The Process Goes On

The betas have given me their feedback and the editor has weighed in. So far, I've distilled my notes into identifying three or four relatively big issues with a few minor ones scattered around. They're nothing truly ground shattering but I am going to need some brainstorming and creative solutions to address them.

Editing is an interesting process. No one really wants people to find issues with their work. At least not this writer. I want to have written a perfect book with which no fault can be found. Sadly, I've yet to do that nor do I think it's a possibility for the future. Feedback, whether from betas or even friends, makes a book stronger. It requires you to put a little thought into those things you might have overlooked otherwise. 

Because I put so much effort into the first couple of drafts and don't release the book until I feel I've made it the best I can, it can be daunting when people point out the flaws. Sometimes that means delving a little further into my characters' motivations or rethinking why something happened the way it did. The answer is usually there as long as I look hard enough. The upside is that sometimes it can lead you to something truly wondrous. 

Now to decide if that fancy cup of cold brew coffee from my favorite coffee shop will help me with this or if it would be better to buckle down and get editing. Choices.

Never Ending Edits

It's amazing how moving one scene forward in the narrative can have a cascade effect throughout the rest of the book. It's like knocking over a line of dominos that you didn't even know was there.

My reasons for making this change are sound. As it was before, the narrative was jerky and lackluster. Not exactly something I shoot for in my books.

Staring at the computer this morning, however, I'm less than enthused about my so-called brilliant idea. Already, I've identified at least four chapters that are a jumbled, incomprehensible mess because of what I've done. It's like a rabbit hole that just keeps on going.

The actions and setting in the next few chapters remains the same, but the motive behind the scenes, how they get from point A to point C shifts. Essentially it's a rewrite of what is already there. I use the building blocks that are already in place and incorporate what I can, but it takes time and energy.

A lot of people think finishing a first draft means polishing what is already there. Don't I wish. Really it's just the beginning. I always think of a first draft as assembling the ingredients I need. A little bit of this. A little bit of that. The second draft is where you make those ingredients work together to create a comprehensive whole. The third draft is where you make the language shine.

Full disclosure--every writer has their own method. Finding it is half the fun. This tangled ball of yarn is mine.

My only consolation in all this is that whenever I do something this extreme, it always results in a much better story. I just have to keep telling myself this isn't as bad as what I did in Age of Deception, and that turned out alright.

Grumble, grumble, grumble. Enough complaining. Back to work I go. 

Progress Marches On

This morning calls for making home made hot chocolate and mixing it with coffee in the hopes it will kick start my brain. I woke up tired. The last few nights I've had vivid dreams that keep waking me up. In one of them, a large group of us were trapped in a locked facility while the world outside ended. There were interesting conflicts of what survival would look like with limited resources.

When myself and others finally escaped, we were hunted by a vampire-like creature. We ended up taking bikes on some type of trail to make it back to Ohio. All interesting ideas, but at one point I scared myself enough that I couldn't get back to sleep.

My issues with sleeping are nothing new. Usually, I'm careful to structure my time so my sleep is undisturbed. It's one of the reasons I don't use an alarm in the morning. Most days I wake up on time, but the few occasions I sleep in, I've decided to let myself. Writing when exhausted is doable--I've done it many, many times--but I find my emotional balance much harder to maintain and I feel less creative.

The scene I'm rewriting today is a difficult one so I need my A game. The overall tone of the scene is shifting. Characters are being added and fleshed out. I've been imagining the words and what happens for several days now, but right now my mind is a blank. Hopefully my sugary, caffeinated beverage will help.

The last two writing days have been amazing. Both ended with me feeling like I could conquer the world--at least if conquering involved a keyboard and words. This is my favorite part of the writing process--when excitement makes the words and ideas spill out of you faster than you can capture them. It buoys you up for the difficult hours ahead.

There are many things left to fix with this book, but the realization that this story is coming together exactly the way I envisioned is giving me motivation to press on. The hard part is knowing there is a limit to what I can accomplish each day. No one ever mentions how writing can be an endurance event. Every day in this stage of the process, I end with an aching back along with wrists and arms that hurt. Despite this, I wouldn't trade my focus right now for anything.

There are still several more scenes to be added and even more to alter to fit the new path. The ending must be rewritten to take into account the new material. Still, that burning sense I get when a book is on the right track has ignited. I know what needs to be done, the concept is good and the characters are starting to shine. All I need to do  now is execute my vision. Well, that and take care of myself.

Publishing Process

A few people asked me to write a blog post on my publishing process around the time Rules of Redemption came out. It's taken me a while but I've finally circled back to this question. Not sure how many of you are interested, but here you go. Warning - long post ahead.

The important thing to remember is there is no one way to do anything dealing with writing. This post simply speaks to my experience and what I've found to work best for me over the last eleven or so books. My process also isn't static, meaning I add new steps as I find problems with the old ones.

