fantasy novels

Chronicling The Craft: 60,000 Words

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Themes in Novels: What The Story Is Really About

Chapters Completed: 14

Chapters In Progress: 7

Chapters Left to Start: 13

“Chronicling The Craft” is an article series where I share my experience with writing my current work-in-progress (WIP), which is a fantasy novel. Every 5,000 words, I let readers know what I’ve accomplished since the previous article and share advice, discoveries, techniques, etc. Besides the word count in each article title, a “chapter ticker” at the top also tracks my progress as I use the skip-around / “writercopter” method to write the novel. Today’s installment celebrates the book reaching 60,000 words in length.

What a stealthy little milestone this turned out to be. I was recently on vacation with my immediate family, so I was literally sneaking in time to work on the WIP when I could, even tuning out of social media for one week to focus on family / relatives, writing, and relaxation. Altogether those shorter sessions ended up as productive as some of the longest I’ve ever done. No anxiety over the lack of time or getting very little done because of said lack of time. Instead, I stayed focused and inspired, typing as many words as I could. And now, here we are again!

My goals for the past several writing sessions have been to finish any in-progress chapters and to NOT start any new chapters. (I’m still using the “writercopter” method, and it’s working brilliantly for this WIP so far!) Let’s see what’s happened since the Chronicle for 55,000 words posted in May: Continue reading →

Chronicling The Craft: 55,000 Words

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Wounds, Lies, & Flaws: Using Character Arcs to Propel Your Story

Chapters Completed: 14

Chapters In Progress: 6

Chapters Left to Start: 14

“Chronicling The Craft” is an article series where I share my experience with writing my current work-in-progress (WIP), which is a fantasy novel. Every 5,000 words, I let readers know what I’ve accomplished since the previous article and share advice, discoveries, techniques, etc. Besides the word count in each article title, a “chapter ticker” at the top also tracks my progress as I use the skip-around / “writercopter” method to write the novel. Today’s installment celebrates the book reaching 55,000 words in length.

Reaching each 5,000-word milestone on this WIP has become a ritual that I look forward to very much. It allows me to look back at what I’ve done since the last update and at how far this story has come since I started writing it last year. And, it gives me an opportunity to look ahead and alternate between thinking “Yay! Another step closer to finishing!” and “Jeez, Sara, are you crazy?” (Ha ha!) I’m willing to bet, though, that many writers feel that way when they’re in the middle of a first draft. All I can do to move forward is to keep imagining, planning, changing said plans, talking to myself (I do that A LOT when I write), and typing until the entire book has been written. And with each writing session, I’m indeed another step closer to that point. Continue reading →

Chronicling The Craft: 45,000 Words

/ saraletourneau / 9 Comments

Identifying Your Target Audience and Age Range – A Daunting Task

Chapters Completed: 11

Chapters In Progress: 9

Chapters Left to Start: 14

“Chronicling The Craft” is an article series where I share my experience with writing my current work-in-progress (WIP), which is a fantasy novel. Every 5,000 words, I let readers know what I’ve accomplished since the previous article and share advice, discoveries, techniques, etc. Besides the word count in each article title, a “chapter ticker” at the top also tracks my progress as I use the skip-around / “writercopter” method to write the novel. Today’s installment celebrates the book reaching 45,000 words in length.

Wow! Even with taking a weekend off from the WIP recently to attend WANACon, I managed to crank out another 5,000 words in 4 weeks. Considering I have a day job and other commitments, I have to say I surprised myself once again. Then again, this winter has been a good period for writing. I’ve turned into a sort of hibernating bear with all the bitter cold and frequent snowstorms we’ve had here. Hibernating yet productive and happy. Can’t complain about that! Continue reading →

Chronicling The Craft: 20,000 Words

/ saraletourneau / 10 Comments

Textbooks + Statistics = Back To School?

Chapters In Progress: 5

Chapters Completed: 4

The writing vacation was a huge success! Instead of taking almost 2 months to reach the next milestone (as it did last time), it took less than one week to go from 15,000 words to 20,000 (or 21,000+, to be accurate). Honestly, it felt more like shooting from one benchmark to the next, because of the shorter span of time. I guess that’s what happens when you a) plan to spend a large amount of time concentrating on your work-in-progress, and b) are “in the flow” during each sit-down. And even though I purposely set no concrete goals for this week, I can’t explain how proud and excited I am with what I accomplished in a few days.  Continue reading →

Chronicling The Craft: 15,000 Words

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Getting The First Chapter Right(ish) The Second Time Around

Chapters In Progress: 5

Chapters Completed: 2

Wow. It’s been over 2 months since the previous Chronicle. And yes, it’s a sign that progress on the novel has been slow, but not because I’ve been struggling with the writing. The words seem to flow right through me during each sit-down, which is wonderful. Rather, this summer has just been very busy. I had made plans for social gatherings and day-trips on several weekends, and really enjoyed it all. However, because I have a full-time job and other responsibilities and commitments, I only have time to write at night and on the weekends. And with most of the summer activities planned for weekends, it has cut down on my creative time even more. Continue reading →

Chronicling The Craft: 10,000 Words

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Beginnings, Completions, and “Splitting” Headaches

Chapters Completed: 1

Chapters In Progress: 5

Things have been busy since the last Chronicle in April, both for creative (open mic nights, Massachusetts Poetry Festival, and juggling all of my projects) and personal reasons. This translated to less time than expected for novel-writing. But that’s OK. A packed schedule will happen once in a while. What matters is that I squeezed in time when I could and moved along with the novel regardless. Continue reading →

Recent Reads: “Bitterblue” by Kristin Cashore

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I remember the day I first heard of Kristin Cashore. It was the 2010 Boston Book Festival, and the YA fantasy author was one of four speakers at a young adult fiction forum. My interest in Cashore’s work immediately pricked up when I found out which genre she writes in. However, what convinced me to buy her two previously published books (Graceling and Fire) on the spot was the moment she opened up for the audience a notebook where she was writing the first draft of her third book. I thought, “YES! She writes her first drafts by hand, too! We have something in common!” I read Graceling and Fire back to back shortly after the Boston Book Festival, and adored them both. So I was eager to read Bitterblue, the novel Cashore offered a “sneak peek” of during the festival, as soon as it was published. Continue reading →