Revise the novel I was working on at the time/learn how to revise a novel
Learn how to work with beta readers
Publish
Looking back at that old blog post, one of my biggest goals should’ve been to work on my non-fiction writing because sheesh. Anyhow, I’m sitting at a 2/4 for those writing goals.
Could be worse.
1: Release a series of short stories
This goal was about a series of short stories I was working on and planned on releasing in June. I stopped cold turkey in March and I haven’t touched it since. My dream was releasing this series on a semi-regular basis, amass a crowd of adoring fans, become famous, etc.
Releasing that series wasn’t a bad goal on its own, but my writing priorities shifted and I hit a bad burnout over the summer. A new idea, The Misadventures of Montoya and Rose, caught my eye and I was a goner ever since.
I think the main reason I didn’t complete this goal was that I wasn’t married to the idea. It would’ve taken a massive amount of time to complete, and that’s time I’m not interested in investing. Though, it’s good that I gave it a go because it expanded my horizons when it comes to fiction writing.
Just so you never ask me to release the full thing, here is an excerpt of what I was working on:
The plan would be going forth that fateful night.
Summer has long since passed. Now, under the glow of a crescent moon, the grass is brown and frost-bitten. The bare trees sway with the chilling wind, and hearths need to be more attended to.
The wind pushes against the window of the Estate owner’s daughter, Ada. It whistles through the small gaps and creates a small draft. She shivers, pulling the thick, woolly blankets up to her chin.
Her fireplace is a void in her wall. She closes her eyes and pretends that this winter is like the last one. But she feels the gown staring at her.
January 2021
(Side note, it’s so odd to read what I wrote a year ago. If I doubt if I’ve improved, I’ll reread what I wrote back then).
2: Learn how to revise a novel/revise the novel I was working on at the time
I think I know what novel I was talking about in the original post, but Past Jay felt the need to be secretive and not reveal what genre it was. Past Jay could’ve been referring to the novel I was drafting over winter break, a thriller derived from the first book I wrote, but I’m not sure. Whatever the case, I have not revised a novel this year. I so thoroughly failed that specific goal that I wrote two books in 2021. Revised none of them.
I only know how to revise a novel in theory because all of my first drafts have been so utterly broken that the only way to salvage them is to go in with a rewrite. Both times.
3: Learn how to work with beta readers
I actually did this one! Huzzah! When I wrote my short story, The Stolen Dagger, I enlisted the help of six beta readers to get feedback on my work. It was confusing. I don’t know why, but I expected the process to be easier than it was. Maybe the stress got to me, maybe it was my inexperience. Whatever the case, it was a confusing process to evaluate what everyone was telling me.
I have so much more to learn about the beta reader process that even though I’m marking this goal as completed, it’s only partially so.
4: Publish
I fully completed this one. After the falling out of my short story series, I gave up on publishing. Then something in me broke in this past month and I went all-in. The journey to publishing was wild and extremely short, and if you want to know what it was like, you can read about it here.
Conclusion
I’ve made so much progress in this past year that it doesn’t matter if I met all of the goals I set in 2020. I learned how to write essays, I stayed consistent with my social media and managed to hit 1k followers on Instagram, I wrote two books, and I published! While I have goals for 2022, big ones at that, I have no intention of sharing them publicly. I’ll probably make a post like this a year from now and evaluate my progress. I know I’m incredible and I’m proud of the work I’ve done, and that’s what matters now, and a year into the future.
I never rest with my creative projects until I am forced to. My creativity, motivation, and mental health tend to take a dive before I take a break.
That’s not a good thing.
It’s not that I don’t understand the importance of rest, I absolutely do, but my mind doesn’t quiet when ask it to (creatively speaking). Then, when I get fired up to work on another project since it seemed that it’s time to get a move on, it checks out. Part of the issue is I don’t feel like a whole person when I’m not writing. Hell, at the time of drafting this post, that’s where I’m at.
I don’t know what to do. I could read. But I’m always doing that. Watch a show? Work on another project? All of these scattered questions rise in my mind and I end up feeling worse about myself and my writing because of them.
