Behind the harpies: from zero to published

Yay! I finally finished the first draft manuscript for Grounded . The longest/hardest part is over!
*does a little dance*
Anyways, I figured I’d use this opportunity to do a quick summary of how my books actually get from zero to published.
I’ll use Airborne as an example

Step one: The idea and outline.
So, you know how the most writing classes and books advise you to single out an idea, develop it into a two page synopsis, work out the characters, and yadda yadda outline.
Yea, well, I don’t do this. Who has the patience to do this? I admire them.
How Airborne was born:
I had attempted to find an agent for a previous book and the agent advised me “I’d like to work with you. But you could write anything a little bit more… normal?”
Yea, she said it just like that. So I took it to mean that I should write something that fit in with the popular genre. But I didn’t want to use vampires or werewolves. There were so many books out there already to compete with that I wanted to go a different way.

So I wrote out a scene to muse (one that never made the book):

“Are you afraid of heights?” Mason suddenly asked.
“No.” Avery shot back immediately but she realized at that moment that she had dug her nails into his arms. Rapidly detangling herself, she pushed off him.
“You’re totally afraid of heights.” He gave her such a smirk she could have cold cocked him right there. Instead, she folded her arms and turned away.
“Am not you stupid pigeon. And I don’t know anything about bird wing mechanics but there is no way those--” She gestured vaguely to the wings, “will get us anywhere but a quick plunge back to the Earth.”
“Listen to me.” His amusement gone, he was growing weary. “If I’ve figured it out, the Band will too. And when they do, you will be in serious danger. They won’t try to take it out of you the nice way.”
“Ha. No, so not going. I have class in the morning and you know what, I’m not going anywhere.”

This scene didn’t just make the book but it’s also funny and awful in retrospect. Obviously Avery’s reaction to the whole thing was inappropriate and in later versions, I rewrote it to suspend her disbelief.
In fact, most of the original ideas didn’t make the book, but you can still see some remnants of old ideas in the background of the Airborne manuscript. See Crepuscule Hall, Nate, and Mayweather particularly. Their meanings drastically changed. I digress, so back to the subject line.

Then I worked the idea out on paper for the new mythology.


I scratched out angels because there was too much lore behind them and I certainly didn’t want deal with the religious aspect when the book is supposed to be fiction.
So I went with harpies. Plus, they’re more fun being vicious and angry and all that.
Then I did the sentence thing (the only advice I ever took from writing class). Summarize the objective of the book in one or two sentences.
Avery picked up harpie magic and she needs to get it out before it causes her to be killed.
Hoorah!
Moving on.

Step two: Writing the initial manuscript.
This is the horribly unfinished scribbling of a book, all chapters intact. I consider this the skeleton. It’s not pretty but it’s the base line for everything else with the majority of the writing done. Most of this will be cut, adjusted, or cropped later but it allows me to examine the story as a whole. Finishing this initial version is also what allows me to see what the book really needs pace wise.

Step three: Editing
This is the step which Grounded is at. I look back at the manuscript and tweak it. Make sure the ideas flow, details match, and what was skimmed is now filled in. Consider this the muscles because this is what really makes the manuscript strong. After this step (three-four weeks tops) is complete, I hold the semi-final draft.

Step four: Proofing.
I give it to a bunch of independent people and have everyone read it. This is to make sure it makes sense (the most important thing) and obviously corrects grammatical errors. I’m not sure if this happens to anyone else, but if I rewrite something, I get the ordering wrong. Someone’s name is mentioned before Avery learns it. That happened in the first book with Mikhail (first edition, it’s since been cleared)
Once I correct everything I have my lovely final draft.
***
Hope I didn’t bore you to death. But to those of you asking me about Grounded, this is where I’m at and what’s left.