In the wake of NaNoWriMo, many of us have just finished a new novel. Now what? Here’s what I’m planning to do in writing this month. Come share your plans, too!
So, that Nano novel…
We talked a little about my Nano novel. The first week of the month I devoted to editing my Nano novel—the final polish on the last section of pages on my Nano 2011 novel and a critique group meeting for those pages, and exporting my Nano 2012 novel into Word.
Something old, something new
Aiming really high, I’d love to spend the next couple weeks working on a short novella, a prequel to another piece, from a minor character’s POV. My first draft goal would be around 18,000 words, and at the rate I write, that should be two weeks of work fairly easily.
And then?
Time off for the holidays! That’s all I’ve got planned writing-wise for the rest of the year, but there’s always lots more on my plate (case in point: some of the handmade gifts I’m planning this year).
Although the very first draft is “done,” I haven’t totally settled on a working title for my Nano novel. I’ve got two titles in mind. I’m using one because I like it better, but I kind of feel like the other one suits the book better.
The two candidates? Slash and Burn and Scorched Earth.
About the book
A quick synopsis of the premise:
The war for Earth is over. But the battle’s just begun.
In a depopulated post-apocalyptic California, 17-year-old Adrienne Lucas has finally found some semblance of normalcy in a collective farm led by her father. Then newcomers arrive, promising a return to the comforts from Before. Adrienne’s father represents the voice of reason against the newcomers’ siren song—until they silence him forever.
Adrienne’s devastating loss is compounded when she discovers the man she’s loved for years, the man who saw her father as practically his own, the man who lives in her home as part of her family is also the man who betrayed her father and sentenced him to death.
Now Adrienne will destroy them all. Starting with him.
I was discussing this with a wise writing friend (who will GO PLACES), Wendy Swore, at a retreat last month. She asked a very incisive question: What do the titles mean to you?
Naturally, my interpretations of both of the titles have a lot to do with the origins of the phrases, but there’s a lot more to the psychological processes drawing me to them.
Scorched Earth refers to a war-making policy of attacking civilians and burning down everything in your path. Sherman’s March to the Sea is often used as an example (and I’m Southern, though not Georgian).
But I think the reason why this popped into my mind was a blog post I read earlier this year that stuck with me. Nathan Bransford very candidly discussed the implications of divorce in the Internet era, and he mentioned his ex-wife had pursued a “scorched Earth” policy in social media, deleting her Facebook account and blog and starting over. While he avoids rancor in his post, the image stood out in my mind.
To me, “scorched earth” brings to mind images of leaving a wide, blackened swath in your wake.
Slash and Burn has some similar connotations, of course. It denotes a agricultural technique for clearing land: slashing and burning the existing underbrush. (Sounds kinda dangerous.) The agricultural angle is kind of nice, since the main characters live on a collective farm.
“Slash and burn” is a little more proactive, in a way. You’re not just burning as part of total war, a reaction to your enemy. You have a purpose, a goal, and you’re taking the initiative. In reality, it isn’t as violent as it sounds, and the blackened swath here becomes the fertile fields of future growth. But it leaves the same image of destruction, which is very appropriate for the novel. Or, at least, I want it to be and hope it will be after revisions š .
The covers!
I made up a book cover this year, because I love looking at my mock covers for a little burst of inspiration. As always, it’s a very rough draft, but here’s the idea:
Come vote!
What do you think? Which title attracts your attention more?
I’ve been friends with Jami Gold since we met years ago in the Edittorrent comment community. Now I love to read her thought-provoking writing advice on her blog. I can’t say enough good things about it!
So, naturally, I was flattered enough to accept her tag in the “Next Big Thing” meme. Plus, since we’re all prepping for Nano, I’m also really excited about my next big thing!
Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:
What is your working title of your book?
It took me a little while to come up with one, but right now I’m leaning toward either Scorched Earth or Slash and Burn.
Hm. There should probably be a fire in the book then, huh?
Where did the idea come from for the book?
I had a dream last week. I was totally planning on writing a different book—had the characters picked out, using an idea I’ve had for a while, plotting was fun, but I wasn’t in love with the idea yet. (Sometimes it comes later, you know?)
What genre does your book fall under?
It’s really really different from anything else I’ve written: YA post-apocalyptic.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Normally I’m better about this. Lately, I’ve used Hollow Art to look for my characters. The user-submitted site features small pictures intended for LiveJournals and the like, usually from TV & movies. You can search by a physical attribute (hair color, age, etc.) or name, and possibly find hundreds of pictures of different shots and expressions. I browse through the pictures until I find someone who inspires me to be my character—often someone I’ve never heard of.
