Monday, April 27, 2015

Progress Update: First Edit


It has happened. I finally finished editing the first draft of the Sacrificial Son. I'm not sure if it's going to be called that but that's the title I have now. It will be what I'll call it until I figure out another name for it. Anyway, it's finished. I'm letting it settle for a moment before I go through it again.

I already know there are scenes that need work. Mostly the ending scenes. They are important to the story since it introduces a much bigger plot that encompasses the series. This editing process was a journey. I'm still trying to figure out what works for me but there are some things that I find really help. I'll be sharing them in another post later down the road.

For now, I'm going to continue planning my new novel The Escapist. That is also a temporary title. I only picked that because it was the only thing that fit for now. I don't have all of the details worked out yet so the title is more than likely going to change. As far as planning goes for this novel, I think I figured out a fair bit but not enough to get started yet.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Planning Notebooks


When I first started writing I never really cared about what kind of notebook I used when it came to planning. That was until I started getting annoyed with the smallest things that made me ditch the notebook all together and try to find something else. I tried keeping my notes on a computer but that didn't last long at all. I didn't realize how picky I was until I found the notebook that worked for me.


I went through a lot of phases. The regular A4 notebooks that are always on sale and even when they aren't, they are still really cheap. They were too big and I ended up bending the spirals because I tend to carry around some heavy things that squish them.


A5 journals are generally what I like to go for. They are the perfect size to fit in almost any bag and the hardcover versions are durable. I'm not talking about the spiral bound ones but the perfect bound. They don't have spirals that I have to worry about and they just hold everything I need in them just fine.


There are a variety of these kinds of journals. Moleskine. Ecosystem journals. Piccadilly. Piccadilly is my favorite and currently, they sell for a decent price. These journals are just for novel planning or for when I plan out a short story series.


There are some saddle-stitched journals that work just as well for the more smaller pieces I work on. Some short stories that I write that are stand-alone stories tend to fit these better than a full sized journal. Again, the a5 journals are the size of choice. They are much easier to carry that way.

Lately, with the saddle-stitched journals (even the stapled version), I've been adding them to my felt fauxdori my sister and I made one day. Though, I use my felt fauxdori for more journaling purposes than planning.

I can see how this method would be great for planning though. It allows books and other things to be added or changed out once they are no longer what you need. This could be perfect for when you are writing a huge series and need to split some things apart. It would help with organization. There is a definite advantage to having this as a planning method of choice. Also, it helps that the inserts are easy (and cheap) to make.

There are still several options I haven't tried yet. Eventually, I'll explore that but for now, I'm going to stick to what I have since that is my only option at the moment.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Progress Update: A Balanced Schedule

So, I haven't updated in awhile, which is usually when I disappear for months and pop up around October. I'm snapping out of that pretty early. But, sadly, I don't have any major plans for this month. I was going to join CampNaNo but I decided against it. I want to try to make a balanced schedule instead.

I'll still be writing and editing but I want to do it in moderation so I don't burn out quickly. That always seems to be my problem. I find that writing down a list of the tasks I need to do helps. I try to finish them as soon as I can but then I have a lot of free time on my hands, which isn't a bad thing but I tend to get in  the habit of procrastinating when I realize that I have plenty of time to finish my tasks. Eventually, I stop doing them.

So, making a schedule/routine that will stick with me for a long period of time will be helpful. If something comes up, that extra time will be helpful to move things around as needed.

It's still a work in progress but I hope I find a schedule that helps me be more productive.