The other thing to remember is that I'm what they call an Indie or independent writer, which means I self publish my books myself. This post only speaks to that. If you go to a traditional published author then their process might vary.

Everything starts when I have a first draft. Usually, I hate the book by that point and I'm half convinced it needs to be trashed. I resist that temptation, however. Otherwise, I'd never publish. I do a read through to see how bad the damage really is and to identify places where the story has gone off the rails or to bookmark where new scenes need to be written to fill in the holes. Technically, I try not to fuss with the wording or editing too much, but in reality I do a pretty thorough line edit.

After I finish that read through, I start working on the scenes I've tagged that need work or need to be re-written. Then comes the second read through to make sure my patches hold. This also comes with another line edit.

By the end of this draft two or three, I should start liking the book again. If not, I fiddle with it until I do. From here, I usually send to my beta readers. These people are tasked with reading what I've created and then letting me know what works or what doesn't. If you have followed me on the blog, I've had other posts outlining my expectations of beta readers.

Once I have all the feedback, I sift through to determine which pieces I agree with and incorporate edits on. I'll be honest, when I first get beta feedback I can be a little stubborn. It's hard not to immediately reject their input. All writers tend to want to think their writing is perfect. I'm no exception. It's why I give myself time to digest their feedback and see if other beta readers agree. Usually, I talk myself into conceding they have a point when they highlight a potential problem.

After this, I either do another read through or I send to my editor. This person is someone I pay who does this for a living. I learned after my first book that editors are invaluable and can help you carve out the best story you're capable of.

After I've incorporated their feedback, the book goes to a copy editor. For me this is a fan who has been invaluable over the last few years. She loves grammar rules in a way that I do not. I'm more of a rebel who likes to make things up as I go along and who is utterly incapable of being consistent in the rules I do apply.

Once she sends the manuscript back, I do my last and final read through to catch all the things that have been missed so far. You'd be surprised at how many things I find. Sometimes, it's minor errors and sometimes it's the wrong character's name in an odd place. The last stage is formatting. After that, it's ready to be uploaded.

It seems like a long process, but it's the best one I've found. I'm not super detail oriented so going through the manuscript several times myself helps me catch the maximum issues.

My books are the only part of my life where I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Reading and the magical worlds contained in books have accompanied me through some of the darkest and loneliest parts of my life. Creating something that might do the same for others is important and it's worth getting right. 

Not a Lot Happening

There's not a whole lot to report at the moment. Aileen 4 is with the editor. Until she comes back, I'm working on one of my passion projects.

It has been great playing in a totally brand new world. I'd forgotten how difficult it can be to build the world and characters I see in my head. There are hidden undercurrents to explore, the rules of their world to determine. To say nothing of the names I put to people, places and things. (Always the hardest part. Right now there are a lot of xxxx placeholders.) It's exhausting and difficult but in the best of ways.

It's like opening a puzzle box and not knowing how all the pieces will fit together. Sometimes the picture is fuzzy and you just have to trust that in the end you'll eventually create something you'll be proud of. In the meantime you just have to keep moving forward.

That said, I'm looking forward to visiting with Tate and the gang this weekend as I start taking the crazy, disjointed ideas I've been jotting down and working them into some type of cohesive plot. I'm super excited for this next adventure because I'm going to get to do a lot of things I've just been thinking about until now.

The Oddities of Creativity

There's something fascinating in how inspiration and creativity works. It's not like mathematics and science. There are no right or wrong answers. There isn't some established process to follow,, because it doesn't function in the same way for everyone. If it did, I think people would be much less fascinated with professions like writing, music or anything that requires a muse. For me, I've found creativity is very much like a muscle you need to exercise. The more you use it, the harder it works, spawning new ideas left and right. Some of them good, some of them bad. That's part of what makes it so interesting.

The funny thing, however, is it doesn't always work towards the project you're supposed to be starting. I've spent much of the morning outlining- unfortunately not in the book I'd intended. I'm supposed to be putting the finishing touches on Dragon 3. Instead, I've opened up two new projects that have been floating around my head for the last year and putting a few thoughts down on paper. Every time I commit an idea to the project, three new ones spring forth.

This has pluses and minuses. On one hand, starting the character sketches and outline process is very exciting and will help me when I finally go to write those books. Unfortunately, I have to finish up a series or two before I can even think of starting a new one.

I don't want to be one of those writers who flits from idea to idea without ever finishing the characters' overarching story. It drives me crazy when my favorite writers do that. There's one whose next book in the series I've been anticipating for three years now, and it'll be another two before it's published, I suspect.

I'm already flirting with that label given I have three series ongoing at the moment. I'm excited about the character arcs in each of those series, so I don't want to just hurry up and finish. It wasn't my original intention to have so many series going at once. Somehow, it just happened. However, that means buckling down and focusing.

