Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Novel Update

So, I keep talking about (and blogging about) the Snowflake Method approach to writing a novel.  But exactly how am I doing in this whole process?  Well, let me take this wonderful opportunity to clear up a few things for y'all (I'm not from the south, but sometimes I just like saying that!).

Well, I think it was sometime earlier this year that I finally got the itch to buckle down and do what I had only dreamed about doing to this point: writing a novel and getting it published (and making sales to people who are not related to me, friends with me, or were otherwise paid off to purchase a copy of said novel).  As I had previously blogged about, I had joined a writer's critique group that I helped form, and was off to the races.  Wow, that was almost 4 years ago now!

But, to catch you up to today, I've been following the Snowflake Method myself for my story idea that I had dubbed "Geocache Murder".  I think that I'm going to be changing it to something a little more understandable and relatable - check my link at the top of my blog to see if/when I change it, as that will be the new title.  Anyway, I am currently at Step 9 in the Snowflake Method.  This is the step prior to actually writing out the first draft of the novel.  I'm quite excited to be this far, as I've never gotten so close to finishing a novel.  Don't get me wrong, it's been a lot of work, but it's also been a lot of fun.

I will continue to blog about each step and provide you with some examples of what I've done for each.  I certainly don't have all of the answers, but there is enough of void out there that I feel like I can help others just by showing them a small example of how someone did it.  And I have plenty of other story ideas that I'm going to use this method for as well.  I know now that it works for me, and it helps me to keep my thoughts from straying too far off course.  If all continues to go well, I'm hoping that by mid-summer I'll have my novel available as an ebook and a print book, as well as be working on an audio version of it to release by fall.  Also, because the first time is the hardest for anything, I am hoping now that I'll be able to get out a second novel by the end of the year, but that could be wishful thinking.

If you've ever thought about writing a novel, whether you intend to publish it or not, I ask:  why not start?  I'm giving you a method to accomplish that, I'm providing examples of how I'm doing it, and if you wanted to self-publish, I'll be providing that information as well.  Basically, a blueprint for how to do it yourself.  So get going!  Write that great American novel that you've always wanted to write.  Then drop me a line to let me know how you are doing.  Cheers!

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