I have had a love-hate relationship with Twitter right from the start. Its ephemeral and impermanent nature is both a draw (no obligation to understand context or scroll back for days!) and a drawback (everything exists in the void!). I initially joined to assist in my search for agents, and then I stayed because of… Continue reading Giving Up Twitter for Lent
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How (Not) to Write a Novella
First, write a book. Then, realize there's a perfect part of said book that could be expanded into a short story. Sketch out a short outline. Think: this will be easy. Feel: this will be hard. Finish revising your book. Come back to the short story idea. Realize you kinda maybe need to write it… Continue reading How (Not) to Write a Novella
Two out of Three
Between holidays and travel and dayjob and a baby quickly becoming a toddler, I somehow managed to finish the edits on the Impossible Contract aka Book Two. For those keeping score, that means I now have two out of three books done* in this trilogy, and book one isn't set to be out for, oh,… Continue reading Two out of Three
Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018
If you ask any writer (or artist [or human being]), they'll say that 2017 was a rough year. Full of distractions and worry and dread. Yet despite all of that, we kept on keeping on. I'm not exception - while I wasted countless hours on what-ifs and not sleeping, the work still had to be… Continue reading Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018
2017 Books Of Awesome
After quite a few nights/days spent rocking a sleeping baby and reading a book, I thought I'd also rock my to-read list this year. Ahahaha. Turns out, sleeping newborns turn into not-sleeping infants turn into crawling, interested-in-what-you're-reading babies. And if they're not trying to pry the book from your hands, then you're trying to pry… Continue reading 2017 Books Of Awesome
What a Difference a Year Makes
November 1st last year, I started writing draft zero for Book One of what we're now calling the Assassins of Ghadid trilogy. I had a character and a scene and a vague idea of where it was all going. Several rewrites, revisions, and now an editorial letter later, I think I can safely say Book… Continue reading What a Difference a Year Makes
How to cut 20,000 Words
First - and this is the most important step - write a novel that is 35,000 words too long. Be told by several people that you really ought to cut some of that. Agonize over every word for a month and manage to cut 15,000 words. Rejoice! Realize that the novel is still 20,000 words… Continue reading How to cut 20,000 Words
Ending Stats for Book One
Started writing: November 1, 2016 Manuscript sent: June 27, 2017 Total days: 239 I.E.: 7.9 months Percentage of days spent writing: 94% Estimated days spent writing: 224 Average hours/day: 2.4 Average hours of sleep/day: hahahaha Number of drafts: 4 Word count of draft one (aka draft zero): 56,649 Word count of draft two (aka draft… Continue reading Ending Stats for Book One
When is it “finished?”
As of Friday, Book One is done. And yet it's not really "finished," per se. It's sitting quietly on my harddrive, resting and dreaming, before I slog through it for one last read-through, then it'll be off to my editor who may (or may not) tear it apart and declare it an abomination. Either way,… Continue reading When is it “finished?”
#amediting – Make it Bleed
The best decision I've made so far with this round of edits - aside from, you know, doing them - was to turn on Track Changes. Now whenever I feel like I'm treading water and getting nowhere, all I have to do is flip to "show all markup" and see just how much I've done.… Continue reading #amediting – Make it Bleed
K. A. Doore 