#WIPMarathon: April Update

It's time for another #WIPMarathon update, hosted by the lovely Ifeoma Dennis!

Last report wordcount: I was flailing around at a loose end after finishing the first round of Alliance edits...

Current report wordcount:  I started rewriting two books at once, because I'm awkward like that. :P

I did some minor edits to Indestructible, my YA post-apocalyptic, and edited 13 chapters of the sequel. Most of this was making minor changes, but I wrote around 5000 words from scratch.

I also did a minor revision of my YA fantasy, Beneath the Waves. I wrote the first draft for our first #WIPMarathon in July-October 2013. I put it through multiple rounds of revisions, almost got into Pitch Wars, and then got a million rejections because it included creatures that vaguely resembled merpeople. *facepalm* I found that putting the book away for a year gave me a chance to get some perspective on it. It's a standalone and about 70% of the draft was reusable, so it seemed a fun side-project while I was struggling to find something to focus on. Like my sequel, it was mostly minor revisions with some rewriting. I ended up cutting 18K words and came out with a finished draft at 60K, which seems ridiculously short. *sigh* So I'm going to do another editing pass before I decide what to do with it...

I've also been brainstorming a new fantasy series (adult secondary-world fantasy with magic, evil deities, curses and sentient libraries, amongst other things!). This one's in the early stages, so I'm never completely sure how long it'll be before I'm ready to start writing it. (Starting's the hardest part...)

And I sort of accidentally planned a Darkworld spinoff YA paranormal trilogy. :P Again, early stages. But I already have the background for this one figured out because it's set in the same world as the DW series.

WIP issues this month: Like last month, a severe lack of focus. I finally managed to disentangle myself from the Alliance series and get excited about other projects again.


Four things I learned this month in writing:

• Some stories write themselves, some have to be dragged kicking and screaming. (*cough Beneath the Waves cough*)
• Characters and story are the most important thing. Readers don't care if you can write pretty sentences but they can't connect to the characters and the story bores them to tears. One of the main things I did when rewriting my YA fantasy was fixing this. In the original version, I was too focused on crafting sentences, which made the story and voice less compelling than it could have been.
• To reiterate: characters are the most important thing. I don't think it's a coincidence that the series I wrote in six months is also the most character-driven project I've written!
• For the millionth time, every single book is different! Some need major rewrites. Some don't. Some take a year of planning. Some take a week. I need to stop panicking when each book doesn't go the same way as the last.

What distracted me this month when writing: Spring. I'm blaming the weather for making me too hyper to concentrate. :P Also, Game of Thrones. 

Goal for next month: Final FINAL proofread of Nemesis (EEEEK!!!). Formatting. Print proofs. Exciterrified flailing. The usual. ;)

Finish rewriting my post-apocalyptic sequel (probably around 30K to go) and planning the third book. Hopefully make a start on that one. Work on my outlines for the DW spinoff trilogy. Do another editing pass on Beneath the Waves. 


Last 200 words: I'm working on a sequel, so... spoilers. :P But here are some Nemesis teasers instead.