paranormal romance novel writers Archives

Revising shocks and pride

Writing novels ain’t no walk in the park. However, last week something pretty amazing happened; I finished the first draft of Kilonova Blues!

Ten months ago, I sat down at my computer and succumbed to the pressing urge I felt to write. It was Thursday April 20th, and during Thursday and Friday evening, I wrote the first chapter of 23 pages. The thrill I felt as the words came flowing out of me at that rapid speed was amazing. I was working full time as a project manager at the time, and of course, I didn’t have the energy to keep writing at that pace. But I kept writing. And last Friday, I finally wrote the last sentence of the first draft. It came in on 18 chapters and 111 390 words.

The project I was working with came to an end on December 31st, and I decided to take this opportunity to write full time for a while. So far, I’ve spent my time on building the website, content planning and writing to finish that first draft. AND IT’S FINALLY DONE! It feels surreal.

So, on Monday this week I began revising the first chapter of the text. What can I say but Oh. My. God. The quality of the text was so bad! I altered between laughing and crying as I read and realized that I probably needed to rewrite most of the chapter. I could definitely see the story I have in my head reflected in the text, but the way it was written was just so embarrassing. And I remember thinking something like “Yeah, I’m born to do this!” right after I’d finished it, thinking it was the best I’d ever seen! I’ve decided to view this as proof that my writing’s developed greatly over the past ten months, and that actually feels fantastic. I can only dream of where I’ll be in another ten months!

Development itself, in whatever form it may come, is amazing. It’s there to confirm that whatever we’re doing on this earth is actually worth something. Not financially, but personally. We get something for it. We become better, we refine our skills, we broaden our views of the world and ourselves. To be able to read that first chapter of the first draft of the first book I’ve ever written, and identify progress in my writing skills – I choose to see that as a gift. In ten years time, I hope I’ll be able to look at the five or six of my published titles on the book shelf, and think back on the courage I had to write that first draft all those years ago.

I’ve reworked the first chapter now, resulting in a cut of roughly 1 300 words and better formulations. Can’t wait till the next round where I’ll focus on replacing as many adverbs as I can possibly find and formulate even stronger sentences 😉 But first – chapter two, here I come!

That’s all for now,
hej så länge!

Coffee and passion

The life of a writer, Writing tips / Leave a Comment / By evelynlux

Currently, I’m working on finishing the first draft of Kilonova Blues, my paranormal romance novel. My outline states I’m only supposed to write two more chapters, then I’m done. However, as I was working on the second to last chapter yesterday, something happened which every writer LOVES. My characters came alive and decided to have their own say in the story!

So what was intended to be a steamy, passionate chapter actually turned out to be some sort of soul gazing chapter instead, bringing my main characters even closer to each other. Even though I really, really just want to finish the draft, I couldn’t help myself. What was meant to be one chapter now turned into two!

The intended, steamy love scene is still ahead of me, which really doesn’t bother me that much anyway. I know many writers dread the part where their characters get physical, struggling to find the right words to bring the reader into the action. And not to mention the awkwardness thinking about your friends and family reading this later on – urgh! Sweaty.

My trick to get around this is simply to frame your mind away from reality. Enter the book. Become the characters. Feel what they feel. Step into the world you’ve created and let it shower you with experiences. Show the reader how this affects your character by using your endless imagination. Don’t you ever for a second dare to think of that mom of yours or your old employer! What happens between you and the keys beneath your fingertips is one thing, what happens between the reader and the book is another. Books are first and foremost personal experiences. Let go of the awkwardness and embarrassment. Dare to feel and express!

With two chapters left of the first draft, I estimate four full days of work to go before I finish. On a good day, when I’m not interrupted by anything, I write approximately ten book pages. Obviously, there’s a lot of work to be done with the text as I start revising it. But as I get the story out of me, I just try to write without letting style, grammar or others errors bother me too much.

I must say, I’m in love with the story of Alexandra Johnson and Marcus Meyers in Kilonova Blues. For those who know me, the fact that I’m working a lot with astrology to give depth to my characters comes as no surprise. The chemistry between Allie (Virgo) and Marcus (Scorpio) is unmistakable, and sometimes when I write I simply cannot stop, only to get to see myself what will happen as their relationship evolves!

As soon as I’ve come along revising a few chapters, I´ll start sharing excerpts from the story with you guys.
I´d love your feedback! Until then, I´ll have my coffee black in an attempt to keep a clear mind, and do my best to cross the finish line with the first draft as soon as possible. Now I´m off to deal with Allie in that wooden cabin where I left her, and why the heck did Marcus leave? What was he going to fetch?

That’s all for now,
hej så länge!

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