look at me doing hard things!
novel progress update
Hey, it’s been a minute!
Let’s do a quick catch-up and get out of here to enjoy the spring. :)
January
Was sick
Got draft 3 novel feedback from my beta reader!
Started my outline for Empty Cities draft 4
Attended the Write or Die workshop “How to be a Writer When You Have a Creative Job.” GREAT workshop, and got two pieces of advice I am currently practicing:
If you can’t sit down and work on your project, at least “hang out” with it for a bit. I’ve definitely had stretches where I can’t sit down and get any words out, which means I don’t spend anytime with my work in progress for days. Then when I do get the chance to work on it, I’ve completely forgotten what I was planning to do or how the next scene was going to go, and it takes me way longer to get back into it. Having the first step to sitting down in front of my outline or draft being “okay, I’m just going to hang out with it” makes it a lot easier to fit into my day. And even if I can’t get any words out, by at least just “hanging out” with it every day, I can keep the momentum going a lot easier.
Fit writing into your work day as you can. Write at lunch, on your breaks, etc. This has been interesting because I will procrastinate on writing by telling myself I want to do more day job work! My brain will do anything to try and get out of writing, apparently.
Noah Sanders, the workshop facilitator, also mentioned that writing is hard and that was a revelation for me. It’s easy to brush it off because as artists this is voluntary - we don’t have to write or make art, no one is forcing us to, but we’re supposed to love it and want to do it. But it is really hard! Figuring out character, dialogue, sentence structure, and so on is a lot of work. Going that self-compassion route of “of course I feel resistance to wanting to write, it’s hard!” helps me more than berating myself for procrastinating on doing something I supposedly love. And it makes me feel that much more proud of myself, too. Look at me, doing hard things!
Made deadlines for myself for my upcoming projects so I get them done! So far, I’m on track.
February
Got sick again!
Did a lot of research to fill out my book’s setting and my outline. Here’s a sample of my google searches over the past month or so:
new year’s eve candlelight walk
physically caring for someone after a bad car accident
what are death flags
small town Christmas traditions
stratford London homes
affordable zones to live in in London
interactions with professors and first year students
what’s the most common theatre play for high schools in France to perform
I’ve also watched a lot of travel vlogs. For research. (Someone please sponsor me to go to Europe on a writing research trip.)
Updated my profile on Chill Subs and was pleasantly surprised that pretty much all of my publications are available to read for free! Go read what I wrote!
Finished my outline for draft 4 of Empty Cities, my friendship love story novel. Right on time.
Next
My outline is done, so now onto the actual rewriting stage. Most drafts I just rewrite everything, but I think for this one some scenes I’ll leave pretty much as-is with a few edits, while completely overhauling others. It’s nice to get to the point of revision where it’s not a complete rewrite.
I also want to put something together for the Mad and Crip Theology Press call for submissions to Growing Up Evangelical: Madness, Faith and the Search for Community. If you’ve read my essay “the life & death of being good” at The Temz Review, you’ll know this call fits me well. I feel like a call that speaks to me so strongly is good motivation to put together something for submission, which I haven’t done in a while (because novel).
In case you’re new here, I have a poetry collection available to buy now! this is a love story: poems and essays on friendship, love, and mental health is a short, illustrated collection available wherever you buy your books.
Happy March!
Alyssa