Hopefully, my afternoon is a little more on target. Wish me luck.

Beta Reading

EDIT: Thank you, everyone, for volunteering. All the slots are filled at present. The good news for those who weren't able to do it this time. Dragon 3 is the next one on my plate, so you can volunteer when it is ready for this stage :-)

Aileen 3 has reached the beta read stage. Some of you have been so good as to reach out and ask how you can get on the list to serve as a beta reader for me so I thought I'd open this up for others who might be interested.

Here's how you can volunteer: Private message me through my Facebook page or email me at info@tawhiteauthor.com asking to be a beta reader and committing to the guidelines posted below. I can't guarantee I'll choose you as there has been more interest in this in the past, but I will put you on a list and rotate you in when I can.

Beta Guidelines:

This part of the process for me takes place before I send the manuscript to the editor. That means the copy is a little rough still. I'm not looking for intense grammar editing. I'm more focused on comments on the story- pace, structure, characters, things that don't make sense, does anything make you want to throw the book across the room. That kind of stuff. I will outline these questions in more detail for those who participate.

The other thing I ask is for people to send it back to me in the time allotted - usually two weeks.

I also ask that you agree not to share the story with anyone or upload it to any sites. I know for most of you that would never cross your mind, but I need to say it anyway.

Also, be aware that I may not use your suggestions as my opinion trumps everyone else's. Sometimes you ask questions that I want asked or a suggestion goes against what I'm trying to accomplish.

One note: Beta reading is not for everyone. For instance, I don't beta read for people because I like getting caught up in the story and not paying attention to the things that irk me. For that reason, I'm vaguely considering doing advance reader copies that would take place at the end of the process and would require less thinking on the reader's part. For that piece, I'd ask for a review in return.

If you're interested, let me know. If you're not, I hope you enjoy the book when it comes out.

Odds and Ends

For the most part, I am happy being an independent author, and I am grateful that I started writing at a time when the opportunities for indies have never been better. There are many benefits to being an indie. For me, a big part of the reason I gravitated to this route is because I enjoy having the ultimate control over my books. No one is going to put more effort than me in ensuring that I'm putting out the best product possible. That being said, there are times in the publishing process where I would give my right arm for the ability to off load the book onto a team who would take care of the necessary tasks so I can get back to the business of writing.

For example, finding a title. That might seem like an easy thing to do. After all, it's only a few words. Wrong. That's so far from the truth. For whatever reason, it seems that the fewer words there are, the harder it is to find the right ones.

For Dragon 2, I spent a whole afternoon coming up with names and then crossing them out. Every time I thought I had something, friends and families pointed out a flaw. Cue the frustration. Then when I did find a name I liked, I sat on it for several weeks because there was just something about it that didn't feel right. When all was said and done, it took me over a month to come up with just a few words.

The second part, the one I hate even more than finding a title and the part I'm at now, is writing the book blurb. The piece that is supposed to convince a reader to take a chance on you and the manuscript that you've put months/years of work into. Since publication, I've rewritten Pathfinder's blurb four times, and I still don't feel like I came up with the best option.

It would be so nice to tell someone 'here, you do it.' Time is the ultimate resource for a writer. Especially one who has a full time job and would like some semblance of a social life. There never seems to be enough of it. That being said, when I am able to find a name or write a blurb I like, I feel like I could take on the world. It's a catch 22. I'd like someone to take the task off my plate, but I feel so accomplished when I succeed.

Discipline and Laziness

I admit it, at heart I'm an extremely lazy person. The kind of person who spends more time figuring out new and brilliant ways to luxuriate in doing nothing productive than it would take to finish a task. Unfortunately, this type of behavior isn't conducive to writing books. It can lead to whole tangents of distraction as my brain tries to escape the herculean task of putting words on paper. This is why I've developed a process designed to prevent or delay my worst trait from derailing my progress.

The first step in my process, and the one that I've finally managed to bring to a close today after two weeks of work, is rereading the previous book and taking notes on all the characters and world devices I created. You would think that as the writer I would remember every detail I put down, but that is far from reality. Many times I've come across passages or nuggets of information that I've totally forgotten about. Sometimes that forgotten passage lays the seeds for future plot threads. 

I do this by creating note cards of character sketches or details on the world and putting them up on my magnetic wall. Right now my wall is papered over with the notes that now need to be sorted through, and these are only for Pathfinder's Way. I can't even imagine what this wall is going to look like once I get a few books in the series.

Oh man, I just gave myself the chills thinking about it.

Knowing when to push through

Sometimes writing is knowing when to quit. By that I mean, knowing when your creative mind just can't put words on paper. Any words that you manage to tear out of you just end up going into the trash before your next writing day.