I’m a teenager and don’t yet have a fully developed brain or a true sense of self. I have assigned my identity to work, and when I need to take a break from that, it’s like I’m flung out into the freezing ocean. It’s not that I’m Jay, it’s that I’m an Author, a Writer, a Creator. Everything I am is wrapped up in words. Everything I am is tangled in my creations. And when those things start sucking the life out of me because I am Human, I shortcircuit. The vibrant colors of lies fade away and I’m left with the faded, gritty truth of:
I have no clue who I am.
Where do I go from here? What are the solutions to my problems? The people I’ve talked to about this told me to set a small goal that centers around enjoyment; essentially, distract myself like throwing a toy for a dog. Make it a goal to watch an episode of a TV show or read a chapter of a book. Let it be a game. Sometimes it works, often it doesn’t. I suck myself back into the over-working cycle due to a lack of self-discipline, then when burnout threatens, I dash away and hold out a cross to it as if it’s a demon.
I know I’m not the only creative person who has struggled with this, but I haven’t seen anyone in my spheres talk about it. It seems like everyone has it figured out until burnout strikes, then, we can only start writing when we’re forced to.
The Golden Heart, the third book I have ever written, is unlike anything else I have ever created. While my process for it has been much the same as it has been in the past, now it feels more streamlined. While there are many, many flaws in this first draft, I am proud of my little monster (I say that with all the endearment in the world). In this post, I will work to break down the major things I have learned from this first draft, what I did and didn’t do well, and my overall thoughts.
Synopsys of The Golden Heart
Montoya has been searching for the golden heart since he could read English. What started with childhood captivation fueled by support from his father has divulged into obsession. The heart, rumored to heal all that wears it, would be proof of an ancient society that has long since been lost to time.
It would also be Montoya’s big break — a chance for him to cement his name in 1920s archeology circles.
When Montoya gets locked into a deal with the Devil, gets shackled to a partner who wants nothing more than riches, and when his arch-nemesis is biting at his heels, he realizes that archeology is much more than a dig site. Twist after turn, Montoya gets thrown on an unforgettable adventure through the jungles of South America.
Will he be able to find the golden heart and return to New York City in one piece, or will he be lost to time like all those who searched for the heart before him?
The Golden Heart is the first book in The Misadventures of Montoya and Rose series.
Stats
Started: July 14, 2021
Finished: November 24, 2021
Total word count: 60,587
The average number of words per day: ~ 456
Page count (8×11): 176
Number of chapters: 45
My NaNoWriMo Chart
My Major Strengths
Characters
The biggest thing I’m proud of with this book is the character arcs. And while right now, a day after finishing The Golden Heart, I can’t say if I’ve done it well, I most certainly put forth the effort to have all (or at the very least most) of my main characters change. Montoya and Rose have gone through an allies-to-enemies-to-allies-to-friends arc and it was a blast to write.
I decided to include more side characters—make them matter—and I did it! I’m so proud of myself for hitting that goal that I set for myself. And now, I understand what other writers mean when they say that side characters can steal the show. I’ve fallen in love with so many of the side characters in The Golden Heart, and I feel the value of having appealing secondary characters — they make my novel richer (wow, really? No way!).
I can’t wait to refine the work I’ve begun with these characters and see where they’ll go.
Perseverance
The Golden Heart was my NaNoWriMo project this year, and I not only hit my goal early, but I also finished the book (obviously).
I changed my daily routine to include writing. I woke up at six, and by seven I would have my butt in the chair, drafting. By doing this, I have been able to consistently add in 500-700 words, even when it would turn out to be a hectic day. By starting my day out with my project, I would have it in the back of my mind, quietly working on it, while I focused on other tasks.
Oddly enough, I didn’t hit too many roadblocks while drafting The Golden Heart, which I attribute to my better understanding of story, but when I did, I shoved my way past them. No, I didn’t deal with them gracefully, I just put my issues into brackets and pretended to solve them.
“Chapter 16” of The Golden Heart
My Major weaknesses
Pacing
The pacing of this novel has and will continue to keep me up at night. While drafting, it felt as if I was overwriting and adding in too much detail, but now I look back on it, I don’t think I added in enough… well, everything. There isn’t enough action, there isn’t enough “adventure”, there isn’t enough exploration; you know, the stuff that this book is about.