And I almost got out of answering the question with that, didn’t I? Okay, so the actress who most seemed like my main character was someone I haven’t heard of, but you might have: Nina Dobrev, who plays the lead (and her doppelganger) in The Vampire Diaries.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
LOL, right now I’m trying to fill in all the blanks, not condense it! But let’s give it a shot:
In a depopulated post-apocalyptic world, 17-year-old Adrienne Lucas must protect her farm and avenge her father’s execution—even if it means destroying the man she loves.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
We’ll see. Right now, I’m querying another book. (It’s going okay, but slowly, of course.) We’ll see where that one goes.
I guess the only thing I’m ready to rule out at this stage is the publisher who has an offer in on my book (yay, our one year anniversary is next week). This book has some elements that I don’t think they’d find so “savory.”
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Let me check my crystal ball….
Probably two to four weeks.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Hm. It’s similar to other YA post-apocalyptic novels, but the main plot of the book isn’t the struggle to survive. My friend compared the plot to The Eleventh Plague, though I’m waiting for my library’s copy so I can confirm or deny this.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Uhhhh . . . okay, let’s be honest: DH and I love the TV show Falling Skies. Although my set up is somewhat different, that’s where the dream came from.
What else about your book might pique the readerās interest?
Hm. I was going to wait to share, but how about this?
We’ll talk more about how to make one of these soon!
Sharing the love: Tag! You’re it!
To pass along the fun, you’re supposed to tag five other writers/bloggers. So here we go!
Rachelle J. Christensen has two novels and a nonfiction book out, and she’s got a few more with her agent—but I think this Nano is her first! Come cheer her on!
Julie Coulter Bellon is a traditionally published author who’s recently moved to self-publishing. Her latest novel, All Fall Down, came out earlier this month and it’s awesome! (It doesn’t hurt that I’m her critique partner.) She’s got so many projects on tap that I can’t wait to see which she picks.
Our other critique partner, Emily Gray Clawson, is also premiering a self-published novel soon! Her faith-based YA novel Things Hoped For is coming out next month. She unveiled the cover recently.
Deana Barnhart is the amazing woman behind the Gearing Up to Get an Agent blogfest. She’s been a little blog quiet for a bit, trying to get back into the swing of things after GUTGAA, but I always like to hear what she’s working on. Once upon a time, I gave her voluminous feedback on an early manuscript, and rather than getting discouraged, she got excited and dove in to revisions! That’s a definite predictor of success right there š .
Krista Lynne Jensen makes me smile every time she tweets (even if the tweets are from a Caribbean vacation. Sigh). She’s got a bunch of books coming out soon, and it seems like she’s always working on more!
Remember, you can write about a recently finished WIP or a planned one, whether you’re participating in Nano or not!
Rules for The Next Big Thing Blog Hop:
***Use this format for your post
***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)
***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.
Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:
What is your working title of your book?
Where did the idea come from for the book?
What genre does your book fall under?
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
What else about your book might pique the readerās interest?
Include the link of who tagged you and this explanation for the people you have tagged.
Didn’t get tagged? I still want to hear about your next big thing! Join in the comments or just steal the meme!
All right, last week I promised you some good news. Fortunately, this good news starts with C: Contest!
The first three chapters + synopsis of FaƧade, my current WIP, were named as a finalist in the Crested Butte Writers’ Sandy Contest, Thriller/Suspense category! Woot!
Even better, I get a chance to revise my entry with the judges’ feedback this week. Then, along with the other four finalists’, my entry will be winging its way to the final judge: Sarah Knight, senior editor at Simon & Schuster.
It’s weird just typing that.
So, I’m off to re-polish my entry!
One more big announcement: along with my mother and three sisters, I’ve started a craft blog! So, if you’re into knitting, quilting, scrapbooking, sewing, baking, home decorating or otherwise creating, please check out Wayward Girls’ Crafts! We have giveaways to celebrate launch week!
Okay, so really, I’ve read a bunch of kissing scenes on my favorite blogs—and then when I saw Andrew (Iapetus999) was taking part, I figured I pretty much had to, too š .
And I just happen to have an orphan almost-kissing scene sitting around. It’s from an idea I’ve had bouncing around for a while and I finally figured out it should be a YA paranormal a few months ago. I’ve slowly been working on plotting it, but other than this half of a scene and some attempts at the opening paragraphs, there’s not much to the story.
A little background: this scene features Lacey, a high school sophomore who recently became telepathic. She’s had a crush on James for pretty much ever. (He does know she’s telepathic.)
He leaned in and closed his eyes.
Was this really happening? No. It couldnāt be. I mean, I was . . . me. Boys didnāt kiss me.
But he was still getting closer.
I took a deep breath and braced myself, squinching my eyes shut, tilting my chin up—not that I really knew what I was doing, but it was the only thing that made sense.
The seconds seemed to stretch forever, until I could finally hear what he was thinking.
—Geez, Lace, what do you think Iām gonna do? Punch you?
