In my last post on The Author’s House I stated my goal was to have my manuscript ready for submissionto AuthorHouse by the end of August. That gives me about a month. Can I do it?
Lesson 4: Devise a method that works for you
The Answer: Setting strict deadlines did not work for me and were actually causing me moer frustration that they were motivating me because I was continually missing them. Instead I gave myself a losser schedule with the proviso that i make every effort to write.
Well, I am extremely excited right now because I finished the freewriting stage of my writing the process the other day. Here’s how I see it. My method for writing Death by Double-Bogey is this:
1. Planning / Skeleton
2. Freewriting the complete story
3. Add the detail and the flesh to the bones
4. Give the first draft to some friends/ family for feedback
5. Make necessary changes
6. Submit manuscript to AuthorHouse
So step 2 is now complete. I must say the story has morphed and adapted somewhat from the original skeleton outline. But that is a good thing. The characters changed as I got to know them better, the setting added to the story and some new elements and aspects were added, whereas some of the original elements have been eliminated.
I now have about 30,000 words written, which I inted to expand to around 100,000 – 120,000 so I finish up with abot a 300 page book.
So, can I get it to AuthorHouse by the end of August? I am confident I can. but if I don’t, I am not going to let that stress me to much. If I miss the deadline I will just blame it on my friends for taking too long to give me feedback!
My absolute goal is to be an AuthorHouse published author by the end ofthe year. And that is definitelty achievable.