Oh look, July’s happening!

I always know when I'm neglecting blogging, because my email notifications cease, and my inbox is really quiet! In fact, I've been working so hard that the onset of July almost passed me by. But it's all been for a good reason - my WIP is flying. Now, whether it's a good flight or not, …

Because the song told me so!

There I was, working through my book, re-typing and re-drafting... and then three things happened: It got hot... so hot... my head doesn't like making sentences when it's hot. (It's actually lovely, if all I had to do was sit in my garden with a book and a glass of wine - as I did …

I finished the Red Edits! Phew!

Actually, I finished last weekend, just before I went to London for a few days. I had a list of specific things that needed to be done: A new prologue - this was the last thing to be completed, just today in fact, due to some inspiration while I was walking to work and hastily scribbled …

Red edit hiccup

I'm still in the red edit zone, so no completed chart just yet. Instead I have these: Yes, I'm making the grievous error of not just a prologue, or epilogue, but both! But, let's gloss over that for now. My red edits have gone really well, and I technically finished them last night, after a full-on …

The green edits are done!

I originally allowed myself thirty days for this part of the process, but did it in fifteen! As I got closer to the end, I reduced the date goal, because I like tidy graphs... Normally when I edit, I meander around - reading, adding notes, watching TV, going back over the same parts again and …

Reading my first draft

Since starting this blog, I've been unsure of the direction, but as I have decided to attempt to write, and have ready to submit, by the end of the year, I'm going to blog each step of my new-found process, under the Novel in a Year category tag. If you read this post first, it'll …

Draft finished, feeling accomplished

At the beginning of the year, I decided I was going to write a novel much quicker than I'd ever written one before - in a year. Completed, beta-read, edited and ready to submit. My WIPs tend to take several years, malingering through many rewrites without much of a plan, and at the beginning of …

Reasons Why I Should Have Planned

I'm not a planner. I feel stifled if I have plot to fulfill, instead I usually start with a title and the very last line. I sit with my pen poised and let the words flow. I go back and add chapters where needed, go forward to write a killer line, backwards to add a …