Drafting and the Revising Process

I am in an interesting place with my current projects.

I’m working on the second draft of my sequel novel, A Shift of Crimson (I’m actually only a few chapters away from completing the second draft), as well as drafting the rough draft of the first novel in my Olympic Fates Saga, which I’m about halfway through. And one thing I’ve found intriguing is the ways in which both of these manuscripts inform the other, despite the fact that they’re in completely different worlds and are part of very different genres.

I’ve never worked on multiple writing projects at the same time before, and for a while, I didn’t think I’d be able to pull it off. I thought I’d be too scattered and disjointed to make either of the projects work. In other words, I thought I would be half-assing them both, leading to mediocre content that no one would want to read. But instead I’ve found that, in fact, the opposite has been true. Working on one helps me keep working on the other; it gives me ideas, it gives my brain a break when it needs something fresh to focus on, and I don’t feel as stuck in either project as I sometimes do when I’m working on one thing at a time.

One of the things I do to make this work and to make sure I keep to my deadlines is time management. I schedule out which days I will work on my sequel novel and which days I will work on my Olympic Fates Saga Book 1. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays I work on A Shift of Crimson. It’s the longer book and, therefore, needs more of my time throughout the week. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays I work on the first book in my Olympic Fates Saga. It will be much shorter than my other novels, likely no more than 75,000 words at the most (I’m really trying to keep it closer to 50,000-60,000), and so will need fewer drafts.

But it is interesting to be in the drafting process for the latter project while I’m in the revision process for the former because these two processes, while they have overlapping qualities, are, at their core, very different from each other. And yet working on these two projects and focusing on these two different processes has been not only fun and exciting, but helpful. I’ve been getting so much revision done on my sequel, and I genuinely thought I was going to fall so behind. But at this rate, I’ll be completing my second draft by January 15, which is when I’m sending the manuscript to my beta readers and my sensitivity reader, so then I’ll spend the rest of January and all of February focusing on book one of my Olympic Fates Saga.

I think later in the year, this will get busier and more complicated, especially when I’m juggling a release to audible in March (MY DEBUT NOVEL IS GOING TO BE AN AUDIOBOOK AND I AM SO EXCITED), a release to Kindle Vella in April, the drafting and revision of the second book in my Olympic Fates Saga, a release to KDP in June, a local book tour celebrating and promoting the release of my sequel novel, the beginning outline and draft of my third novel, another release to Kindle Vella in late August/early September, the drafting and revision of the third book in my Olympic Fates Saga, another release to KDP in November/December (once a book is marked as “completed” in Kindle Vella, you can publish it as an ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook after 30 days from the day of completion, and that’s what I’ll be doing with the first book in my Olmpic Fates Saga), and then yet another release to Audible for my sequel novel in December/January. That’s going to be a shit-ton to manage all at once on top of working full time, working just as hard on the marketing and publicizing of my books, keeping up with my social life, doing the hiking with my puppy, and keeping my condo clean.

Seriously. What am I thinking? Should I be talked down from this ledge?

I kid, I kid. I’m excited to be this busy because I will be investing time into the things I love, into books and projects I am truly passionate about, and I will be continuing to learn and grow not only as a writer, but as a publisher of my own work. By this time next year, January 2025, I will have 4 books published with a 5th on the way. Hopefully, this will boost my success as an author and keep the momentum going.

And oh yeah — I’m turning my debut novel into an audiobook! I am not doing this narration myself because that would be a disaster. I found my narrator through Audible; she is fantastic and has a stunning voice, so I think she will do an incredible job bringing my novel and my characters to life. The release for that is set for March right now.

That’s all for now! I’m sending out love and light to you all. Let me know how you’re doing in the comments!