I joke that I wrote a classic novel disguised as an adventure story with all of the conversations and navel-gazing in the prose. And while that can work, it’s not what I’m going for.
Traveling to get to the temple where the Heart is located takes up 97% of the book while being in the temple takes up maybe 2% of the book and the ending is 1%. Not the ideal story structure, I must admit.
Beyond that, while I am happy that character arcs exist, they aren’t padded out throughout the story, and most of the development is jammed in at the end.
Hanging Threads
I brought up a facet of the worldbuilding to which I never brought resolution. A handful of side characters are left hanging in thin air. An entire side plot is just… unresolved. This is to be expected from a first draft, and a first draft that was written by the seat of my pants. Still, it bothers me.
Gaps in my knowledge
I had (and still have) many gaps in my knowledge about the 20s, which is a terrible thing considering the setting of the book. There is only one way to remedy this.
It truly shows in the way that the characters speak, the way that they get around, the way that they treat societal norms, hell, even some of their viewpoints. I am the most ashamed to admit that there are so many cut corners in terms of history, but I will do better about it in future drafts.
This is the thing I feel the most ashamed about, but I know why I didn’t do more research before I began: I didn’t know what to research. Now that I have a better understanding of where and why the characters travel where they do, I can hone in on what I need to learn and fix it.
What I’ve learned
People are willing to listen to you ramble about your book even if they haven’t read it.
One of the biggest things that separate The Golden Heart from my previous novel writing projects is that I talked about it while writing. I never shared the entirety of the first draft, but I rambled on about it on my Instagram page, and people were incredibly receptive. It’s heartwarming for folks to seem just as enthusiastic about your work as you do. I know there are some major pitfalls to sharing a project this early, and I’ll just need to see where this takes me (and remain cautious).
I assumed that only myself and maybe one or two others would be invested in my characters, but I was wrong. So very wrong. And I’m thankful to be wrong!
Having genuine enthusiasm about your work, sharing that enthusiasm, and being earnest about your passions (in the right community) will generate love and support for that project.
So much is gleaned from diving into your story
How effective pantsing is will vary from writer to writer (and even within the writer!), but I know for certain how much depth I can get from characters and setting when I simply start writing. It’s amazing.
In my mind, when writing fiction, I need to get hands-on with the novel to get what I need from the story.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
I adore the adventure, the banter, the action, and the dialogue between characters. I love Montoya and Rose with all of my heart, and I can’t wait to see where they’ll go from here!
I know there is possible years’ worth of work ahead of me with this book alone. I am ready to face it—just not right now. Eventually, enthusiasm will ebb and grit will have to take its place, but right now I’m riding the high of the honeymoon.
I’m thankful to get away from the grind of drafting a novel, and I’m looking forward to working on smaller projects.
How The Golden Heart compares to my previous novels
It was less difficult than Heaven’s Hellions (you can read the post about my first book here) but more difficult than my Romcom (which I started and finished earlier this year). The adventure, historical, and magical components of the story put me out of my comfort zone, but not too much so that I floundered. At this point, I’m finding my groove with my drafting process.
I think that it’ll be far more difficult to edit than my previous books. However, I can’t say for certain.
Thank yous
As always, thank you Emily for being there through the highs and lows of The Golden Heart’s creation. Thank you for being a receptive ear, and excellent person to bounce ideas off of, and for being one of the greatest people I have ever met.
Thank you, Meg (@meg.the.author on Instagram) for being an amazing cheerleader and friend and giving me an extra push when I needed it.
Thank you, Athena (@author.athenagrey on Instagram) for always being someone I could rant to about my book, and for mutually wanting to stab Victor with me.
Thank you to everyone who has supported my many, many posts about The Golden Heart on my Instagram page. Thank you for being invested in my work and cheering me on as I crossed the first draft finish line. Thank you for listening, thank you for being there, and thank you for your time.
And thank you, dear reader (now this is a callout) for getting to this point on the post, and being invested enough to read to this point.
