Writing Update: New WIP (+ more query responses)
I’ve been updating on the query process with WSD, but I haven’t talked much about my current work(s) in progress and other projects, so I want to do that today.
The truth is, after drafting 4 books in 2023, and completing the editing/revision process with 2 of them in that same time, 2024 has been moving at a slower pace.
It didn’t help that I started off the year with what was likely another round of COVID. My daughter brought a virus home from school, and we later learned that one of her classmates had COVID, so when it took weeks for my acute symptoms to abate, and even longer for me to get back to semi-normal (I’m still not there), I wasn’t surprised. I’m no longer on immunosuppressant medication for an autoimmune disorder, but my immune system just doesn’t work quite as well as a typical person’s, which means I tend to get sick more easily, experience more challenging symptoms, and stay sick longer. So, even though I haven’t had any of the main symptoms in a while, I’m still struggling with fatigue, brain fog, and general lack of motivation.
CC
While I may not be averaging 100k words per month like I did for all of 2023, I’m still writing regularly and consistently. I’m about 35k words into my manuscript I’m calling “CC” for the time being, based on its working title, and have the rest fully outlined. It’s a dual-timeline story that follows two women: Iris (an antiques shop owner in her 30’s) and Clara (the spirit of an early-20’s woman who died in 1923). Iris is able to see and interact with Clara, and has agreed to help the spirit, despite Iris’ own connection to the long-standing feud which led to Clara’s death.
In the earlier timeline, we see Clara’s life in the 1920’s, her ill-fated love affair with a young man from the rival family, her deal with an eternal being to break their families’ curses, her death, and everything that continued to go wrong afterward. In the present day, Clara is dead, but desperately trying to return to her family, end the feud, and ultimately find peace for herself in the afterlife.
As it is, the present timeline is Iris and Clara working together to bring peace to the two families, and to Clara’s spirit, while Iris confronts her own damaged relationships with others and her inability to connect with the living. It’s lackluster when compared to the 1920’s timeline. So, before I go any further, I need to reassess.
This means I’m taking a step back from that manuscript for a while to see if I can come up with something more compelling for Iris. As I’ve been writing, Clara decided to become incredibly interesting, and at the moment she’s outshining my original protagonist. I need to take some time to determine which direction I want the story to go, based on what I’ve learned about the characters through the drafting process so far. If I decide to go with what’s naturally flowing out, I’ll need to re-outline my present-day timeline.
HILDE
While I’m letting CC sit, I’ve been brainstorming two other stories. I’ve taken the time to outline one of them, and while I think it’s a lovely premise that allows me to examine some really strong themes, it feels really quiet at this point in terms of plot/action. Although there are definitely high stakes for my protagonist with a large external conflict, the bulk of my current mental focus is on more internal things. Hilde is a solitary witch in her 50’s, essentially driven from her small town due to her eccentricities. She is currently at risk of losing her home and her land when real estate developers refuse to accept her rejections of their offers to sell. Hilde and her bear familiar staunchly resist, but it soon becomes impossible when an obscure law allows the company to take possession of her land, giving her only 30 days to vacate her home. A local trouble-making girl and her paralegal mother (who moved to town fleeing domestic violence) decide to help Hilde, and in the process become unlikely friends.
It’s already feeling very theme-heavy, even just in the outline and first chapter. I’m trying to decide if I’m alright with that, and whether or not I want to lean fully into it and allow myself to consider that this might just do better as a more literary work. I know literary doesn’t sell as easily, and I’m pretty confident in my decision to write more commercially as a general rule for projects I hope to publish, but the voice and style I’ve landed on in my first chapter definitely feel a bit more flowery than my more intentionally commercial works so far. My artistic self is saying I should just let myself write it however it wants to be written, marketability be damned. But my practical self is saying it’s easy enough to write in a more accessible way, and if I want my work to be widely read and understood, I should stick with a more commercial approach. I think my next step with it is to write the first chapter again, focusing on making it punchier and faster-paced. Then I can compare the two and see what feels best. At least, that’s my plan for now.
