first novel

Yesterday morning I finished the last scene (not the final scene, that was done long ago) of the protagonist’s story. If it actually felt DONE,… Read More »Milestones piling up

The last few days have been the fun sort. After breaking the increasingly-drafted primary story arc into the traditional three acts, the connections between scenes… Read More »Sunday, fun day

Every few days, after writing scenes for one of the story arcs I’m developing, I feel the need to organize. That happened a week or… Read More »The downside to organization days

Early in the writing process for this novel, time passed very quickly. Running on caffeine and process ignorance, I spent as much time figuring out… Read More »Groundhog Day

This is turning out to be a 10,000 word weekend. When you consider that I both started and first-drafted a significant subplot this week, I… Read More »Scraps on the cutting room floor

Where the writing process felt rapid and productive two weeks ago, I’ve learned my lesson from all the editing that followed. Now I’m settling into… Read More »Finally, into the slog we go

Just a reminder to the one and a half people reading this blog (mom only gets half credit): I’m new at this. While I’m not… Read More »Structure kitsch and screed

It’s only 14 days since I started working on my first novel, but I’ve already confirmed the value of one piece of online advice I… Read More »Time commitments

As much as I enjoy writing, it is much more fun when the words are pouring out of your head than when you are culling… Read More »Constant re-editing is a drag