What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly themed post for readers and writers, so y’all know what I’ve been up to and I find out what you’ve been working on! It was created by created by Jaime and Erin.

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WUWWreath

What I’m Reading

I’m reading LOVE LETTERS TO THE DEAD right now, which has a lovely voice but isn’t too gripping. I recently finished THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA, which I absolutely loved, and HALF A KING which I reviewed here.

halfakingd

What I’m Writing

Just settling back into writing now that the move has settled, and I’m building up some good forward momentum with my big revision. Looking forward to getting that moving!

What Works For Me

Over on one of my usual haunts, AbsoluteWrite, we got talking about what process works for us. It got me examining my process, which looks like this:

My Ideal Process:

1. Write a very quick, rough first draft. I aim for 50k words in 30 non-consecutive days, and bulk it up significantly in edits.
2. Leave the book to rest for at least a month. Write a fast draft of another story in the meantime.
3. Majorly revise the book
4. Give my awesome beta readers the book. It’s not worth getting distracted by other projects here (I have quick beta readers!) so this is prime video gaming/TV catch-up time.
5. Majorly revise based on beta feedback.
6. Polish the story with a round of copyediting.
7. Query book to agents.
Then…
ROUTE A:
8a. Edit the fast draft created in step #2 or another resting draft, following the process from step #3 onwards while keeping the first polished project on submission.
ROUTE B:
8b: Start a brand new rough first draft, following the process from step #1 onwards, while keeping the first project out on submission.

NEVER STOP READING AT ANY POINT. ALWAYS FIND TIME FOR BOOKS.

Does it always work out as planned? Hell no, almost never. Life gets in the way, fast drafts get left for so long I lose the connection to them, or edits carry on for so long I get sick of the project, or I get too caught up in my own world and neglect my reading pile. These factors all affect whether I choose ROUTE A or ROUTE B at the end of things.

But the above process is what I try to aim for: a constant cycle of forward momentum,

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Not much at the moment. Just reading, editing, and getting comfy in the new home. Still got a ton of boxes to unpack, but we’re all settled in now (and I *finally* have my desktop PC back! I can write properly again!) and it feels grand.

Here’s some photos from our new neck of the woods! It’s a beautiful area.

forres4 forres3 forres2 forres1

Just checking in to say I’m still here, but currently drowning in Camp NaNo scribbling. My writing cave has now become a seacave, where I spend my days raging at imaginary seamonsters.

Ryugu Sea Cave, Japan. File ©Batholith, released into the public domain. — Ryugu Sea Cave, Japan. File © Batholith, released into the public domain.

I’ve also been asking my friends what messes these seamonsters-in-human-form could get into as they run around the British coastline. Some of my favorite suggestions: getting angry at chavs in the cities, taking a dive to some underwater wrecks, visiting the Giant’s Causeway…

Thanks to a spree of bad health I’m not sure I’m going to be able to meet my Camp NaNo deadline — I’ve just passed 15k and my target was 30k by the 30th March.

But hey, progress is progress, so I don’t feel too bad about it. Now, I’m off back to work, but before I go — how’s it going? What are you writing? Is it going well or are you running into problems?

Sound off in the comments. I look forward to hearing what everyone’s up to. :)

writing process

My Ideal Process & a November Update

What I’m Reading

What I’m Writing

What Works For Me

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Reporting in from the Sea Cave