Going Slow at Writing (and as a result, Publishing)

This is the audio to go with the post, so you can listen to it instead, though I did ramble in the video. So it might be better to read. (You can edit stuff that you write better than stuff you say.)

The new process explained in more detail than anyone probably wants to know.

In the past, I had a tendency to rush things. I would set deadlines and do everything possible to reach them. I believe this led to my eventual burnout. It has been difficult to give myself permission to stop setting rigid deadlines so I can slow down, though it is probably necessary for the long-term survival of being able to keep writing. Unfortunately, you can’t have it all. (Or at least, I can’t.) I would love to be able to get six books out a year like I used to, but it’s looking like I will probably get 3-4 books out instead. I would rather get 4 books out instead of 3.

I was about to write that we might be looking more at 3 books because that’s what I said in the video. However, I just remembered that The Earl’s Bluestocking Bride is at 52,000 words, and this puts it on a good track to be out this year. Masquerade Bride is set for a Halloween release, and since it’s April 29, I see no reason why I can’t get it out this year (unless I run into a major writer’s block or something serious happens in my personal life). So I do think 4 books could be realistic after all. That actually makes me feel a lot better. It’s frustrating to have so many story ideas but not be able to get them out into the world.

Right now, I am trying to figure out how my new process should work. The past method of writing 5 days a week (Monday through Friday) and writing 15,000 words a week as a result was too much. I didn’t realize it when I was doing it, but it was too much. I am experimenting with writing 3 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and writing about a total of 11,250 words a week (though 500 of that goes toward my fan fiction stuff; so really, only 10,750 goes to what I will actually publish). I am taking Tuesdays and Thursdays to do the non-writing part of being an author. Things like making videos, blog posts, audiobook chapters of my books, and Facebook will fit in these places. I have done emails on my writing days if I don’t run out of time, but I also try catching up on emails on the weekends when I have a little downtime. While weekends are mainly for the family, I’m not with them 100% of the time.

The curse of the mind (and surprising benefit) when it wants to write something purely for pleasure.

This is actually a good problem to have, though it doesn’t seem like it on the surface. I mean, on the surface, writers are led into this mindset where all writing must result in the potential to make money. It’s been this way since we realized that there is money in self-publishing/indie publishing. I believe that came around in 2011-2012. That mentality makes its way into the back of a writer’s mind, so then the writer ends up feeling some pressure to pick stories that have that money potential. This makes it hard (and unattractive) to select a story that will yield absolutely no financial reward at all. That is what fan fiction is. Or, it could be something a writer produces with no intention of publishing it.

I have to pursue this fan fiction. Originally, I wrote it so that I could finally write my other stuff because I could not write my historical romances until I started this fan fiction. When I got the ball rolling again on the historical romances, I stopped writing the fan fiction. About a week and a half later, I had dreams about this fan fiction for a few nights in straight. So I realized this fan fiction piece has to be written. I am not getting out of it. The creative part of the brain wants to play in that world. In some ways, this is a curse. The more time and attention devoted to this fan fiction means less time in the stuff that I can put my name on.

However, there is a hidden blessing in this “purely for pleasure” pursuit that I didn’t anticipate when I picked this fan fiction project back up. Ideas for other stories just exploded in my mind. When I was focused just on the historical romances, I’d say the creative well was 3/4 full, sometimes completely full. I had enough ideas to sustain me for a few books out from what I was working on. So while I was working on 3 books, I really had ideas for about 5 more. Now that I’m writing this fan fiction, I am getting ideas from all over the place. I’m getting them from TV shows, from conversations, from articles, and from videos. I can’t seem to stop them, nor do I really want to because after spending so much time in burnout, it’s nice to have the overflow of ideas. I’ll never be able to write them all. I simply do not have the time. But it’s still nice to have that much creativity to play with these days. So that is the unexpected benefit of the fan fiction piece, and maybe that’s why my brain needed to pull me in that direction.

I am sure this would not work for all writers. Some writers would probably get overwhelmed and unable to write anything if there were too many story ideas running through their minds at any one time.

Going slow has made the writing stronger.

I have always seen my stories playing out as a movie when I wrote, but these days, everything is more vibrant. The characters are more pronounced, the emotion is stronger, the scenes flow easier, etc. I have learned that I take more time to “think” over the story than some authors. Some authors write a lot of words at once. I remember one saying that everyone should write 5,000 words a day. That method does not work for me. I do better if I stick to a small word count goal, like 750 for one story and 500 for the others I’m writing. This takes time and experimenting to figure out. But it’s probably worth the time and experimenting to find the sweet spot. Not everyone is meant to write a book in a week. Some are meant to write a book in a few month. Some are even meant to write a book in a year, or even longer. It really depends on your mind and how it works.