POETRY
I am still working on my poetry collection, which explores my experience with marriage, trauma, divorce, and healing. For now, this project is solely for myself, and I don’t plan to publish it. However, I’m putting just as much time, effort, and care into each piece as I would for something I may share someday. It’s been a deeply cathartic experience to create this collection so far. I’m grateful that, even in the midst of a difficult marriage, I managed to keep enough of myself alive that I journaled and jotted down bits of poetry and prose here and there over the years. None of it was complete or anything, and all of it was raw material, but it’s been a healing process in itself to unearth those writings and revise them now that I’ve been out and in such a good place for a couple of years. This particular project has taken a year so far, and I foresee it taking even more time as I reopen those chapters of my life slowly, and safely explore them from this perspective.
TMC SERIES
Book one of The Manifold Chronicles is done, edited, and ready to go. Book two is with the editor right now, and I should be getting that back mid-April. I’m not working on book three until I’ve completed the structural revisions for book two. Even though I’ve roughly drafted book three, I know there will be changes in book two which will affect book three, so it makes no sense to do anything other than wait for my editor to get book two back to me. These characters and this story just won’t leave my mind, so I’m hoping that means it’ll be easy to dive back into these books when it’s time, even though it’s been months and months since I’ve stepped foot in that world.
WSD
The manuscript I’m currently querying… I’m not touching it. Not at this point. I know I’ve done as much as I can with it on my own, despite the niggling voice in my mind suggesting I should do more. I have to trust myself and my beta readers that it’s ready for an agent, and stay focused on my new WIPs. That’s been harder to do this past week, as it’s been a week of query rejections. No new requests, but 3 more rejections, bringing my total to 3 full requests and 16 rejections. One of this week’s rejections was an agent in my top three, so it was one of the harder ones I’ve gotten, for sure. So, for now, I’m still waiting with this one. And I’m forcing myself to keep my hands off it.
BLOG & WEB COPY
I’ve been writing blogs for myself, obviously, but I’ve also been writing web copy for two small businesses over the past few months. It’s an entirely different kind of writing, and even though I’ve done a lot of web copywriting work in the past, it’s not something I’ve done much of in recent years. It’s been fun to exercise those muscles again, and I’m considering whether it might be a good option for bringing in some income while I’m focusing on traditional publishing. Before I go and hang up a shingle, however, I’m experimenting with it. I’m happy just working with people I know well, and who I’m confident I can communicate their voice and vision clearly, for now.
So all that to say: I’m writing away.
It doesn’t look quite like last year, where I literally wrote one novel manuscript after another, drafting constantly even while I was editing and revising the ones I’d already finished. It’s more of a mixed bag right now, and I feel good about that. The pace is slower than before—at least, it feels that way—but I’m really all over the writing spectrum, and I think that will only help me to develop my skills overall. Even my copywriting work is building skills which can be transferred to my novel writing… If I can clearly communicate someone’s brand, in a voice specific to them, it’s not unlike getting to know my character and narrative voice for different fiction projects. While I have my own personal author voice for sure, I always want to reflect character perspective as well, and that’s quite similar in practice to writing for other people, making adjustments for their voice to shine through on their website and/or other marketing materials.
I’m going to outline one more of my story ideas, and then decide between it and Hilde when I’m done. If I’m still not sure where I want to take CC, I’ll start writing one of these new ones. I think it’s a good thing I’m not being impatient with my work, as I usually am, but am choosing instead to take steps away when needed. I know I’ll hit the ground running once I know which novel I want to draft first. I don’t want to rush it, though.
That was a much longer update than I expected to write, but I suppose it’s overdue since I haven’t done a true writing update since moving over to this site at the beginning of the year. That’s where I’m at right now. Wish me continued luck with querying, and clarity regarding current/future projects, please!
I hope you have a wonderful week.
