Writing

Sometimes I feel like I’m part of a 12 step program

/ A.J. Colby / Leave a comment

I’m totally ripping off Blondiewritemore, though if I’m admitting it does it still count as out right laziness/copying?

Anyway, she posted a genius article by Chuck Wendig and I just had to share it. Anyone who has ever written, or tried to write, a novel has experienced at least a dozen of the 25 steps mentioned in Chuck’s Varied Emotional Stages Of Writing A Book. I frequently flip-flop back and forth between numbers 1 and 2. I also suffer from # 3 and # 15 on a fairly regular basis. In fact Mr. Awesome Sauce refuses to let me buy this t-shirt because he says it would simply compound my existing near-constant attitude of “Meh.” Damn him.

Still, I think that his list is missing a stage that may very well be the most important one of all. The fact that is the one I’m currently experiencing might make me a wee bit biased, but meh. Whatevs.

So here is my addition to his list:

#26 – HOLY SHIT PEOPLE HAVE TO READ THIS

The pants-shitting terror you experience when you realize that you have to actually let other people read the masterpiece/steaming pile of dog crap that you have spent weeks/months/years slaving over, alternatively convinced that you are the next Stephen King or that you should fling yourself off of the nearest cliff and spare the world your insufferable existence.

Which stage(s) do you suffer from during your writing journey?

Here comes the hard part…

/ A.J. Colby / Leave a comment

Once upon a time I believed that finishing a novel was an immensely difficult task. I recently proved to myself that that is not the case, and spent a day or two basking in the glow of that revelation. Then the oh-so fun task of editing commenced. Ugh. I hate editing, but am pleased to say that it went better than I anticipated and I finished my first round of edits 5 days ahead of the schedule I had set for myself. It wasn’t until I was done with my edits that I discovered that the truly hard part (as in wanting to tear out your hair and scream to the heavens) of this whole process is handing that beautiful, glorious finished creation, or what I like to call my word baby, over to someone else and let them actually read it.

Gasp!

I know, right? Terrifying!

What if its absolute drivel? What if they don’t like it? What if they do?

These and a dozen other questions are currently running through my brain, slowly driving me crazy… or more crazy than I am already am. Whatever.

I know that Mr. Awesome Sauce is an awesome editor, hence the nickname, and would never be mean or abuse my word baby, and yet every time he begins a sentence with “I was thinking maybe we should tweak…” I feel myself begin to tense as if preparing for a strike. I want to cry “There will be no tweaking! My baby is beautiful and perfect! Thy eyes should burn in the presence of such perfection, and thy body should tremble in abject adoration! Bow down to me mortal, and worship all that is I!” Ahem… yeah, or maybe just “But I like it that way it is.”

I have no doubt that he’d never hurt my word baby, but I still feel like I’m steeling myself for an inevitable spanking. The logical side of me, which granted is usually buried under a dozen layers of craziness and neurosis, understands that I need the assistance of amazing people like Mr. Awesome Sauce and my beta readers, to help my word baby grow into a strong, beautiful novel. Their feedback is not criticism or a personal attack, it is just an opinion that in the end I can chose to ignore if I really want to, though that does kinda defeat the purpose. I’ve got a wicked awesome support group of people who are as excited for the book to be released as I am, and want to see me succeed. They’re happy and excited to be a part of the process, and they’re taking their roles seriously. But still the fear is there, and I’m not sure it ever really goes away.

All I can do is wrap my word baby up tight with my hopes and dreams, and pray that it doesn’t get spanked too hard.

I Won The Lottery!

/ A.J. Colby / 4 Comments

TheEnd

Okay, well not really, but it does kinda feel that way right now.

Yesterday afternoon I penned the last few words of Hunted, the first novel in the Riley Cray series. It felt both liberating and terrifying to sit back and look at the words on the screen and realize that I was finally done. Even more exhilarating was the knowledge that I had accomplished it in just over 90 days; 97 days to be exact, with at least 2 full weeks of no writing during that time.

As I mentioned in this post, when I first set out on the journey to write Hunted I never thought that I would reach my goal of 70k-80k words, and was astounded when I blew right past 80k and kept on going. And never in a million years did I think I would be able to write a novel in just over 3 months. It’s required a lot of long days and cramped hands, but it has all been so worth it to finally be able know that the story that had been rattling around in my head will soon be able to be enjoyed by others.

Now comes the arduous task of editing, beta reading and sending the manuscript off to a professional editor, which means that Hunted likely won’t be available to purchase until June/July, but I’m so excited and can’t wait to be able to hit ‘Publish.’

Stay tuned for more details about Hunted and the other Riley Cray releases coming soon!