The FIRST FALLEN, Volume II, Is Finished!

A dream realized:

Finishing a book is a feeling unlike any other. The moment after your story is written – the tale written down and the last word, the last full stop, typed up – is a special one. It’s a feeling that’s hard to describe if you haven’t been through it. There’s the excitement that you actually did it, maybe a sigh of relief that it all came to something; sometimes the deranged laugh of a true mad scientist when you realize (after so much hard work) your creature is going to live. For some reason, I found it much easier to write my second book than it was to complete my debut novel. But I’m done – it should be on bookshelves by the beginning of spring!!! And I’m celebrating today with a blog on my favorite tips for finishing your novel.

a novel crafted:

The cruel truth is that the world is not waiting for your book – truly, nobody cares if you write it or not. Really, they don’t. Except you, that is. So you have to fight for it. Yes, I know, it sounds a little cold. And I’m sure you have loved ones and friends who encourage you and want to see you happy. I know I do. But in the harsh light of day, it’s only you that cares about this. So this brings me onto tip #1.

1. Reach out to other writers. When I first started this website, I came across lots of writer hashtags, and “met” other writers like me. It was a lot of fun to know there were others, all over the world, struggling too. And it’s not just struggling but committing yourself everyday to your endeavor. An excellent way to accomplish this is to focus and set goals – and a time limit – when hopping on to social media to network. How much time do I want to spend doing this today? What do I want to achieve from it? Check back later to see if you honored/achieved these. Other writers can be very cool people with immensely helpful tips. I’ve learned a lot from my peers.
2. Keep making goals. Goals are what keeps us crawling up the mountain top to the next stage in our writing. Writing a novel is a mammoth task. Break it down into chunks. Some goal examples could include: Word count goals, e.g. get to 30,000 words by the end of this month. Editing goals, e.g. run chapters 1-10 through Grammarly and/or ProWrtingAid by Friday. Finish chapter 22 by the end of this week. You get the idea. I often stuck my monthly goals up on a vision board so I could see a hard copy of them regularly. There’s something about paper as opposed to digital for me. If you didn’t achieve your goal, the next time set a more achievable one. Your goals might not all be about writing the novel. They might be connected to the bigger picture, such as building your author platform or networking with potential agents or publishers or other people who will help you on your journey. Always come back to the book, though. Without your novel being finished, all the other stuff doesn’t matter.
3. Compress your writing time when Writing Feels Intimidating. Whatever you choose to do – it has to be do-able. I am not Dean Koontz – and I used the Pomodoro method for writing a lot for writing my latest book. It involves 25-minute sessions of writing (or editing) using a timer. You can just stick to 25 mins or put the timer on again as many times as you like. It’s totally do-able and the time usually flies – even if you were in knots of frustration and trepidation beforehand.
4. Balance. Do not become a writing hermit. Life still goes on around us. To enjoy writing your novel, other areas of your life need to be balanced as well. To be present and mindful for family members, I mostly do my writing early in the morning. And because it’s quiet and free from distractions. Personally, my writing goes better if I make time to meditate and exercise regularly.

Now the hard Truth:

Time to get to get your work published. Writing a book is actually a pretty big project. And I once saw some statistics that claimed that only 2% of the 40% actually get around to publishing their book. That’s not a lot of people. And not every finished book ever gets launched on a road that leads to publication. But if you’re someone who is dreaming about becoming a published author rest assured that you are in good company. And although it takes a huge amount of commitment, organization, dedication and imagination to complete a book manuscript, it IS possible. Plenty of people do it every year.

Here are some golden words to live by: Start your book. Work consistently on it. Believe in yourself. And don’t give up.