#WIPMarathon Update #11

It's time for our last #WIPMarathon check-in of the year! I have absolutely no idea where 2014 has gone, but it's been an awesome year, writing-wise.

Things I'm glad I did in 2014:

• The most important thing I've learned this year? KEEP WRITING. No matter what happens in publishing, the one thing you can control is the words on the page. I've suffered about every kind of setback possible in the past year (publishing = battle scars. Seriously.), but I've also signed five publishing contracts, published two new books, and written half a new series. I realised that there's nothing more satisfying than when the universe hits you in the face with a mallet and you still manage to knock out a few thousand words. (Especially if you're writing something violent. *hehehe*)
• Listened to the shiny new ideas, and stopped stressing over what I thought I should be writing. When I shelved the project I was querying (I came painfully close a few times, but I began to realise that it just wasn't going to happen for my YA fantasy) and moved onto something new, it freed up the part of my brain that was stressing over my ideas not being "marketable" enough. Then a shiny new idea lightning storm struck!
• Realised I'm too much of a control-freak to wait another four years for a "yes". So I decided to stop watching my inbox hoping something nice would fall into it, and make the leap into self-publishing! I've been researching the process for over two years but I was waiting for the right project (also, to be honest, I was terrified at the very idea of launching a book without a publisher). But when I found the one story I really wanted to tell, I knew that had to be the one.
• Trying new things. I went to my first real-world book event, YA Lit Con in London (which was amazing!). I cuddled a two-metre-long python (because why not? :P). I went to Iceland and saw the Northern Lights (and dolphins!). And sometimes you have to do the crazy thing, like putting all your projects on hold to work on an idea that just won't leave you alone. :P

In 2015, I'd love to:

• Publish three books and a novella. I've another blog post coming up with my resolutions for 2015, but this is the current plan! :)
• Finish drafting the Alliance series! I'm fast-drafting the series back-to-back so I can avoid continuity errors (also: foreshadowing!), and then I'll go back and edit it later. I did the same with Darkworld and that's how I ended up being offered 5 contracts this year, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this works out!
• Write in a genre I haven't tried before. Right now, I'm thinking this might be sci-fi, though I do have a vague idea for a YA paranormal set in Edinburgh. Hopefully, I'm going on a writing retreat there in April - so it may turn into a research trip! :)

Last report wordcount: I was at 62K of my draft.

Current report wordcount: I finished my draft at 77K! And then I started the next one, because I'm a compulsive writer and this series still has me under its spell. ^_^ I'm now at 52K words of Book 4. 

Adamant (yes, I finally got to reveal the title! *squeal*) is now with a freelance editor for final edits! :)

I also worked on editing Book 2 and finally stopped angsting over it long enough to send it to the first round of beta readers. :P

WIP issues this month: Not many, compared to last month! It helps that this draft's actually coming together in the right order, unlike the jigsaw of Book 3. :P

Four things I learned this month in writing:

• Writing fast doesn't mean low quality. I kind of knew this already, but if there's one thing I've learned from fast-drafting, it's that my most polished writing is actually written the fastest, because those are the days when I'm the most inspired! For instance, the first half of Adamant went through some pretty heavy edits (it's now on Draft #8!) but the second half, which I wrote in only nine days (!) was much more streamlined. I've noticed the same with other books I've drafted. My children's book, for example, was like pulling teeth, and I ended up having to rewrite the thing from scratch because there were so many big-picture issues with it. o.O If I write slowly, I lose thread of the story, forget major details, and lose enthusiasm all around. So... fast-drafting is the way forward!
• I actually prefer editing to drafting. Well, I change my mind about this every month, often depending on which stage I'm at. :P But even though I'm writing my 18th first draft, I'm still in a perpetual state of panic over whether I'll finish it, even though I know it's ridiculous. (I blame the pre-outlining years when I never finished any of my projects!) When editing, at least I have something to work with, even if it's complete crap. I always do at least 5 rounds of intense editing no matter how long I spend drafting, and it does sometimes make me want to tear my hair out... but I love it when it all comes together and looks like a real book, not a draft. :)
• With that having been said, there's such a thing as too much editing. And letting go of a book is even harder when you're self-publishing and don't have a deadline. No book can ever be perfect, and if you find yourself tweaking sentences for no reason after the book's been through eight drafts, it's probably time to let go! (Sings, "Let it go...")
• This is something I've learned this year in general, but through adding up my wordcount for each month, I found that the most productive months were the ones where I really loved what I was writing. (Shocking. :P) Writing is work, yes, but it should also be fun, and if it's turning into a chore, I take it as a red flag that something is wrong. Some of the drafts I wrote earlier this year did feel like a chore, which is why I haven't gone back to edit them. Ultimately, if you don't love what you write, then neither will the reader!

What distracted me this month when writing:  Um, I think something called Christmas might have happened the other day? ;) (I managed to sneak off to write when everyone was watching TV... it's the law of the universe that I'll get inspired as soon as I'm supposed to be doing something else!)

Also, Walking Shadow (Darkworld, #2) was published on the 1st December! This book's been through quite the journey, seeing as I had to write it from scratch twice before I was offered a contract. But I now have THREE books on the virtual shelves! And I'll soon have more...

Yes - I got to announce that I'm self-publishing the Alliance series next year!!! 

The Alliance series is the "Shiny New Series" I've been talking about non-stop for the past few months. It started as a "sanity project" to stop me losing my head while in the query trenches again, and given how that... didn't work out well, it's probably a good thing I let this project take over! I'm publishing the first book, Adamant, in March 2015!

*flails*

So I've been busy with non-writing but publishing-related things like cover designs (*squee*) and learning formatting (*headdesk*). This has been in a long time in the planning. Bring on 2015! :D

Goal for next month: Keep writing! I want to finish this draft, and start the next one (Book 5). Let the emotional trauma commence! ;)

Last 200 words: Well, I'm saving some teasers from Adamant until closer to release day, but here's the first teaser image I made!