Problems and Solutions
This week started with a few realizations. The first being that book six is going to be a lot of work. There are a lot of things Savannah and Santiago are dealing with in this story. They are facing new challenges they did not see coming and a few they did. There is also some drama with a couple of other characters none of us foresaw. I am actually starting to wonder if there is a way to trim down some of the situations they are dealing with. The more I work on the book the more I see there won’t be a way to do that. A few of the difficulties are things that need to be resolved from previous books. There are other issues that cannot be resolved as of yet. For those of you who have read my books, Matthew is one of those issues that won’t be resolved until much later. What this means is the book is going to be long or as one of my readers call it, a bible. Book six is going to be a book that will have many players. They all will play a role in the drama that is unfolding in Savannah and Santiago’s life.
The other thing I am realizing is that the first quarter of the book is going to need a lot of work. I actually wish I could start over. Scrap the entire thing and start again. There are a lot of issues in terms of the quality of writing I have done so far. I feel like I am making progress but the writing has holes in certain scenes. The other problem is I feel the book is less focused. The more I find my rhythm in terms of writing, the more I am realizing that there are serious issues with this book. I will need to do a more thorough rewrite with the first edit of the book. I am actually wondering if I should have started the other series and allowed Savannah to take a break. She and I have worked nonstop for the last two years, almost three. Savannah is tired and could use a bit of a break. The problem is I want to get her story completed. I want to focus all of my attention to her story before I move over to the other series. I worry that I will move to the other book and won’t come back to Savannah for a long while. I don’t want to do that. My readers want to know how her story ends. They want to know if there will be a happily ever after or not. Will Matthew win? And they have a right to that. They have stuck with me through this journey. I want to give them what they want because I want it too. I know some of the answers to their questions but not all of them. Savannah has not shared every detail of her story with me yet.
With this realization, I am also seeing that the edit I have started on book four is not where it should be either. The book is missing something. I am not sure what it’s missing but it is. I can feel it as we go through page by page there is this piece that is just not there. It is like I can see the entire story but one piece I am missing. I have run through every bit of information within the book and I don’t know what’s wrong with it. It is frustrating to say the least. I am starting to worry that I am going to have to postpone the release of this book. I have already edited this book two other times and with each edit I felt better about the book. This third edit is showing me, I did fix some major issues but there is still something not quite right with the book.
What do I do? Do I start over on book six? Do I read through what I have done so far and make corrections? Or do I stop for now and switch gears? Right now I am doing none of that. I am pushing through and making notes about what I know is wrong with the book. I am making note after note about pieces of information I need to add or changing descriptions I have already written. I am pushing forward even though I am finding it difficult to do. I want to go back and fix the issues I know need fixing. I want to find the problems I know exist but if I do that I could get stuck in editing mode and then what do I do? So I am going to take the advice of one of my favorite authors she gave months ago. I am going to keep going forward no matter how much I want to stop and go back. If I do that I will not only hurt my progress within the series but I will also hurt Savannah. If I were to go back and edit what I have done I won’t finish the book. I will be stuck editing the same work over and over again. I will be creating a bad habit. The only thing to do is push forward, get to the end of the book, and edit and fix all the issues at once.
Book four's problem is different. Instead of sitting back trying to figure out where I have gone wrong. I have decided my editor and I are going to start over with this edit. We are going to go back to the beginning of the book and look at each page. I need to forget what I have done up to this point and start over. I need to look at it with a fresh set of new eyes and a new thought process. Once I do that I will make book four into the book it should be.
When you are having issues, like I am, you need to look at what has gone wrong. For me, the piece of the puzzle that screwed everything up was me. I became distracted by life and my own issues. It meant I was writing but not as well as I should have been. Now I am finding my groove for writing once more. I am forced to find solutions to the problems I have created. It won't be easy to fix the problems in both books but it’s not impossible.
So take some time and look at where you went wrong. Look for solutions to those specific problems you are facing and then implement those changes. Trust that you will find a solution. Until next time!
The other thing I am realizing is that the first quarter of the book is going to need a lot of work. I actually wish I could start over. Scrap the entire thing and start again. There are a lot of issues in terms of the quality of writing I have done so far. I feel like I am making progress but the writing has holes in certain scenes. The other problem is I feel the book is less focused. The more I find my rhythm in terms of writing, the more I am realizing that there are serious issues with this book. I will need to do a more thorough rewrite with the first edit of the book. I am actually wondering if I should have started the other series and allowed Savannah to take a break. She and I have worked nonstop for the last two years, almost three. Savannah is tired and could use a bit of a break. The problem is I want to get her story completed. I want to focus all of my attention to her story before I move over to the other series. I worry that I will move to the other book and won’t come back to Savannah for a long while. I don’t want to do that. My readers want to know how her story ends. They want to know if there will be a happily ever after or not. Will Matthew win? And they have a right to that. They have stuck with me through this journey. I want to give them what they want because I want it too. I know some of the answers to their questions but not all of them. Savannah has not shared every detail of her story with me yet.
With this realization, I am also seeing that the edit I have started on book four is not where it should be either. The book is missing something. I am not sure what it’s missing but it is. I can feel it as we go through page by page there is this piece that is just not there. It is like I can see the entire story but one piece I am missing. I have run through every bit of information within the book and I don’t know what’s wrong with it. It is frustrating to say the least. I am starting to worry that I am going to have to postpone the release of this book. I have already edited this book two other times and with each edit I felt better about the book. This third edit is showing me, I did fix some major issues but there is still something not quite right with the book.
What do I do? Do I start over on book six? Do I read through what I have done so far and make corrections? Or do I stop for now and switch gears? Right now I am doing none of that. I am pushing through and making notes about what I know is wrong with the book. I am making note after note about pieces of information I need to add or changing descriptions I have already written. I am pushing forward even though I am finding it difficult to do. I want to go back and fix the issues I know need fixing. I want to find the problems I know exist but if I do that I could get stuck in editing mode and then what do I do? So I am going to take the advice of one of my favorite authors she gave months ago. I am going to keep going forward no matter how much I want to stop and go back. If I do that I will not only hurt my progress within the series but I will also hurt Savannah. If I were to go back and edit what I have done I won’t finish the book. I will be stuck editing the same work over and over again. I will be creating a bad habit. The only thing to do is push forward, get to the end of the book, and edit and fix all the issues at once.
Book four's problem is different. Instead of sitting back trying to figure out where I have gone wrong. I have decided my editor and I are going to start over with this edit. We are going to go back to the beginning of the book and look at each page. I need to forget what I have done up to this point and start over. I need to look at it with a fresh set of new eyes and a new thought process. Once I do that I will make book four into the book it should be.
When you are having issues, like I am, you need to look at what has gone wrong. For me, the piece of the puzzle that screwed everything up was me. I became distracted by life and my own issues. It meant I was writing but not as well as I should have been. Now I am finding my groove for writing once more. I am forced to find solutions to the problems I have created. It won't be easy to fix the problems in both books but it’s not impossible.
So take some time and look at where you went wrong. Look for solutions to those specific problems you are facing and then implement those changes. Trust that you will find a solution. Until next time!
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