Did you ever accidentally write a novel? Just me?

So I, Spy starts off with Talia already dating her boyfriend Danny. When I started writing prequel novellas, I really felt like I would have to tell the story of how they got together. Also, just for the characters’ general backstory, I wanted to know how it all played out. And to get a better feel for Danny before I, Spy came out, I started writing the story of how they started dating from his POV.

This would come back to bite me.

My research trip:

Saturday night researchin. #bejealous pic.twitter.com/wey1mA6iUm

— Jordan McCollum (@JordanMcCollum) March 16, 2014

The book stats

Title: True Spy? Subject to change Spy by Night
Genre: Romantic suspense
Inspiration: figuring out the backstory and rounding out a trilogy
Writing dates: November 2013 – June 2014, with a few scenes written in fall 2012. Editing in progress through November 2014. Published November 2014.
Length: First draft: ~62,000 words. Published form: 84,000 words
Elevator pitch: CIA operative Talia Reynolds does not do romance. With her job—and her life—it’s just too many secrets. But can she let down her guard to let in a friend who needs her without losing her heart? (Check out how the published novel is described here!)

What I learned from writing this book

I’m still in the process of learning from this book!

I really need to fix the big picture problems before I start working on the scene-level problems. I stopped doing this in previous two books and it made prepping them for my critique group so much harder. This time around (so far!), I’ve two fast rounds to get those bigger problems that I’d found in the course of drafting, then to get more into the nitty-gritty of the text (instead of tackling both at once). Oh my goodness it’s so much easier!

Okay, but the real question here is . . . HOW DO YOU ACCIDENTALLY WRITE A NOVEL??? I know. I’m crazy.

After stewing over this story for nearly two years, I had a lot of details about how the plot would go. I knew all the fun twists, all the cool stuff, a lot of the characters’ arcs (well, as much as you know in the first draft!). But at the same time, I wanted to keep this to a novella. My other novellas were about 20,000 words, so this one could be 30,000, I decided. Then I could have them all printed together in a single volume, about the same printing cost as my other books, or a little cheaper (since they’d probably have to be priced a little lower).

You ever have a perfect plan? Yeah, me neither.

So first, my ideas for the opening spy scene fell into place—but I was trying to write Tomorrow We Spy. That scene wouldn’t leave me alone, so I wrote it just to get it out of my head. I actually thought I’d have to switch to do the novella for Nano, but once I got that scene out, I was ready to go back to TWS.

That initial scene waited until early this year when I could get back to it. I finished the scene and added two more, then came to the scene where Danny and Talia actually meet. I started writing it from Talia’s POV but it just wasn’t . . . cute. And the first meeting is supposed to be cute!

I’d already written the scene from Danny’s POV, and I was using that as a guide, but the more I looked at it, the sadder I was to lose his thoughts here. I turned to a trusted, insightful friend and showed her both versions of the scene.

She liked Danny’s better. And she was right: his voice added a new dimension to Talia’s story (and she’s already gotten 3 novels of her own!). But this made things even more complicated. I only had about 7000 words in his story, but I was projecting it at around 30,000 as well. I’d have to be careful to give his character arc enough attention and screen time, and somehow balance it with Talia’s more exciting external plot.

And how did it go? Well, it’s still a work-in-progress, but I think I can do it (with help from my amazing CPs of course!).

So I decided to let the story take its course. 30,000 words came and went. (Whoosh it said as it went by.) But I knew I could keep it less than 50,000. Right? Nope. Whoosh. 60,000? Whoosh. I finally finished a little over 62,000 words—and I kept telling myself I could get it under 50,000. Except that I add 20-30% in revisions, and I knew some of the scenes I’d need to add. So….

Finally, I had to admit it. My rebellious novella (rebelliovella?) wasn’t a novella at all. It was a novel. And that was okay—except that I didn’t have time to edit another novel in my production schedule, and I didn’t want the prequel that started it all to be the last installment released. I want the end of the series to “have the last word.”

So what will I do? I don’t know! I’m dancing as fast as I can! But I hope to have some decisions/announcements next month!

UPDATE: Spy by Night is available now! (I ended up delaying TWS to put Spy by Night out first, but only just.)

Did you ever accidentally write a novel?

Oops photo by Neal Fowler via Flickr/CC

When I first started writing I, Spy, it was supposed to be a standalone. I never envisioned it as part of a series. But by the time I made it to critique group, I had ideas for two sequels: one where Talia faced off with an bad ex within the Agency (Spy for a Spy) and one where Talia and Danny had to work together.

Spy for a Spy was a difficult book—and I’d had a baby in the middle of writing it. Between writing struggles and the demands of motherhood, tackling another book in the series was a bit daunting. Combine that with taking time off NaNoWriMo to launch Spy for a Spy and run a big promotion, and I was worried.

However, I did have some positives coming into this: I’d just drafted Spy Noon just a few weeks before, and it was so much fun to write! I was hoping to be able to replicate that experience.

Once I had Spy for a Spy launched, however, I was ready to buckle down and write—with just over half of November left. Amazingly, I pulled it out to get 50,000 words by the end of the month. I was a little burned out, so it took me a few weeks to come back to it and finish in December, but at least it was done.

Huh. I just realized this will be my first (of three) Nano novels to be published. Cool!

The book stats

Title: Tomorrow We Spy
Genre: Romantic suspense
Inspiration: another dream
Writing dates: November – December 2013. Editing through July 2014. Published November 2014.
Length: First draft: ~70,000 words. Currently sitting at: 84,000 words
Elevator pitch: CIA operative Talia Reynolds is off the clock, off the continent and off on her honeymoon—but when the Agency calls her new husband in for a special mission, there’s a lot more at stake than the stolen plans for the spy drone he designed. (See the full description & read the first chapter here!)

What I learned from writing this book

While I didn’t recapture the pure fun of Spy Noon, this book wasn’t quite as challenging as Spy for a Spy. For one, the writing process didn’t drag out as much. But for another, I’d learned that I can fix even a very broken, off-track novel, so I had the confidence I could fix this one..

Now, with the novel getting close to “finished,” I’ve forgotten how dreck-y it felt at first. But back in January, after I finished writing it, I described it as a “less-than-perfect-and-perhaps-not-quite-coherent manuscript, where the character arc wasn’t where I needed it to be and . . . maybe the entire main plot is sketchy at best and completely missing at worst.”

And, as I’d anticipated, my critique partners helped me whip those character arcs into shape—not the shape I’d anticipated at first, but the right one, and helped me develop better motivations for my characters’ actions, and put in a missing save-the-cat moment. I still have some perfecting to do, but I’m really excited about how it’s turned out so far!

Another really important lesson from this book: as I did my gesture crutches and deep edit, they weren’t easy (they never are)—but they weren’t as hard as with my first book in the series. Part of me worried that I’d lost my edge. While it’s important not to go too easy on yourself, I think another thing to keep in mind is that the more we edit focusing on a particular technique, the more we internalize those techniques, and the more we can (and do!) use them on a first draft. So editing probably does get easier over time, not because we’re getting worse at editing, but because we’re getting better at writing!

Editing is always necessary, but it’s nice to know you can still improve!

What do you think? What editing techniques have you seen popping up in first drafts (or at least earlier drafts than that used to)?

Photo credit: finish line by Philo Nordlund