On October 31, it’ll be a year since I started this blog. I had big plans: grow this platform along with my Instagram, consistently document my writing journey, share short stories, advice, the lot of it.
And here I am. The last time I updated on here was ten months ago with a shoddy post about goals or something equally as lofty. Then, this site started collecting digital dust.
I was amazed whenever I received an email that someone, somewhere, for some reason, decided to like a post. For a minute, I would go, “why?” and ignore the notification. So, in the past ten months the only time I thought about this site is for a collective three seconds.
At least I’m consistent.
Why I left
It wasn’t intentional.
I got busy with life and this fell to the bottom of the priority poll, and I forgot about it.
It would be so much cooler if there was some epic tale about how I was fighting a clone of myself, or an evil robot locked me out of this account, or that I needed to shed all aspects of my former identity because I needed to go into the witness protection program.
Nope, I’m just a teenager. Sorry folks.
Where I’ve been:
School
Growing my Instagram platform
Writing (I’ve written another book in the time I’ve been away! It’s the Romcom I vaguely alluded to in the past)
Wasting away my youth watching YouTube
Whinging about the YA book I read
Letting my cat in and out of my room
Why I’ve Returned
I’ve found my Instagram niche in the teen writing community. Sometimes I give advice on how to write X, Y, and Z, or I share very short snippets of my writing. Instagram has a ten slide limit for a single post, and that means I need to cram all the information I have into tiny font.
I’m sick of it.
I want people to be able to read what I create without straining their eyes. I want to go more in-depth with my opinions and advice. I want to share my short stories.
However, I realize that the demographic that reads and utilizes WordPress as a blogging platform aren’t my original target demographic, and that’s okay. Maybe it’s time I diversity who gets exposed to my work because, well, if it’s quality, it shouldn’t just appeal to teenagers.
Expectations, goals, and where to go from here.
I will continually work to make this website as visually appealing and substantial as I can.
I will post some of my beefier Instagram posts as blog posts so that those of you who aren’t here from the social media platform can get up to date on what I’ve been doing.
I will, of course, continue to post to Instagram — some content is better suited for that platform anyhow — but I will work to create original posts for this website. I will share original fiction that isn’t suited to Instagram’s platform. I will do whatever I feel like.
This blog won’t blow up. Hell, I don’t expect anyone to read this post (if you are, here, have a cookie and not the data tracking kind), but I want this to be here for me. It has been so nice to look back on my old posts and see where I was about a year ago in my writing; to laugh at myself and to nod in approval the things that Past Jay has accomplished. In many ways, this website feels more substantial than an Instagram account. If I ever turn this into an Official Author Website, then I hope my readers will be able to look back at where I came from and say “I’m glad he doesn’t write like that anymore, seesh.”
Conclusion
I’m not going to promise that I will be consistent in my posting, but I am going to promise to try.
I’m excited to continue this journey with you.
Thank you for reading and I hope that you find a bucket full of marshmellows later,
Do you remember how we all had such high hopes for a year with such a swanky number? This past year was disastrous for many reasons, but it pays no fool to focus on the negative.
There were only two obvious things that weren’t terrible for me this year, and one of them was my success with writing. The other is too personal for public platforms. Anyhow, I have written a full novel and have made significant progress with another (granted, it’s a rewrite of the completed novel. I’ll get into it). I’ve also started taking my experimentation with this blog and Instagram seriously, and I have… hopes for them both.
Some reflection about my novel
I fully expected to feel like I have gained some kind of power and knowledge with having completed the first draft of a book, but I feel just as I did before. But there’s no doubt in my mind that I’ve significantly improved as a writer in this past year.
Not only on a basic prose level but also on an overarching structural level. Novels are so intricate and if one thinks about it for too long, it gets far too overwhelming. But that means that there’s always something new to learn; that your progression has no real reason to plateau.
I also learned that I can write a book. I wrote a book! Most can’t say that. Knowing that it is, indeed, possible for my peanut brain to do such a thing fans the flames of my ego. I best be careful about that… That confidence has inspired me to rework and rewrite my first book.
The seemingly insufferable task of rewriting a book is daunting, and it’s a sure sign of failure, but I was going to fail somewhere, so it might as well have been with a draft. The long and the short of it is that I found the story I was meaning to tell only after I fumbled around with a crapshoot.