My eyes snapped open and I pulled back. He grinned at me. āJames—how can you . . . ?ā
āLacey,ā the blame in his tone matching mine. āAll you have to do is act like youāre gonna enjoy it.ā
I folded my arms across my chest. āWell, maybe I wasnāt gonna enjoy it.ā
Jamesās eyebrows pushed together, pulling his whole face into a frown. Though I wasnāt really close enough to hear his thoughts now, I didnāt have to.
I couldnāt have hurt him more if Iād punched him.
Last month (is it August already?!), I participated in a writing challenge hosted by Tristi Pinkston. Well, actually, I did almost no writing, unless you count rewriting, but then again I did have two family reunions, a road trip, moving my sister and a long visit from my family in July, so I tried to take it easy on myself.
Yeah, apparently I don’t know what that phrase means.
So I had to lighten my own load with revised goals the first week of the month—and I’m glad I did.
Edit 350 pages of my MS. Woot! I mentioned this before, but not only did I finish the two rounds of editing, I added a bunch of words (side note: once I had a writing client inform me that you cannot use “not only” without the accompanying “but also.” Riiiight.). I’m still working on cutting. Well, not really. I’m working on getting chapters to critique partners, still. My mom read it and liked it, though š .
Read at least one book off my Summer Reading Thing list.: Lockdown, reviewed last week! Hm. . . . two challenges this summer. Have I ever met a challenge I didn’t like? (Oh yeah.)
Continue to mull over the exact plot, premise and motifs for my next WIP. (If I’m feeling really ambitious—or, y’know, stuck on a long road trip—even outline one book or the full story arc.) Mulled like cider, baby. (Um, wow . . . let’s just move on.) I have most of the book outlined, though I still need to clarify a few things and work on the conclusion. Still doing a lot of research in this area, and I definitely want to brush up in the genre before I nail down the characters and events, but I’ve already written a little of the opening. It was tough going, though, and I don’t like fighting with my writing from the beginning, so we’ll see.
Stay current on critique partners’ edits. Thankfully, there wasn’t much demand in this area.
Even if you weren’t part of the challenge, how did your writing (or your vacation š ) go for July?
Note: coming up in our deep POV series this week: Getting into our characters’ heads in two different ways!
Well, we’re almost a week into Tristi Pinkston’s July Writing Challenge. I admitted when we started that my goals were rather lofty, especially given that I’ll be spending the rest of the month with family in town. Plus, my library due date is fast approaching. So I’m revising my goals a bit, and reporting on the progress I’ve made so far.
Edit 350 pages of my MS:
Go through my writing partner’s notes on the last ten chapters. Down to the last five!
Go through the second half of the book last eight chapters again to make all my planned changes, add two scenes one scene to go! and cut out the parts people skip
Get as many chapters to my critique partners as they can stand. š
Continue to mull over the exact plot, premise and motifs for my next WIP. (If I’m feeling really ambitious—or, y’know, stuck on a long road trip—even outline one book or the full story arc.) (Mulling away!)
Stay current on critique partners’ edits.
Even if you’re not part of the challenge, how is your writing (or your vacation š ) coming along?
Tristi Pinkston is hosting a July writing challenge! For the month of July, we’re setting goals for what we’d like to accomplish in our writing projects, whether that’s words written, pages edited or even research done.
July is set to be a pretty busy month for me—festivities for the Fourth of July (seriously; my husband just called and said he got us tickets to four different events next week), my family here for most of the month, two family reunions, a road trip. . . . I think I’m getting a little ambitious. But we’ll try, anyway!
Edit 350 pages of my MS:
Go through my writing partner’s notes on the last ten chapters
Go through the second half of the book again to make all my planned changes, add two scenes and cut out the parts people skip
Get as many chapters to my critique partners as they can stand. š
Continue to mull over the exact plot, premise and motifs for my next WIP. (If I’m feeling really ambitious—or, y’know, stuck on a long road trip—even outline one book or the full story arc.)
Stay current on critique partners’ edits.
This is a great way to help us reach our goals. By writing them down, we have something concrete to work toward. And part of the challenge is checking regularly at Tristi’s challenge blog, where you get accountability and encouragement. And at the end of the month, we report to Tristi for our final dose of accountability. All of these things can help us achieve our goals.
So what are your writing goals for the next month (well, five weeks—my goals start from today for me)? Share them in the comments or on your blog to participate in the challenge!
So, naturally, I was flattered enough to accept her 
And I just happen to have an orphan almost-kissing scene sitting around. It’s from an idea I’ve had bouncing around for a while and I finally figured out it should be a YA paranormal a few months ago. I’ve slowly been working on plotting it, but other than this half of a scene and some attempts at the opening paragraphs, there’s not much to the story.
āLacey,ā the blame in his tone matching mine. āAll you have to do is act like youāre gonna enjoy it.ā
