A lot of you have been asking how I write, how I schedule my writing time, and how I outline my novels. In my old blog, I had a really helpful post called 10 Steps to Writing a Novel which a lot of people found very helpful, but when that website crashed I lost the article. Instead of trying to recreate it verbatim, I'll instead give you a tour of my top-secret writing files, which will hopefully provide some insight for you. 1. SchedulingThe update schedule you see on Wattpad isn't my official writing schedule—I tend to write three or four chapters ahead, that way if I have a busy week or two I can still stay on schedule. So while my Wattpad update calendar looks like this: My own writing calendar looks like this (much less colorful, right?): I usually try to write about 8 chapters a week during the summer—during the school year, 2-3 chapters a week is about average for me. With this calendar, I can make sure my time is distributed evenly throughout my books and that I finish them on time while uploading regularly. A schedule is SO important for me because it fights that nagging issue of procrastination. 2. Outlining Yes, I ALWAYS outline my books. The last book I wrote that I didn't outline was way back in 2013, and I was lucky that it turned out all right. Without outlining, I have trouble with pacing, plot, and length. I usually don't outline character development—that tends to come organically as I write the book. So how detailed are my outlines? One or two sentences per chapter is usually enough to make sure I'm moving the plot along; I'll add my own twist to each chapter based on add-ons in previous chapters. My outline isn't set in stone, but it's a pretty firm guide for me once I actually start writing. I store all of my outlines in a Figment book draft (for those of you who don't know, I started writing on Figment)—I never got around to finding another system. Here's some sneak peeks into that (peep my super old and un-updated general scheduling plan): I HIGHLY recommend you don't look at the next two pictures unless you've finished part one of Paper Flowers! Yes, the first picture is entirely me developing backstory—backstory is so crucial! I also find it really helpful to include the date/day of the week for each chapter so I know what a general day for my character can look like. 3. InspirationI can't remember a time I've ever tried to write without proper inspiration. I usually do 1 of 3 things (or all 3 things!) as I'm writing a book. 1. Create a cover I love to make my own covers because they really make me think about the theme, vibe, and key elements of the book. I can be known to make upwards of 10 covers for a book just for inspiration/in order to find one I really like. I use Picmonkey to create my covers—for more info on how I make them, check out this blog post. 2. Make a Pinterest board My Pinterest is chock-full of goodies—photos and inspiration that I use for my books. 3. Use Charahub to develop my characters I recently discovered Charahub, which enables me to store information about my characters along with photos in one simple, easy-to-find place. I highly recommend it! If you use it, please use this link so they know I sent you! 4. WritingI write all of my novels inside Google Docs, because I'm paranoid about my computer crashing and me losing everything. If you haven't noticed already, I'm meticulously organized, and my Google Drive is no different. I have my own Drive just for my writing files. I love using the outline feature in Google Drive because it allows me to jump quickly from chapter to chapter without having to scroll through hundreds of pages. While I'm writing, I use my outline and schedule, and I also use a minimum chapter word count that I established before I started writing. I'll divide the anticipated word count of the book (usually about 55k for my Ballet Blog series and 75k-100k for my other novels) by the number of chapters I'll have, and that's how many words I need to write for that chapter (it's usually about 2000 for my Ballet Blog series and 3000 for other novels). This is SO crucial, because otherwise I won't include as much detail in my books as they won't be as long as I need them to be. Other than that, I just try really hard to write with my characters' unique voice (voice is so important!) while following the plot and simultaneously adding that crucial character development. 5. StoringLike I already mentioned, I'm paranoid about losing my books. All of my chapters are written on Google Docs and backed up on Figment, Wattpad, and a website called LitLift that I use to store my books. Unfortunately, LiftLift has been down for a while, and I'm not sure that the website will ever get back up and running (see, this is why I back things up!) On Figment, where I originally started, I post as I write. This way, I instantly have another means of saving my work. That covers most of my writing files—the others are just scraps of ideas, random inspiration photos, etc. How do you write/keep yourself inspired?
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With the release of 3 brand-new covers for the Unveil Trilogy, I figured I would take you behind-the-scenes of my cover-making so you can see exactly how I make my covers. Resources: Photos: Pinterest Textures & PNGs: Deviantart Photo Editing: Picmonkey Fonts & Text Effects: CoolText Below is a step-by-step overview of how I made the cover for Undone (Unveil #3). 1. I added, blended, and textured the New York City skyline before beginning. I also added a star-like sparkle effect. 2. I added a texture behind the skyline. 3. Then, I colored the texture to match the reddish color scheme I was going for with this cover. 4. I added a second texture and blended it with the first one. 5. I colored the New York City skyline to match the texture. 6. I added in the model, but haven't yet blended. 7. Lots happening here! I switched out the texture/color of the skyline because I didn't like the way it fit, and I blended in the model. 8. I added the swirl-tattoo effect. 9. Then I put in the text, with no effects yet. 10. I blended and faded the text a little to make it fit better with the rest of the cover. 11. I added the red glow to the text. 12. Just a few final touch-ups—I dulled the text a little and faded the tattoo on the model's back. And that's the finished product! It only took me about an hour to make and was relatively simple. Plus, all of the tools I used are completely free (some do require you to create an account, though). What do you think of the covers?
I'm back after an admittedly too-long hiatus and ready to get back into writing! Below you will find my schedule for summer 2017 (beginning in May):
CURRENT WIPS
BALLET BLOG SERIES
PAPER FLOWERS
THE IMPROBABILITY OF FOREVER
TEN OF ME
UNVEIL
THE BACK OF WEDNESDAY
The Back of Wednesday comes out February 10 and I couldn't be more excited! Below you'll find a summary as well as a sneak peek of the first chapter. SUMMARYShe has navigated the guiltless, gold-encrusted halls of her boarding school for three years and made it out unscathed. But it may just be that the best was being saved for last—because now someone is plotting her downfall in the most ruthless way possible. She is destined to die. She usually dismisses her ability to see snippets of the future, but this snapshot is too priceless to ignore. In one year, she must discover her murderer and stop them, or Devan Nichols will die and disappear as a fragment of Langcrest Academy's legends, silent as a whisper. The first chapter will be released on or around February 10 on my Wattpad page, and from there updates will come multiple times per week. Stay tuned and be sure to reach out to me with any thoughts!
Below you can find a weekly update schedule for my writing from January to March. I will try my best to stick to my update schedule as much as possible, but there may be some variance from week to week. JANUARYWIPS:
FEBRUARYWIPS:
MARCHWIPS:
Welcome to my website and blog! I previously had a fully functioning website and blog that I ran for several years, but eventually the website's host crashed and I lost everything. This is a fresh start and a chance to chronicle my writing adventures through a new lens. Please have patience with me as I work out how to use this new platform :)
What to expect from my blog? In the past I've posted hints of my new writing, update schedules, character previews, glimpses into my outlines and brainstorming sessions, and more. I really hope this can be a chance for you to gain more insight into my writing and see me as more than the girl behind some of the books you read online. Just like with any other form of media, I'd be so happy if you left comments or responded to my posts so we can chat! As my blog is not my #1 priority, you can expect new posts to come relatively slowly, but I tend to update about once a month (more during the summers and holidays), and I promise that every post will be completely new content that you haven't seen on any other website! So here goes nothing...I'd be so happy if you chose to follow me on this journey. |
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