Tag: list

I Lost the Entirety of March

Laura Highcove

I looked away for a moment and suddenly it’s a month later. Though looking back at my last entry, today is April 4th and just today I put the finishing touches on my list of things that needed to be fixed/written, so I followed my plan perfectly even though I had forgotten what it was. I have also gone through and pulled out the items that I think are maroon problems. Maroon problems are the most base problems, dealing with issues that span the book, like not foreshadowing early enough or not taking steps toward a pay-off.

They are the hardest to deal with for that reason, because they touch so much, but also the most important to hammer into shape. I also put in action steps for each one but at this point I have no idea how long each of them will take. I’d like to think less than a month but there are 24 of them and I’m not confidant I can knock out one a day. I mean some of them may be easy enough to. Uhhh, okay, let’s aim to get one done a day and check back on April 18th. I can even pick and choose which ones I think will be the easiest.

September Goals

Laura Highcove

I sat down to figure out what it is I have to do in order to finish the Storyteller trilogy. It was kinda a big (huge) long list that I of course had to break down into smaller steps in order to keep from driving myself insane. The basic gist of it is, however, to first finish reading through the Huntsman and writing down all of the major issues that I want to/need to address both in this book and the Wizard. Then I will do the same with the part of the Wizard I have written along with a list of everything I wanted the trilogy to do and loose ends for every character.

I can then sort though this list and look for the items that will make the biggest waves and start there. I’ll shoehorn in what I can, all while November gets ever closer. Once November and NaNoWriMo hit, I will pour myself into finishing the Wizard draft. Right now the Wizard is at 56k words, so maybe about half the book …ish. So 50k words for NaNo should get me to the end, or at least pretty close.

Of course my productivity has been rather low so the idea of doing NaNo right now is pretty intimidating. But part of sitting down and writing out everything I needed to do in order to get the trilogy done and approximate times of how long each step would take reminded me once again how long it actually takes to write a book. As such, I am kicking myself in the butt to move forward because despite appearances, I do actually want to get these books done.

So for right now, I’m reading through the Huntsman and making my list. My goal is to have it done by the end of next week.

Also, if you haven’t read The Law of the Prince Charming yet, it is completely posted here for free. Check it out. More views and comments certainly don’t hurt the motivation factor.

Still Writing

Laura Highcove

Starting off this post with a reminder to be kind to yourself during the pandemic. This article was written at the end of March but it still applies. Now back to your normally scheduled post.

So my writing life has mostly gotten back to normal. I’ve been posting my chapters of the Law of the Prince Charming, which is continuing to do well. That is actually getting really close to the end. I think there’s a bit more than a month left.

I’m still pushing through the Huntsman. I’ve hit the chapters that have the timeline issues now. That’s a lot of fun to figure out. Not really, but it has to be done and I am figuring some of them out. Not that far from the end which is great.

The plan right now is to finish this pass, and then do a pass that is nothing but writing a list of everything that needs to be fixed/changed. I love lists, so this is quite fun for me. Once I have that list I’ll (probably) have a better idea of how long it will be until there’s a ready draft.

I’ve also gone back to Blessings of the Neriel and starting piecing together the scenes I’ve written. I figure since The Law of the Prince Charming is out there, the likelihood of it doing well enough that a traditional publisher will want to pick it up is rather low. As such I need to be working on whatever my next project is while I’m finishing up the Storyteller trilogy, and as of right now I’ve picked Blessings of the Neriel. I’d really like this book to be a standalone, mostly because I’m not interested in working through another trilogy right now. I have so many different ideas that I’d rather get to more of them than spend the extra time on the same idea.

Hope everything’s going great for you.

Time, time, time

Laura Highcove

This post will be rather similar to my newsletter that’s going out tomorrow, since most of what’s going on in my writing life is what I’d put in my newsletter. I also talked a bit about the stresses of the pandemic, but I won’t discuss that here.

The Law of the Prince Charming is being posted on Wattpad on a MWF update schedule. The text along with a video of me reading said text. (I’m getting better at reading as I go, I think.) I’ve been keeping up well with that and it’s actually sort of fun to do, even if the reading, editing, and posting takes a decent amount of time.

I finally have my list of things that need to be fixed in the Huntsman. I think the first order of business is the timeline I’ve been trying to get around to making since …forever. I have all sorts of notes in these manuscripts that refer to an unknown amount of time passing.

I have no idea how long this timeline may or may not take, but for now I think I’ll give myself a week and see what happens. Man, I really should’ve made a list of all the events I need on the timeline. Yeah, that would’ve been smart. :/

After that I’ll probably dive into the actual list and start checking things off as I can. One of my alpha readers has gotten slammed at work due to covid-19 and so I’m not sure he’ll even get around to reading the Wizard. Have to play that one by ear.

