Writing Journey Post 2
How three drafts of my first novel and three additional novels led me to learning more about the craft of writing.
This post is a continuation of my writing journey I started here.
After the Trilogy Finished
I didn’t stop writing when I finished my trilogy. I maintained the momentum I’d gained and continued onward. I had started the first half of my first book ten years before, and the end of it had already sat for two months while I proto-drafted the other two books. So I’d let it sit for ample time to start editing it, right?
I dove into edits. And while I used NaNoWriMo’s guide to editing a novel, I still didn’t entirely understand what it meant to make sure every scene had a purpose. I will say that it helped me cut a 37-page travel log that didn’t do much for the story. And helped me realize that a side character that comes in halfway through the book should actually have a POV because they carry the plot that gets resolved in the first book. And while I also changed the sex of a few characters (it was far too obvious that my inspiration was white male fantasy authors), there wasn’t much change in the story.
My First Critique Partner
I managed to find a critique partner who pointed out my exorbitant use of passive voice, and paused in my editing to immediately go back and start again. Though that experience was tough for me, to see the suggestions blotting out my pages, I recognized its value. There were flaws in my writing I didn’t realize. Things I had forgotten in my years without practice. Things that I had never learned. And it was hard. To go back and start again. To deal with the frustration that what I’d written on the first go around wasn’t everything I’d hoped it would be.
I was missing knowledge and practice (as mentioned in my last post). And I knew those were two things I could control.
I finished that second draft, and then a third that didn’t better the story more than the second. In between I had drafted another novel. A YA paranormal fantasy that spawned out of a writing prompt but had no direction to it. Two more novels followed, both middle grade fantasy, as well as some explorations into a second YA novel with the same characters and some dabbles into the fourth book in my epic fantasy series (which would start a second trilogy). I had all of these stories, but I knew none of them were ready to send out to try and publish. I didn’t know how to fix them. I was ignorant to what I needed, but I knew I needed something.
My Local Writing Group
I joined my local writing group, Writing Heights, in September of 2022 and attended their 2023 conference. Conferences are amazing things. A place where writers get together to learn more about their craft. A place to meet other writers. A place to meet presenters. I joined a workshop that examined the first pages of a novel and was taught by Jaye Viner. Jaye walked us through several examples, focusing on what we learned on the first page. Then we broke off and took time to critique each other’s first pages. I found the workshop very helpful and informative. After the conference, she offered to start a critique group and I signed up. I’ve learned so much about being part of a critique group and how to give feedback from that group. Jaye in particular has a way of pointing out flaws in beginnings that still leaves me in awe. I’ve taken the knowledge I’ve acquired into other critique groups I’ve joined, amazed that the first critique group I landed in is so solid and helpful.
Needing More
Armed with a place to get feedback on my work, I sat down and started to revise. But this time I wasn’t working on a new draft of my epic fantasy. This time I decided to work on the middle grade novel that felt like it had a fairly cohesive plot. Halfway through that second draft, my writing group offered a class on middle grade novels, taught by Meg Eden Kuyatt. It was in her class that I learned about a story having two plots, the external plot (the events that happen) and the internal plot (how the character changes). Two books she recommended to dive deeper into these plots were Save the Cat Writes a YA Novel by Jessica Brody (because there is no middle grade version), and Story Genius by Lisa Cron.
There had been other members in online writing groups that had recommended Save The Cat to me before, but at the time I had not thought I needed to rely on a book to learn about writing.
But after seven novels and no idea how to make them better, I reconsidered. I realized there were things I did not know. Being a scientist and having a husband who heavily researches everything before he buys a product, I caved. I recognized that if I wanted to fix my novels, if I wanted to write something to the point where it would be polished enough to query, I needed to do more research on the craft of writing.
And so, I bought my first craft book and took a deep dive into plot structure.
Stay tuned for more writing adventures!