Looking to thwart the progress on your new novel? I would suggest that you live in 3 different places in the same year. That was my unexpected experience in 2017. My wife and I had intended to live in our newly rented apartment for at least a year before we started looking for a new home to buy, but a very noisy bar down the street and neighbors above us who must have had feet the size of the Flintstones changed our minds. When we found the perfect little house, emphasis on the little, that we could actually afford, we made our move.
This was our second move in a year, and the third place we’d call home in that year, as well, but it was worth the effort. The rehabbers who fixed up the place did a pretty good job in most parts of the home, but cut a few corners in other ways that weren’t too bad, but did require us to make some changes. Being an older home, it had some things we just had to get fixed like the lack of ground wiring on our electrical sockets, and an oddly placed electrical panel that would have been blocked by the washer. I left that to a professional, but took on other projects, like creating 13 window screens which were MIA when we bought the place. Multiple other projects also ensued for a base level conversion to make it our little place.
On this last move I secured my first novel draft with much more dignity, having learned from my last mistake, and have recently found some time to continue the rewrite. With all of our must do home projects done, I delved back into the “Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.” novel and found, to my surprise, that I’m very close to it being done. I expect to have this completed by the end of next month. A dangerous thing to say publicly, considering the amount of time this has taken me, but writing a novel is quite a lot of work. I work hard in other areas of my life so this has been a bit of a balancing act. Unfortunately, the novel has had to be prioritized down the list, at times, given it’s more of a dream of mine that isn’t producing any cash flow, as of yet.
After the final push this month, I’ll need to quickly immerse myself into the business of self-publishing and promotion. I’d done some research before, but need to firm up my plan of action. I’ll blog more on this as I get into the process as the information I’m finding is all over the place. Amazon has good information on the technical process of bringing your book to life on their platform, but little on the other aspects of the journey. Questions still abound as to how I structure the business aspect. I found a good book on the promotion part and think I also found a good book cover, but there is still much to decide and act upon. More to follow soon, as I’m determined to finish my first novel so I can start writing the next one I already have planned.
With no more home moves planned for at least the next ten years, I’ll have more time to work on this life goal of mine.
Progress Report:
“Burt’s Bots” Novel Outline progress:
Outline: 17.816 words (Added more notes to the outline)
Novel 1st Draft: 13,367 (Went back to outlining 1st though)
“Inheriting S.O.F.I.A.” Novel Progress:
1st Draft Novel: 78,198 words
2nd Draft Novel Rewrite: Up to page #320 of 351