I have always been in favor of word count goals because they work for me. I like to stop in the middle of a scene or start a new chapter before I quit writing for the day. That way I have an idea of where I’m doing. Some authors do a scene at a time. Some do a chapter. Some write for a certain amount of time. Some even go into the story with a fleshed out outline, go back to add dialogue, and then go back to add emotions. There are many ways to write the story. A couple even write 80% of the way into the book and then go back to flesh everything in before finishing it. Some write the main scenes and then connect them all together later. There is no wrong way to write a story. The important thing is getting it written.

Now for what I’m working on:

Masquerade Bride is on track. But…I’m pushing the Christmas and Valentine stories to next year. So we’re looking at November/December 2026 for The Wedding Carol and Feb 2027 for It’s a Wonderful Marriage.

Halloween book Christmas book Valentine book

I’m bummed about this. I was hoping to get these out sooner. I am excited about these books, but they are season specific. It’s close to May, and since I am going so slow with my writing, I need to give myself enough time to do justice to these books. I will be able to get Masquerade Bride out for Halloween. I’m 12,600 words into it, and that offers me enough “lead time” to get the first draft completed and then off to my editing team in plenty of time for a September/October release.

The Hero Least Likely is on track for a June release.

My last book came out in February. This is Book 2 of the year to be published, and it’ll be out in June. See what I mean about going slow? Believe me, no one is more frustrated than I am. But there’s not much I can do. If I have to slow down, I have to slow down.

The Earl’s Bluestocking Bride is at 52,600 words

This is good, steady progress. I am not having to go rewrite or revise in this, but I did go back to tweak on some things. I think I have 10,000 to 15,000 more words to go before this one wraps up. Now that I write that out, it doesn’t sound like enough. I wonder if I’ll actually write 20,000 more words. There are some main points I want to cover before I’m ready to end it. I don’t want to rush it. I am building things up for Book 2 right now. I decided to change the title of Book 2 since the situation with the heroine has been modified a bit. The upside to going slow is that I have plenty of time to brainstorm a new title.

I am 19.000 words in The Preacher’s Wife

And I am still laying the foundation for this story. So I bet this is going to be a long one. I wouldn’t be surprised if this hits 80,000 words. I know a couple of key points in this story that I need to cover, but I haven’t gotten to those yet. I won’t get to them in a while. So the real struggle is HOW I am going to get to the start of this book to where I will end up. This has been like pulling teeth. Sometimes I don’t get anything written in this one. And I have done quite a bit of revising, which I hate to do but have no option since this story isn’t coming easily to me.

I have thought about writing the scenes that are going to come, but in the past when I’ve done that, something ends up happening on the way to those major scenes that make me either throw the scenes out or rewrite them. So I have learned it’s best to just leave the story alone until I can write in it. I’m happy to say that I am happy with where I am at the moment. So I don’t foresee having to go back and revise anything else. As long as I can give myself the time to think about what to do next, I should be okay.

Discovery Writing

I’m going to conclude this post by talking about discovery writing. I recently discovered this term. It’s kind of like writing by the seat of your pants but not exactly. Discovery writing is when you figure the story out as you’re writing it. Unlike the panster, these writers can also plot. They plot a little at a time (discovery) then write. Then they plot some more (with more discovery) and then continue writing.

Some discovery writers know the main characters’ personalities and build a story around that. Some discover writers will have a theme in mind and build their story around that. Some discovery writers will have a plot and start there.

I start with a plot idea. I usually have a 1-2 sentence story idea. Then I know the hero and heroine’s names. And I know how the first scene opens. That’s all I know when I start a story. I might have an idea of key points I’d like to cover in the story, but those are subject to change depending on the course the story takes. For example, I might think that a character is going to end up doing something. During the course of the story, however, the character’s personality might be something I didn’t expect. So I write the character acting in the way appropriate for that character, and most of the time, the character does not do the thing I expected because their personality does not fit that action. This is why I don’t know who my characters are until I’m writing in their point of view. The only way I figure them out is by writing them. That is a part of the discovery process.

Honestly, if I were to know everything in advance, I would lose interest in the story and be unable to write it. I would rather not know everything when I go into something. I want to be surprised. That’s the appeal of discovery writing. I have learned to trust my gut when it comes to writing. So maybe that’s the secret to discovery writing. You go with your gut. This is writing on a subconscious level.

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My brain stopped working at the end, so I left the video on an awkward note. To be fair, I was interrupted twice while doing the video. Some kids were home. A mom’s life is never a quiet one.