Anyway, timeline.

The Year 2020

Laura Highcove

The first journal entry of the new year! Things were crazy at the end of the last year. Crazy! And now I want to get back to a normal. Not the same normal as before, since that’s impossible with my new houseplants and YouTube channel, but a new normal that I can be happy with.

So basically I “forgot” about writing for about three months and even now I’m having a little trouble getting back into it. I can give you all the reasons why I think this is, but after I wrote that long tyraid, I did what I normally do in a situation like this. I created a list!

This list is all the things I need to do to basically finish the Storyteller trilogy.

*Smooth what I have written
*Write the rest of the Wizard, draft 0
*Alpha read
*Fix major plot point through two books
*Fix minor points through two books
*Beta read
*Fix any problems
*Two-three final passes

Man, it looks so easy when it’s just a list like that. But once I had that list, I went through and guesstimated how long each step would take.

So I currently have seven more chapters to smooth. I’m going to give myself one week for that. I think that’s pushing it a bit, but it might just force me to get it done and over with. It’s not important that it’s perfect yet. *Jan 13-19*

Then I need to write the rest of the wizard. So I think what I need to do is once I’ve smoothed it, I’ll do another one of those “outlines” where I go through and outline what I have, then get ideas of where I wanted to go and scenes I still need to write. And write a list of all the things I want to have happen. Including the ending. *Jan 20-26*

Then I need to write them. I’d like to give myself a month, do a Nanowrimo type deal. *Jan 27-Feb 23*

Then I’ll need to smooth, maybe two weeks. *Feb 24-Mar 8*

Then I send out the Wizard for alpha reading. Hopefully they can get it done in a month. *Mar 9 – Apr 5*

When I get it back, go through the list, then go through myself and write down everything! *Apr 6 30- Apr 19*
-scenes that still need to be written/finished
-plot holes
-details to be done
-medium things
-minor things
-naming crap

Then I need to fix these problems. This is going to be the hardest to figure out the time-line of. For right now I’m giving myself a month. This will likely change. I’ll reevaluate the time-line when I get to the step above. *Apr 20- May 17*

Beta read: See, again, if it can be done in a month. *May 18- Jun 14*

Fix any problems, make a final list: one week *Jun15- 21*

Two-three final passes: ~month min *Jun22- July19*

Whenever I do one of these schedules, I’m reminded about *why* it takes so long to write a book. There’s just so many steps and there’s only so fast you can go over this many words. Still, I now have my goal set up in front of me. When I finish it this time, I can finally play Kingdom Hearts 3. :p

Ahead of Schedule

Laura Highcove

I am now three weeks in on my schedule of just getting a rough in of all the things I need to add. But, that has gone so easily that I’ve also gone back and been able to smooth those places in as well. The first 12 chapters of this story (except for one fight scene) are looking rather polished and it’s a great feeling.

And yet I’m still struggling with not thinking I’m spending enough time on my writing. Why is it that we always feel like we have to be doing more? Why isn’t what we’re done ever enough? /flops around on the floor

Next week, however, takes me into the dreaded chapter 15. The place where the ‘done’ colors in Scrivener move from yellows and oranges back into the less polished reds. I have made great strides in these chapters, but they’re still rough and I’m not yet sure exactly how rough or how much work it will take to finish them. This coming week will let me know if I can keep up with my current speed, or if it will turn into a slog. I’ll keep going either way, of course. I can still remember when I thought I would never figure out this story and now it’s pretty close to being a cohesive whole. I’m really excited to getting it to beta reading stage.

Also, we’re at under a month until the hubby and I go on the Writing Excuses Cruise again, the cruise that very much changed my life last year. I’m hoping for some more great interaction with other writers, learning a lot of great stuff, and a huge burst of motivation. So excited!

Changing the List

Laura Highcove

Last weekend I went to Otakon with my husband and two of our friends. One of these friends I will refer to as ‘The Cheerleader’ and they drove up with us. The Cheerleader has been beta reading for me since LotPC because …well they’re good at stories and good at encouragement. Anyway, we all ended up talking about LotDK for a good portion of the trip up. I had lined up questions to ask my Hubby and the Cheerleader and I got a lot of good answers.

Not only that, but I was able to just talk about my story and hear what other people thought about it, which is very valuable. I know how the story goes in my head, and it’s interesting to see if that’s translating properly, and if it’s not, where the disconnect is and why. And even, if sometimes the way someone else takes it is even better. Or if I get to be all superior in thinking that my ideas are better and I can’t wait until they get to read it. Mwahaha!

