What I learned Writing My First Novel Draft

March 19, 2018March 18, 2018 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 12 Comments

I’ve completed the first draft of my novel! 78, 131 words. Whew! Although the genre is different from most of my writing these days, it was the first story I began more than three years ago. It wouldn’t go away, so I decided it was time to put it down, once and for all. To stay motivated, I joined a group challenge. I put the period on the last sentence on March the 12th and boy, it felt good! Now, the real work begins.

Here’s what I learned.

Find motivation to get the words down. Whether a critique group, one-on-one writing partner or challenges like the one I participated, or a do-or-die daily writing schedule – sign on. Accountability is a strong motivator to keep going.
Stop your obsessive editing and rewriting! Make notes on the manuscript and keep going. You will have more than enough time to edit later.
Develop a method for keeping up with the details –This is something that screamed with each added chapter. I use Scrivener and love it. It’s an excellent resource for writers and has many tools which help you organize your novel. However, I discovered I need something more. I created excel spreadsheets, (several) to keep up with the details: Character, Settings and Timeline, Threads, and Novel Map (more about those later).
Start planning the next steps – there are quite a few: determining whether you want to use Beta readers, finding the right editor, rewrites, researching your genre, agents, and publishers, writing a synopsis, author bio, cover designs, determining your publishing platform, and outlining a marketing plan. I’m sure I’ve missed a few but more on each of these later.
Enjoy your accomplishment. Many writers never get to the end – you did.
Keep writing. Whether it’s on to your next novel, prompts, short fiction, blog post, or article – keep stretching those muscles.

I’ll have more posts in the next few weeks outlining my journey from First Draft to publication. Hopefully, I’ll be able to offer you a few tips, resources, and an inside look at the experience.

If you have any tips or resources you would like to share with the fence jumpers, join the conversation, or better, yet, contact me for the opportunity to be a guest contributor on these topics, for the Cow Pasture Chronicles.

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story. I’m all ears and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

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HOW TO FORMAT YOUR MANUSCRIPT

March 16, 2018 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 2 Comments

I have just completed my first novel draft, and I can tell you, my brain is fired! Although I use Scrivener and don’t know how I’d write without it, I like to verify formatting against the industry standards.

Lara Willard had provides an excellent three-part series on novel manuscript formatting. I’ve provided links to all parts, including her free download. Thanks to Lara for a great resource. I hope you enjoy her articles as much as I did. These are keepers.

Part 1: via Formatting your Novel Manuscript

Part 2: Hard-Core Manuscript Formatting

Part 3: Download a copy of her free MS FORMAT TEMPLATE.

Thanks for The Honor

February 19, 2018 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 2 Comments

Fan Favorite Award

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year since I participated in the ChapterBuzz 10K Social Writing Challenge to work on my novel, Hello Hell.

It’s been an honor to meet so many talented writers and read so many extraordinary books. Thanks to Timothy Pike for the lovely feature article on my participation. Read it here, As a writer, how do you overcome paralyzing self-doubt? This author knows how.

Then, get your pencils sharpened, your paper ready, and hop on over to sign up for the upcoming 10K Social Writing Challenge beginning March 1st!

Please check out my novel, Hello Hell on ChapterBuzz, now up to 62, 861 words, as well as, all of the other award-winning books by an ever-growing list of talented writers.

Recommended Reading for Writers – Taking Control

December 14, 2017 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 2 Comments

For those of you who enjoy a stroll through the Cow Pasture, sorry if my lack of presence has disappointed you. OR, maybe like me, you have been too busy with your hectic life and holiday schedules you didn’t realize I was missing. The point being, it’s okay. I understand.

From October through December is probably the busiest and fastest moving months of the year. They are also, often the most anxiety-producing, at least for this writer. Between family holiday get-togethers, cooking, shopping, gift wrapping, and all the other holiday festivities, it gets more difficult every year to manage time, stick to a writing schedule, or slow down enough to enjoy the moments.

Throw in a few family health crisis on top of the mix, and you have the recipe for neglect. Something has to give and more often than not, it’s writing – be it a blog, WIP, or networking via social media.

Of course, truth be told, I laid off most social media a long time ago. Not, because I don’t want to connect with you and other writers, I do; but, because it seems to have turned into more than a network. Instead of a way to network, it has become a platform for everyone to spout their opinion or a propaganda tool. I wrote about this topic once before in my article, Has Facebook Become Toxic? It’s all too much sometimes for this writer. I don’t want to belabor the point, but, suffice it to say, I don’t need the added anxiety.

As writers, I believe, we put more pressure on ourselves than most people, and it seems to escalate during this time of year. Who thought November would be the best time of the year to run a 50,000 word novel challenge. Yet, NaNoWriMo is one of the most popular challenges for writers. Even I jumped on the challenge bandwagon this Fall. I didn’t participate in NaNoWriMo, but I did take on the 10 K Social Writing Challenge through ChapterBuzz. I admit, my anxiety increased, substantially as I attempted to stay on track, I also made enormous progress on my novel, Hello Hell. We writers are a glutton for punishment sometimes.

Whether it’s a blog post, short story, or current WIP, it seems there is always another self-imposed deadline. Throw in this hectic time of year, other family crisis, the news, and the result is escalating anxiety.

Some things are beyond our control and those we must learn to accept as part of life, but we are not without resources and choices. Deciding what or who takes priority in our lives and how to manage it is up to us. Which brings me to one of the best articles I’ve read in a long time, Winning the Anxiety War by Piper Bayard, guest blogger for Writers in the Storm.

If increasing anxiety has invaded your world, especially this time of year, check out this article, Piper’s take on the role of social media plays in our increasing anxiety, as well as her suggestions on how we can manage – Three Elements of Compartmentalization.

“Media Is A Battleground. Messages Are The Weapons. Our Anxiety Is The Prize. He Who Holds Our Anxieties, Holds Us.” Piper Bayard Click to Tweet

What about you? How do you manage all the demands on your time during these winter months? How do you glean the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, from social media, or have you, as I pushed it to the back burner?