Last week I finished my fifth or sixth draft (it kind of depends on how you count) of my novel Footfall. While I’m trying to revel in finishing another draft, I also am trying to think ahead a bit to the next steps to completing this book. After all, my goal is to produce something I can get published (either traditionally or self-published), and it still needs more work to get to that phase. While I have a list of structural edits to make, one of the major things I need to get figured out is the worldbuilding. It’s not that I haven’t already spent time working on this world. I have! But, as I’ve been working on the latest draft, I realized there are some holes that need filled in, so to speak. So, I’ll share some of the things I’m doing to fill in those holes and, you know, have fun doing it. But first, I should probably cover a pretty important question many of you are asking.
Tag Archives: first novel
Another Draft Finished and My Summer Writing Plans
It has been some time since I last updated this blog, and I feel I’m due for a new post. The last few months have been challenging on many levels, especially for writing and my dedication to this book. I’ll share some of those challenges and what I think the next few months will look like (hint: more editing!).
So, let’s move on to what I’ve been up to the past few months. For starters, I’ve done another draft of my book. It has some substantial changes, but I also kept a number of scenes and elements from the old version. I finished this draft May 3rd and sent it off to its next beta reader. I’m hoping to get their comments back at the end of this month. Getting to this point was not easy, though. There were some very busy weeks at work, meaning I had to work late and write less. I also went through a difficult time with my mental health in February/March, and only started to feel normal once mid-April rolled around. But I have a lot of optimism for the coming months. The sun is shining, my brain is perky, and I have a path forward.
First on that path is reading, specifically about writing and how to create a novel. I know, I know. I can hear you now: “Hannah, wouldn’t it have made sense to read those books BEFORE you started writing?” Well, ideally yes. However, I’m learning as I go. And these books really would only have been helpful to me once I gained a closer understanding of my characters, which is difficult to do without writing those characters a bit. Anyway, I’m going to go back to the fundamentals and learn about character arcs, plot structure, and building themes. I know that a lot of these crucial story elements have a presence in my book, but they are muddled and get lost. So the trick will be making them stand out.
After I finish a few of those books (one down already), I’ll re-do my story’s outline and re-apply it. At this point I should have my recent beta reader’s comments, and I’ll use those to help revise. I’m hoping to keep this round of revisions fairly concentrated. There will be a lot of work to do, but I don’t want to spend all summer doing it. I am considering taking a few days off in June to help facilitate this goal. We’ll see how that goes.
The next step after revising will be sending the manuscript to one last round (hopefully) of beta readers. I know I need to find someone of African-American origin to review at this point. If you’re curious why, I will note that both my characters are black and I am not. So, it is important to make sure I don’t include potentially harmful tropes or anything like that. For more info on this subject, I highly recommend stopping by Writing with Color on Tumblr. I think I will also want a beta reader to review the magic system I’ve created and see if they spot any issues or logic holes. I
So, after this round of beta readers, I’ll do more revisions as needed (hopefully they will be pretty focused) and then I’ll start querying. The goal is for the novel to be its best possible form at this point, and I will definitely do a final copy-edit and proofread before sending it to any agents. But really, once I start querying I will likely step away from actively working on the project and will try to start something else while the rejection letters role in. This novel has been my main writing project for 5 years, and I think my skill as a writer will improve if I start working on something different. Also, working on something else might keep me from burning out, which may have been a contributor to my need to take breaks in the past.
So, that’s where things are at. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little update. My plan is to do these more often. I think this is slightly more likely than not because I’m back into a steady writing habit.
Cheers!
Filed under My Novel, Uncategorized, Writing
My Characters and a Q&A with the Artist Who Drew Them
Oscar and Mary Drake. Art by Michelle Luise.
I’m so excited today. Why? Because I finally have a visual representation of my work-in-progress’s main characters, Oscar and Mary Drake. This picture is so beautiful. I love the lighting, particularly how it streams through the trees. I love how you can get a little glimpse of Oscar and Mary’s personalities just by seeing their faces. It’s just so AWESOME!
I’m also pleased as punch to say the picture was drawn and colored by artist (and good friend) Michelle Luise. She did such an amazing job. What’s more, she agreed to answer a few of my questions on her art and her process. I hope you guys enjoy this interesting insight into an artist’s world!
H: How long have you been an artist? Did you go to school for it, or are you self taught?
M: That’s a bit of a tough question! I’ve enjoyed creating art for most of my life, but I would say that I really started to draw consistently around 2001, so I guess about fourteen years at this point! I’m primarily self taught, though I did take art courses throughout my college career, as well as several courses over the past decade dealing with graphic design. It’s been in the last four years that I’ve begun to take art more seriously as a potential career path.
H: What is your favorite medium to work with?
M: My work is done primarily using digital means, and I would say that is my favorite medium to work with! I currently work with a decade old Wacom Intuos 3 tablet, and the bulk of my work is done using Paint Tool SAI, though I will occasionally use Manga Studio/Clip Studio Paint for inking. Working digitally allows for me to cut down on art supply costs – while a tablet and art programs are expensive up front, I don’t have to worry about the costs for canvas or paper, etc. When it comes to traditional mediums, however, I do enjoy working with charcoal or graphite.
H: When you decide to draw a person or a scene, how do you start? Is the picture fully formed in your mind at the beginning, or does it take shape as you go?
M: It depends on the piece! A lot of time, when I’m constructing a piece, I do have one particular part in mind but not necessarily the entire image. I will often times know the expression that I want, or I know one tiny piece that absolutely needs to be included, and the whole image can be built around that. A recent piece I did, for example, was constructed around wanting to draw two characters clasping hands – from that point, I worked to figure out how the rest of the drawing would work in relation to that part of the pose. For the painting of Oscar and Mary, I decided early on that I wanted to position Mary facing the viewer, with Oscar behind her. Their exact poses changed a few times, but where they were in relation to each other stayed the same. Other times, I will have a set goal in mind when working – I want to use negative space effectively, or I want to use a particular color scheme. There are, of course, times when I have a full, complete image in my mind. Actually, at initial concept stages, I do almost always have a complete image. However, I try to focus in on what parts of the piece I consider the most important aspects and work around those, and I do try to be flexible, as sometimes the complete image I have in my mind does not translate to a drawn image quite how I envisioned it.
H: Are you strictly interested in producing portraits/drawings, or would you also consider working on cover art or book illustrations?
M: I would absolutely consider working on covers or illustrations! In general, what I most enjoy drawing is the human face and figure, but that by no means limits me to only portraits. I have actually done some work in the past with designing book cover images, and I’m currently working with a close friend on a short comic. Drawing more complete scenes and paintings is something that I am certainly interested in working on more!
H: Are you currently accepting commissions?
M: If I was answering this yesterday, I would say yes, but I am now actually fully scheduled with commissioned work! I will likely be opening up commissions again in the next few months.
H: Where can people see your art work?
M: I am currently working on putting together an online portfolio where people will be able to view my artwork, though I do not yet have this up and running. This is another thing which will be hopefully up and running in the next few months!
NaNoWriMo: The Birth of an Idea
I’ve attempted NaNoWriMo four times, but only won (finished) two times. For those of you who don’t spend one month out of the year hashing out a novel, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s an annual event that takes place in November, when thousands of people try to write 50,000 words. It’s a difficult task. In my experience, it’s usually a 50,000+ word stupidfest, with maybe one or two good ideas. However, finishing is one of the best experiences of my life, up there with finishing my first 12K or getting accepted to university. Also, it doesn’t have to be a fruitless endeavor. Continue reading