The other side of writing is knowing when to push yourself to stay with it. Sometimes you find that you do your best work when you're tearing the words out of you one by one, sentence by sentence. It's hard, boy is it hard, but at the end of the day you look back and are amazed by what you created even if you cursed every moment you spent fighting with the muse.

Knowing which is which can be difficult and something I struggle with even today. Am I just being lazy? Or is my mind truly not capable of producing a coherent thought?

Today was one of those days. Where every moment was agony and I questioned whether I should just throw in the towel. There's always tomorrow, after all. This time I was triumphant in defeating the muse. Whether any of those pages will be worth keeping, I won't know until tomorrow when I sit down to battle the muse once again. For now, I'm just grateful I could advance the story in some small way.

The Middle

Photo taken while fishing

I've been a little absent of late due to travel for work and pleasure, but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing. I have. Every spare moment I can. The sequel for Dragon-Ridden is progressing, and I am well into the mid section of the book.

This is the part where I always get a little nervous. Do I have too much plot left to wade through? Too little? Does the plot make sense? Hm, I want to add this and this and this, but I don't know if it makes sense with the current story. The list goes on and on. Sometimes the indecision and second guessing can slow things to a grinding halt. I've found it works best if I ignore my inner doubter and just plunge on, trusting that everything can be fixed in the rewrite.

Right now, I'm eyeing how much I've written and how much of my plan I still have left to write while trying to determine if maybe the story needs to be simplified. Or not. Every book is different, which makes it difficult to decide if I am trying to cram too much story into one book. Sometimes scenes go quick and sometimes they drag on. As is the case in a certain scene in the first half of the book. Other times scenes you didn't account for pop up to further complicate matters.

I feel like I've got a beast by the tail and am trying to wrestle it into submission while blindfolded with one hand behind my back. That's always a difficult and slightly uncomfortable place to be.

Alas, it is time to put words on paper and hope they make some sort of sense. Wish me luck.

First Stage Complete

Whew. I did it. I've managed to finish outlining the plot for the next book. It only took running out of ink for my sharpy, using up the last of my note cards and covering my entire magnetic wall with those cards to do it.

I've got a map now. All that's left is to start writing. I'm starting to get excited for the new story. The ideas are buzzing around my head like busy little bees, and the characters are starting to come to life again. I love this part of the process. There are so many possibilities.

I'll let the plot simmer for a few days  to see if I want to change anything, but I've got a good feeling about the direction it's heading. This next book will feature Tate and her friends and will be released after the sequel to Shadow's Messenger. I'm hoping also to create a short story in her world featuring Jost to reintroduce readers to the gang as it's been awhile since I released the first book in the series. That's only if I have time though. So many books to write; so little time.

The plot thickens

So much of writing is living in your head. It can mean that your mind never rests. Every moment can be used to think about your story. Driving to work, standing in line, staring out the window when you're supposed to be working.

Any time I'm not actively engaged in a task, I'm usually plotting out my next book, conducting conversations between characters, or planning the heroic demise of my hero (which I never write into any story). I've actually been known to drive myself to tears. It can be awkward especially when people notice and then ask what's wrong. It's not like I can tell people that my imaginary character just went out in a blaze of glory. They'd stare at me like I'm crazy.

When it comes to the planning stage of my process, I usually get worse about living entirely in my head. There are just so many possibilities in the beginning of the book, so many paths I can take the story. It's enough to drive a person a little bonkers. That being said, there's a certain magic at the beginning when anything is possible. Ideas come so fast and there are amazing adventures attached to every choice made.

Right now, Tate's world is living in my head and every thing I see or hear becomes fodder for her story. It's a rush, but man, it's also exhausting.

The beginning stages.....again

It's official. I've started laying out the plot for the sequel to Aileen's still unnamed book. It'll be the first sequel I've written so I'm a little nervous. Hopefully, it'll be easier because the world and characters are already established. Either way, I'm hoping that extensively outlining the plot will make the writing itself a breeze or at least not an uphill battle from start to finish.

It feels like I learn something new with every book, whether that's how to fix the pacing issues to the importance of a good outline BEFORE I start writing. For Aileen's first book, I spent several weeks fleshing out the story. It seemed to make the writing go easier. Instead of sitting and staring at the computers for hours trying to figure out what happens next, I could just let the words flow because I already had a road map of where the characters needed to go and how they would get there. An unintended benefit for this method was that the rewrites were nowhere near as extensive as they were for previous books. It cut down on the writing and editing process from start to finish.

That said, this beginning stage is both exciting and frustrating. On one hand I get to let my mind wander down uncharted roads that lead to fantastical ideas. On the other hand, it can be tedious and there are days/weeks where it feels like no idea is germinating anywhere in my brain. It's enough to make someone want to tear their hair out. :-)

Let's hope I still have hair at the end of this.