As such, once I got back I was able to finish writing up my List of Revisions for LotDK, which after a few passes turned into a chapter by chapter list. I also managed to make a schedule for how many chapters I need to get done per week in order to be done by November (for Nanowrimo). I start out with four chapters per week and eventually end up at two a week. Obviously because the later chapters are far messier and will need much more help.

I have already started, and so far things are going well. I do anticipate problems, but every bit I get done is still done, even if Wildrose and Gabir continue to give me problems. I feel like a lot more things are starting to come together though, and that’s good. And I’m still enjoying the story, which is also good.

Making A List

Laura Highcove

And I’ve checked it more than twice. I’ve been over it at least three or four times and there’s more to go as I sort through things. My time sheet has been getting a lot of ‘organize’ time, but I’m feeling like I’m making some progress at least. All those little things I ‘put off until later’ as well as the big issues that I would ‘figure out later’ are all coming due.

Some of the little problems will likely only take a few lines to fix, and I’ve already fixed some of them, but the larger issues often either span a large part of the novel, or I haven’t figured out how to fix them, or both. But this is the point of the revision process where everything starts coming together one way or another. Hopefully with my only being reduced to tears of ‘this will never work’ a few times.

Can’t give you a lot of detail, obviously, without spoilers, but I did realize I’ve been describing my Laws and magic backward the entire time, which will require some fixing, and I’m still rough on both Gabir and Wildrose’s motivations throughout the book. Good times.

I should have more information, and maybe even more of a timeline, in my next update in two week’s time. Also remember my newsletter will be going out next week, so look forward to another Chapter 1. This one takes place in space, but is still fantasy.

Hiatus is Over

Laura Highcove

My hiatus is now over, as by the time you’re reading this, the Show Team is back from the National Appaloosa Championships and Youth World Show. Because of the extra hours I put in to make up as assistant manager while the manager was gone, I took the past two and a half weeks off from writing, and let myself play lots of Disgaea 5. But now it’s time to shift back into work mode. First thing on the list is to start reading the comments from my wonderful beta readers for the Law of the Demon King. Looking forward to the inside I get there, as well as regaining some of my motivation for working on that story.

There will be a few days of reading comments during which time comes one of my favorite parts of revision, making the list of edits! Even though this list ends up being extremely long, especially at first, it always encourages it because it’s tangible. Lists also help me organize the story in my mind since I’m looking at the whole thing at once, instead of piece by piece. I even color code the list items based on how much work I estimate it will take, which usually determines in which order I will tackle each item. In addition, my beta readers are both coming to Otakon with me this year, which will afford us more talking and brainstorming time. Mwahahaha!

Once I have a list, I’ll be able to estimate my timeline a little better. I’d like to get through with this book by the end of the year, but right now I have no idea if that’s feasible, or way too easy. And who knows, maybe I’ll get some more done on the Wizard in between bursts of revision.

February Goals

Laura Highcove

Now that I’m into February and my first newsletter with a Chapter 1 has gone out, it’s time to shift focus to the next thing on my list. My current wips, the Huntsman and the Wizard. At the end of last year I vaguely told myself I was going to give myself until the end of this year to finish my rough draft. Now I’ve actually sat down to work out how long it will take me and it came out for 17 weeks, or four months exactly.

And, if I make my goal, I’mma buy Kingdom Hearts 3.

Measurable goals:

Make the Huntsman readable: There are a number of scenes that still need to be written. Bits of foreshadowing. And the ending needs to be solid. Basically I want it to readable straight through, even if it’s not polished.

Feb 4 – 1 week to solidify the ending.
Feb 11 – 1 week to fill in any big holes in events/foreshadowing with scenes.
Feb 18 – 1 week to smooth the whole thing.

Rough draft of the Wizard: I have only a basic idea of what this story is going to do, despite having 44k words written already. I want a beginning, a middle, and especially the end, so I know where this whole thing is going.

Feb 25 – 1 week to smooth what I already have.
Mar 4&11 – 2 weeks of 1.6k words a day (23.3k)
Mar 18 – 1 week of smoothing
Mar 25&Apr 1 – 2 weeks of 1.6k words a day (23.3k)
Apr 8 – 1 week of smoothing (Horse Show)
Apr 15&22 – 2 weeks of 1.6k words a day (23.3k)
Apr 29&May 6 – 2 week smoothing (Vacation here)
May 13&20 – 2 weeks writing important scenes
May 27 – 1 week final pass