In June I joined Novel90, a challenge put out by AutoCrit. The objective is to outline a novel in June, draft it in July, and edit in August. The closer we get to August, the more frantic my pace has become.

 The outlining process went fast, but I have a confession here. I outline from a draft 0. This means I write the story done without worrying about grammar, chapters, even point of view. The objective is to get the words on the page before I lose them. 

The story I’m working on for Novel90 Summer Edition is one I wrote in a mad flurry of typing back in November 2023. That year I crafted character profiles for all my main characters. I also had a twenty thousand word outline ready, which is word vomit on a page. It’s one of the fastest ways for me to commit to a story concept while trying to see the complete picture from start to finish.

As for Novel90 SE, I outlined my upmarket women’s fiction novel in June using the Snowflake method. I finished early and jumped into writing. Now, with six days left in the month, I’m only 55.6% of the way done with drafting the story. Which is actually revising since I have a considerable amount to pull from my Draft 0. Still, I’m writing each chapter from scratch and pulling in pieces from the original that still work. 

The process is exhausting, but rewarding. I love writing. It’s the thing I turn to when I’m trying to process big life stuff. Something I do that brings me immense joy. But, I double love revising.

The thing about writing is that you can pour straight from the heart. You throw everything down on the page and you have this beautiful diasterpiece full of promise. But, revising? That’s when everything comes together, and you watch how small things you snuck in earlier chapters add up to big reveals later. Sometimes that happens with intention, and other times you sit back impressed with yourself.

I’ve been hopping in and out of Shut Up & Write meetings all week. We set goals before our meetings, and check in afterwards. Then I jump into another, and another. The crazy thing is, I’ve got several other things going on, too.

I’m deep in the query trenches with my second book. The story caused a lot of jaw-dropping moments for several readers and an editor. I enjoy sharing this project in my women’s fiction meetings each week, because there’s nothing as delightful as people staring at you and saying, “You can’t stop reading!” 

And despite knowing that no amount of reading Juggling for the Complete Klutz helped me learn the skill, I joined the last Query Challenge put out by Get A Book Deal 101. It’s not my first — or even second — time in this challenge, but I love having the space to learn and help encourage others. I’ve used each challenge to help me work on the query blurb for different projects, and am using this last turn to work on one for the story I’m working on.

If you’d like a little peek into what I’m working on, you can check out the playlist I put together for this book. I don’t listen to it while writing, but I enjoy listening while I’m rushing to catch up on laundry, dishes, and dusting. Or simply trying to pretend I’m not in a migraine uptick.