I’ve been writing this blog for 1o months. It’s been my goal to do two posts a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and while I’ve been faithful in my commitment, I must confess the last few months have been really hard for me.

I know I’ve had a lot more outside commitments that are occupying my time, but it feels like it’s more than that. Have you ever wanted to just stop doing everything and reset? Take a break from life and catch your breath? How did you motivate yourself to work through the lulls?

I have read a lot of information on the internet and in books on motivation and how to jump start your battery when it dies (my analogy). Maybe that’s a bit drastic of an example. I don’t think I’m that bad 🙂

I’ve also wondered if finally completing the official rough draft of my first novel has taken some of the steam out of my boat, and I need to take a break and prepare for the next stage of the game. It’s not been easy. It’s required a lot of time and dedication on my part. I wasn’t an English major and literally had to learn how to write a publishable novel. I do understand the rules, but I’m not sure I’m there yet.

In order to keep moving forward, I have to keep my eyes set on the final goal. I completed step one and delivered what I feel to be a great first draft. I should pat myself on the back and take a breath, but I can’t allow too much time away from my work or I will become complacent.

My next step is moving forward to clean my first draft up and address areas that I already know are deficient. The ultimate goal is to get this work published, and while I’ve met a major milestone, I can’t lose site of that goal.

The one thing that has motivated me and kept me moving forward, is setting goals for myself. I may be dragging my feet right now, but I know where I’m heading. With my eyes set on the finish line, I will get there.

Do you have goals set for your life or are you just wandering aimlessly hoping that things work out? You will never get to where you want to be without a plan in place to get you there.  Set those goals! Work that plan!They could mean the difference between failure and success.

-Jan R

If you are constantly looking over your shoulder, you may not finish your novel. You will be too busy battling the thoughts of it not being good enough. No one wants to be humiliated or rejected. Your inner critic will paralyze you by telling you just how bad it really is (even if it’s not) .  This is another obstacle that I have had to overcome. It hasn’t gone away, I’ve just learned to deal with it.

I remember doing a Bible study on the battlefield of the mind. Though it’s primary purpose was dealing with spiritual warfare, it also related to many of the issues that we deal with in our everyday lives. Our mind is a battlefield. In writing for example, all of us worry about looking dumb and never getting published. Fiction writers make a business out of being scared, and not just looking dumb.

It took me six months from the time I started writing my novel, to tell my husband what I was doing. When I finally told him, I was a mess. I knew he would be excited for me and encourage me in my endeavor, and I didn’t want to let him down.

For the longest time I treated my novel as a hobby. That’s not a mindset that will get you published. When I finished and sent it out to the first few agents, I was more than a little anxious. The first few rejections confirmed my beliefs. I just wasn’t good enough.

Note that I said, “I wasn’t good enough.” Well that’s not exactly true. The truth is the novel wasn’t good enough. The fact is, it was filled with grammatical and structural errors, there was some serious head hopping going on, and my on-the-nose writing was all but bringing the story to a complete halt. If you are not familiar with these terms you should be. Go back and read the posts I have written addressing them.

I don’t know that the inner critic will ever go away. So how do you combat it? You keep moving forward and growing in your craft. Don’t stop writing. I still question my novel, but I know, that I know ,that I know, that it’s a lot better than it was after the unofficial first draft. I’ve learned the hard way and hope you avoid some of my pit falls.

-Jan R

If all you want to do is write, go for it.  You don’t have to get permission or a license.  All you need is a pencil and paper or maybe a computer depending on how serious you take your endeavor. If writing a novel is a future goal, then writing is one way to hone your skills.  Many professionals recommend that you start out small.  You could write an article for the local paper or a magazine, and even consider a blog. Blogs not only improve your writing skills, but also help build the platform and resume you will need later when approaching an agent/publisher.

If you do want to write a novel, you should know it’s hard work. Those people who say, “Anybody can write a book, how hard can it be?” They’ve never written a novel and most definitely never had one published. Writing isn’t just putting pen to paper, but I’m preaching to the choir. Writing is a skill that you develop through years of practice. As I’ve mentioned in another blog, you don’t just wake up one day a brain surgeon,  just like you don’t wake up one day an author. Just because you want it, doesn’t make it so. You have to pay your dues and learn the craft.

When I began this process, I completed my story and sent it to five literary agents. I was really proud of my work, I had a great story. I was now an author. Or at least I thought so until the rejections started flowing. One of the agents did take the time to tell me what wasn’t working-which was pretty much everything.  My dialogue dragged, I had numerous grammatical and structural errors, and I was head hopping. I almost forgot the on-the-nose writing. The only thing she liked was the premise itself. I didn’t know author-eese, What in the world was she talking about? I had to back track and learn the proper way to write. I have to admit, I’m still learning, but I now know exactly what she was talking about for each of the areas she cited.

Another thing to keep in mind, your first novel probably won’t be a masterpiece. This is true of every writer of every first novel. That does include Nicholas Spark and J.K. Rowling. Keep in mind you are learning the craft as your write. You will need to understand how to work dialogue, pace your book, construct a plot that is plausible and cohesive, build tension, and create characters that your reader likes and can relate to. Experts say it takes about 10,000 hours of writing to prepare you to write a publishable novel.

I don’t meant to discourage anyone. I just want to make sure you know what you are getting in to.  Most books take 5-10 years to get published.  I’m on year 5 so maybe I’m approaching the finish line 🙂  I sure hope I was a fast learner. If this is what you want to do, improve your skills by reading and writing. Yes you need to read. I would also recommend that you take classes, attend seminars, research, and join writing groups (Scribophile is a great option). You will get there. The biggy is DON’T GIVE UP!

-Jan R

So I’ve finished my first draft and am officially in the revision phase. From everything I’ve read, I need to step away from my work for a month or so. That’s really hard for me since this novel has taken up the majority of my waking hours over the last year.

I know my major weaknesses are Character Development and Description, so I thought I would take this time to research and learn as much as I can prior to picking up my manuscript and beginning the arduous process of revision. While I think it will be fun in a way, I have no doubt it will offer challenges as well.

When I started writing, I had a great premise and even though I didn’t do a character arc, I had a really good feel for my characters, and how I thought they should look and act. Once I started writing, I found my characters were taking on a life of there on. I know that sounds crazy, but if you’ve ever written a novel, you know exactly what I mean.

It’s like they came alive, and were leading me in the direction they wanted me to go. Some of my characters changed considerably. I must confess, I didn’t stop them. I kept writing and let things play out to the end.

What I discovered was some of the changes were good and some were not so good. I will be taking a closer look at my characters during my revision and try to figure out what worked and what didn’t for each of them.

During this process, I need to remind myself that characters are not sacred. If I need to sacrifice a character to save my story that’s okay. I can’t allow them to run the show.

This leaves me with three options:

1. Make my characters play the role they were meant to play.
2. Fire the ones that aren’t working and create new ones to take their place.
3. Let the misguided characters continue to ruin my story.

I’m not sure if a character outline would have helped or not. They went from being the people I planned, to the people they wanted to be.

What do you think?

-Jan R