OMG Stick a Fork in My WIP-- It's Done!

Denise July 28, 2010 1 Comments

On Monday June 28, I started a test project that didn’t have a title for and the barest of ideas, created mere days before. I decided to write and see what happened.

What happened is short of amazing, to me anyway. I ended up with a 102,000 word manuscript that not only had a plot, but two subplots, all well woven in a funny, sentimental and thrilling mystery with twists and turns my alpha readers never saw coming. Some I didn’t even see myself until I wrote them.

What I experienced the last 30 days is nothing short of magical. I never forced it, rarely planned much, had a general idea of where things were going (knew the mystery and details in my head, let them come out where necessary) and just let it go. I sat down and the words FLEW out of my fingers.

And I never had more fun writing.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Wow, 102,000 words in thirty days? That must be a lot of CRAP!” But at least six hours a day of those thirty days, if not more (probably twelve on Saturday when you take into account I wrote until 4 a.m.), were spent writing. And granted it is a first draft, but I had something going for me, something I did on PURPOSE. My main character Rose is southern, and I wrote in first person, so I was CONSTANTLY forced to think of creative ways for her to say things, perfect SHOW not TELL. And honestly, a good part of cleaning up Chosen was making it more show. I still have tell in Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes, but it looks a whole lot easier to clean up than Chosen did.

And I’ll even say this: I love Chosen, Chosen is my baby and I hope to get it published, but the love I have for Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes eclipses Chosen. Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes seems so ME– a perfect fit of my family blog humor, my love for mystery/thrillers and a touch of mystical/paranormal. And it’s not just my opinion: my four alpha readers all read and loved Chosen too, in fact Kristi became an alpha reader because she loved Chosen so much and was disappointed I wasn’t writing it’s sequel, but they love this one more.

Which brings me to the topic of my next blog post: Alpha readers. The controversial reader.

Stay tuned.