I have a new focus. I made an outline, and I have pumped out 15k words in a week.
Goals concerning my novel writing
I want to go through the revisions and begin the editing stages of a novel this upcoming year. I want to push myself further into the process than I have ever gone before, and I wish to enlist the help of beta readers with my project.
There is also a series of short stories in the works right now. My hope is that I will be able to start releasing my new project by or in the summer. I will talk more about that project when I officially announce it — for now, you must wait in suspense (I’m sure you’re so very invested in a lofty promise of a project that you must find a way to settle yourself. I recommend cold water).
As far as long term goals, and how I want to share my work with the general populous, I haven’t the faintest idea. Will I try to go the trad route? Will I go through a more professional means of self-publishing? Shall I just post to an open platform site such as Wattpad? Who knows.
Goals concerning my social platforms
I doubt that I’m going to reach massive heights with this here blog and my Instagram. However, I’m not going to focus on numbers because they’re too finicky and have a nasty tendency to mess with one’s head.
Rather, my goal here is consistency. I want to push myself to post regularly on both platforms. I’m going to try a new system of posting that seems to work for many others and I hope will work for me. I want to be able to gaze upon a backlog of quality posts. I won’t fib and say numbers are meaningless to me — I’m not that egregious of a liar. Nay, I’m curious to see what frequent, quality posting will do. How much will I grow? Must I pay to play (in this capitalistic society, yes. However, how far can I push it before I must pay to play? Probably far less than I’m willing to admit).
I also wish to improve upon concise works such as short stories and blog posts. I want to become a better opinion essayist — which will do nothing but help in the grand scheme of my academic career. It’s also important to me that I have something of a backlog of my work (as embarrassing as it may come to be) to show where I have dug my roots into and grown.
A backlog of free works that are representative of my style and genre preferences may help with growing a readership. Besides, one is never too young to herd readers and use them as cheap bait to earn a profit (I am nothing if not a hypocrite; it’s one of my many dazzling talents). As in, I enjoy following authors and seeing where they’ve come from and how their work has evolved, so, why not do it for myself?
Goals concerning revising and editing
I touched upon this briefly in the novel section, but I wanted to dedicate an entire space to it. I have very little experience with revision and editing for I have yet to make it that far into any of my long-form works. As a more experienced writer than I has said,
Good writing is rewriting
So many old white men that the internet can’t decide who got there first but it certainly wasn’t me so don’t go turning some greasy eyeballs looking for plagiarism.
I may have a book, but that doesn’t mean it’s close to being a great or even good work. It simply exists as a dumpster fire on my Google Drive — the warmth of which heats up the left for dead manuscripts I have piled in there.
Conclusion
It’s apparent that none of these goals are what one would call concrete. However, that just means that Future Jay can determine the threshold for success and failure. The scoundrel best be in a pleasant mood when he reflects upon these goals.
I am a lier and I am a fool. When I walk, the bells attached to my jester’s hat jingles. Not only am I the a clown; I’m the whole damn circus.
The dramatics aren’t called for.
Okay, you’ve waited two paragraphs for my point: I’ve started writing a new book!
I said that I would take a break, take a KitKat or whatever.
Lies.
The lot of it.
My brain is just in this mood for novel writing right now, and it’s fantastic! And I know that the Muse will eventually leave me in a nasty divorce (who keeps the kids?) and I will have to work off of good habits and pride.
I was so lost down this spinning spiral of my other project that I made myself cross-eyed. And considering that I don’t have an outline, only like, the vague idea of a climax and whole bunch of cute scenes and dialogue, I’m hoping for the best.
That means that I am in the Disaster Draft™ (thunder booms in the distance) stage of my writing. Not worth being called a “zero draft” nor the honor of a first draft. Nay. It doesn’t even get a number it’s so monstrous.
What is this new book about? you may (or may not) be asking.
That’s a good question. I uh… I barely know. All I got is that it’s a contemporary YA romcom.
There could be ghosts (I love me some ghosts), it’ll be a little meta, and a whole lot of fun.
