Writing Book Ten: Part Seven - Building On The Basics

I'm keeping a diary of the writing process of Book 10, from the first words to publication.

Before I started writing Book 10, I bought a book to help me with plotting and structuring novels (you can see my post about it here), which has been a huge help. I love that I have the whole plot in front of me, so if I get stuck, I can refer back to it and know where I need to go to keep the story moving. Some people don't like working this way and prefer to see where the book and characters take them, keeping that first draft fresh and exciting, which I understand even if I can't work that way (I've tried, but I'm definitely a plotter). 

But the great thing about working to a plot is there is still room for your characters to lead the way, even if they are on a certain track (and those tracks are never set in stone anyway and can be moved around or chucked out altogether). Lots of things have been happening that weren't plotted as I've been writing this week. Yes, they're following the main framework, but the characters are definitely taking on a life of their own and nudging things along in their own way. The next section of my plan is pretty vague, but I like that I've got to know the characters by now so I can fill in those gaps much easier than I could in the plotting stages.

One of the unexpected scenes this week involved three newborn kittens (I know, adorable, right?) so I've been watching YouTube videos as 'research', which was clearly VERY TAXING. I haven't named the kittens yet (other than Kitten1, Kitten2 and Kitten3 in the manuscript) as I'll be asking for help to do this on my Facebook page soon.

This week on Facebook, we've named Claude the sheep and there will be a new animal to name tomorrow. If you'd like to take part, pop over to my Facebook page and see the pinned post (from Friday). Whoever's suggestion is used will have their name put into the acknowledgements when the book is published!

You can see a list of all the names that have been chosen so far by clicking here

GO TO PART EIGHT

GO TO PART SIX 

Naming The Animals in Book 10

There are quite a few animals that feature in my latest book, and I thought it would be fun if I handed over the naming of them to my readers. I did this on my Facebook page and we named thirteen animals.

It was a lot of fun reading the suggestions and seeing so many people getting involved. Each animal name suggestion was put into a bowl, with one (or three, in the case of the chickens!) picked at random. Whoever the suggestion belonged to will have their name put into the acknowledgements when the book is published!

Here are the names - and who suggested them:

Donkey

Daisy, suggested by Sharon Smith

Chickens

Chow Mein, suggested by Gemma Tierney

Bianca, suggested by Gisele Le Corre

Patty, suggested by Maggie Rollison

Sheep

Claude, suggested by Anne Maria Seymour

Hedgehogs

Pumpkin, suggested by Rae Kenny-Rife

Sophie, suggested by Jo Jackson

Kittens

Tommy, Timmy & Tammy, suggested by Melissa Elizabeth

Rabbits

Rupert, suggested by Stephanie-Jayne Matthews

Honey, suggested by Patricia Scott

Pig

Violet, suggested by Maggie Ewing

Writing Book Ten: Part Six - Heading Towards The Halfway Point

I'm keeping a diary of the writing process of Book 10, from the first words to publication.

It was my birthday at the beginning of the week, so I gave myself a day off from writing, which was lovely. I finished reading Clare Mackintosh's Let Me Lie (which I LOVED) and caught up on some TV shows. I'm aiming to write 5k per week and should have been at the 30k mark by the end of last week, but I was already over that goal by almost two thousand words so I didn't have to worry about falling behind schedule.

My goal for this week was to get to 35,000 words in the book and even though I gave myself a day off, I still managed to reach it - plus a bit more. My current word count stands at 38,103, which means I'm almost up to the halfway point. I always aim for 80,000 words for a finished first draft, although I usually end up somewhere between the mid-80s to the mid-90 thousand words.

Book 10 has quite a few animals, which I've been asking for name suggestions for on my Facebook page. This week has been the turn of three chickens, who are now named Chow Mein, Bianca and Patty and now I'm asking for suggestions for a sheep. Whoever has their suggestion chosen at random from the bowl will have their name put into the acknowledgements when the book is published. Head over to my Facebook page if you'd like to take part!

As well as writing Book 10, I've also been working on a new short story for Valentine's Day, which will be going out in my newsletter. If you haven't subscribed to my newsletter yet and would like to receive the short story for FREE, you can subscribe here

GO TO PART SEVEN

GO TO PART FIVE

Writing Book Ten: Part Five - Help To Name The Chickens!

I'm keeping a diary of the writing process of Book 10, from the first words to publication.

I'm definitely back into the swing of things after the Christmas break and am managing to meet my 5k/week goal. This week I reached a pivotal point in the book, the part where Rebecca really commits to meeting the challenge she's been set after a big setback and I'm looking forward to seeing how she copes after her wobble!

The End still seems so far away at this point, but I'm still at the stage where writing is fun. Usually, by the 20-30k point I'm starting to grow less fond of the book and getting the words down becomes more and more of a struggle (over the years I've learned this is completely normal so it doesn't send me into a panic anymore!) but I think setting myself a smaller goal to reach each week is helping.

Last week on my Facebook page, I asked for help naming one of the donkeys in the book. I received over 50 suggestions, which all went into a bowl (no hat available) and one was picked at random. So, our little donkey is called Daisy. Now she has a name, I can replace the '*Donkey2*' markers I've left in the manuscript!

I'm going to be asking for help naming the animal characters over the next few weeks, so head over to my Facebook page if you'd like to take part. If the name you suggested is picked, your name will be put into the acknowledgements when the book is published.

This time, I'm asking for help naming some chickens!

GO TO PART FOUR 

GO TO PART SIX

Writing Book Ten: Part Four - Florida, Christmas & Donkeys

I'm keeping a diary of the writing process of Book 10, from the first words to publication.

It's been a few weeks since my last entry, and that's because I've had some time off writing for Christmas. We spent Christmas in Florida, so I had to get everything organised before we went, plus I needed a bit of time to get over the jet lag once we got back, so I had around three weeks off altogether!

Once the kids were back in school and I could pretty much function again (jet lag and I are not on good terms), I jumped back into Book 10 again. I've set myself a target of writing 5,000 words a week, which will give me enough time to reach my mid-April deadline without leaving me frazzled (unless I go way over my word count goal, but let's not worry about that now).

So far I've managed to stick to my 5,000 words per week goal, and I'm pleased to report that I'm still on track! I was worried having a three-week break would make it more difficult to get back into the story, but it's been absolutely fine and I've enjoyed seeing what Rebecca is getting up to. The only problem I've had this week is forgetting an idea I had last night but didn't write down - rookie mistake!

There are quite a few animals in Book 10, and I thought it would be fun to ask for help in naming them. The first animal who needs a name is a playful donkey. I'm taking suggestions over on my Facebook page, and one of the names will be chosen at random. Whoever made the suggestion will have their name put in the acknowledgements when the book is published.

If you'd like to take part, head over to my Facebook page and see the pinned post :)

GO TO PART THREE

GO TO PART FIVE