into 3 parts).

Editing Stage 1 is fairly short and simple. It's taking my first draft (the paper one) and putting it online as the second draft. I have a separate notebook with me for this editing stage, and I write down the things I notice need in-depth editing: continuity errors, questions I don't know the answer to yet, major plot changes, character arcs, etc. Otherwise, the only "editing" I do during Edit Stage 1 is the transfer of draft one to a writing platform, at which point it becomes draft two through small changes I make that help make the story move a bit more cohesively.

The Online Stage consists of more notetaking. I come up with questions to ask the person I've elected to be my reader during the writing process—usually these questions involve questions about characters, plot, setting, and the vibe of the story. If the vibe the reader gets doesn't fit what I'm trying to convey, I know something went wrong that I will have to find and fix. One of the big questions I ask is "What is this scene missing?" I will go chapter by chapter and ask this question about the paragraphs or scenes that simply feel lackluster. While writing the detective fiction novel that helped me discover these stages, the thing I was usually missing was a description of lighting—particularly in relation to the emotional states of my characters.

I take those questions to my reader and get answers. What I do with those answers becomes Editing Stage 2. In this stage, I address everything my "inside reader" has brought up to me, be it lack of description (or too much description), two-dimensional characters, flat dialogue, anything. I spice it up and bring life to the story, allowing it to become far more real and far more personal. This is where a majority of the editing is going to happen, and is the longest stage in the whole process. I will spend months on this stage alone, just to be sure my story is cohesive and to address every possible issue my reader and I find.

After Editing Stage 2, I will sometimes take a break. Rarely will I take a break from the whole project, however. I'll take a step back from the writing, but, in the meantime, I'm working on getting my book cover and promoting my novel as best as I can. But I don't really count this as a stage, because I'm doing this throughout the process anyway. All of that begins immediately after Editing Stage 1, when I know the book is actually going to come to fruition and be a physical book someday.

When the mini-break is over, I jump into the Friend Stage. This stage makes me the most nervous, because this is where my plot has the potential to become public knowledge. Sure, this is not Marvel-level leaks because I'm not at that point as a writer, but spoilers still make me antsy. I hate having a book spoiled for me, and I know a lot of my potential readers are the same way—where's the fun in reading a novel when you know exactly how it ends? So I choose the friend who will read my finished and completely edited novel very careful, present them with it, ask them for feedback, and then nervously wait for them to finish reading it. There's not much for me to do in this stage except watch them like a hawk and pretend I'm not when they look up with a look of utter surprise/horror/shock/anger/any emotional really on their face because of what they've just read.

I will take the feedback my friend gives me and move into Editing Stage 3. This one varies in length and time, being utterly dependent on the feedback I receive. If I receive no feedback, my automatic response is to go back to Friend Stage and find someone else to read it because I won't believe there's nothing for me to fix until another friend corroborates that there is no feedback and nothing for me to change. But when there is feedback (there almost always is, so the above scenario is very rare), I take it and make the edits until we are satisfied it is finished. Usually, I will end up going through the Friend/Editing Stages two or three times before I'm satisfied the book is ready.

And finally, the moment we all wait for as writers: publication. I'll be honest, I'm still not quite there yet. I'm a few weeks away and I'm still in the Friend/Editing Stages right now, but I'll come back and edit this section as soon as the publication aspect is done. But below is the goal!

When it's done and I'm satisfied there is nothing more I can do for this novel, I go through the self-publication process (yeesh). And as soon as the book is up for sale, I notify everyone I know and post about it and celebrate for a little bit, but mostly I just relax and breathe a deep sigh of relief. The celebration continues with more vigor when I get my author copy to shed some happy tears over.

And then I go back to the beginning of this process. I'll start again with a new novel and a whole new idea...or I'll continue with a sequel, in which case the process changes only slightly, because I'll have less to do in the Inspiration Stage, and maybe less in the Character Stage. I'll just keep writing and keep learning to grow as an author. Who knows, maybe I'll find a better way of writing and editing to share in the future.

If this helps you write your own novel, let me know! I'm sure the English teacher who helped me would love to hear about how much her influence has spread.

[autumn-rose-dereks]

Just finished 23 chapters of romance novel in a day but can't even read one page of my textbook.

[autumn-rose-dereks]

[autumn-rose-dereks]

as all poets and lovers do, i too will rot with yearning

[autumn-rose-dereks]

Hey, Mr. Gaiman! Did you have self-doubts when you started as a writer? how'd you deal with it?

When I started, when I continued, and every minute of every day since. I deal with it by doing the work anyway. I don't know any other solution.