I don’t want to give away the core concept I’m working with mainly because even core concepts can be subject to change while I frolic around in the Disaster Draft™.
Fun fact: I even have a little blue notebook for this new project! And I’m brainstorming working titles for it.
Point being, I’m going to ride this high while it lasts. I’m going to jot down everything that comes to mind, and I’m going to have fun. I’ve already made myself laugh so many times, and that’s exactly what I need.
There’s something magical about writing a new book, so I’m going to try and preserve this glee in a little glass jar, and use it when Disinterest rears its ugly head (the plan being to chuck the jar at it and see what happens).
I better like revising or else my thoughtless ass is doomed.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you stumble upon a lucky coin later.
I mean, the title says it all. I’m sure that in the history of everything, I am the only person to have ever struggled with motivation, and more specifically, the motivation to write. What can I say, I’m just that important.
It’s an odd feeling for a number of reasons. This past summer I was so fired up for this book, the setting, the mystery, the characters… but now the “oh, shiny” syndrome has taken over, and my poor little work in progress is as dull as carpet.
Here’s the thing about my plot bunnies; they don’t reproduce as in I get completely new ideas, nay, they mutate. I’m far too attached to my characters to ditch them like a frat boy to his girlfriend in a movie, so I just drag the poor things along, trying to find them an adequate home.
What I’m saying is that a story set in a paranormal reality akin to ours is tipping into steampunk territory. No, I don’t feel like explaining that jump to you, my dear reader. Well, okay, to be frank, I don’t even know how I made that jump (pogo stick on steroids, perhaps?).
My current WIP is an odd little child of mine that’s wandering about, bumping into things, and getting lost in closets. Maybe having it walking around gives it too much credit… that implies that it works.
It’s probably not an utterly fantastic thing that I’m falling asleep before writing the climax of this atrocity. Whoops.
It’s never seeing the light of day. Or night for that matter. Hell, it shouldn’t even see the light of my computer screen.
Don’t get me wrong (yes, I’m quite aware it’s easy to do that), I still care for it. It’s the first time I’ve ever gotten so far into a project like this (46k words) and it seems like such a shame to drop it now. I just need to kick my own ass, and get the damn thing over with.
My current strategy is to tempt myself with working on The New Thing™, but I can’t work on The New Thing™ until the Old Thing is done.
Still, it stings that I won’t really do anything with this first draft, ever. It will always be the first book I wrote; I guess that’s all it ever needs to be. I’ll bookmark the zingers of lines, I’ll take note of what worked and what didn’t, and I’ll be proud of myself for getting this far.
How have you wrangled with lacking motivation to write? Do you punch your indolent bum and force yourself to work, or are you brave enough to admit that you don’t? When do you think it’s fair to give up on a project?
Thanks for reading, friend. Until next time, don’t kill anybody and don’t die.
It’s important to set goals especially outside of the New Year. The other main reason I’m writing this is that I’m setting everything up for this god-forsaken website and it’s all a wee bit much (no, WordPress, your advice may be useful but that doesn’t mean that I won’t be a stubborn piece of work and “figure it all out on my own”). Everyone, please bear with me.
Such as it is, having let my current work in progress sit out on the counter for a little while, the impeding deadline of having it finished by the end of the year is especially tiresome. I do think I can manage, considering at the time of writing this I’m 42k words into the draft — the bare minimum for a novel is 50k. Just speed through the climax and resolution because that thing should never see the light of day (frankly, it’s embarrassing that it sees the light of the computer screen).
I want to have finished a “polished” novel by the end of my High School career. It may be a little ambitious but I have let myself down a number of times, and this is hardly different.
“I have expectations, not standards.”
– Jay Birb, far too late into the evening
I wish to get better with my editing. Get better, please, I hardly have edited anything at all. And there lies my problem. I think through doing short works, I can get a better idea of what the editing process is like. Short work editing and novel editing are differing beasts from differing lands, however, they still are technically the same species.
I want to get better at writing short stories and opinion pieces, hence, this glorious little tangle of words and code.
Alrighty, friends, lets see if this thing works. I mean, it works but does it work? Damn the English language.
J. V. Montague 