Rewriting -- let me know your recipes for success

I love to bake.  Measuring, mixing, stirring and putting the dough into a pan are my favorite things to do in the kitchen.  

Decorating and frosting are not my strengths.  I really just want to slap some frosting on the cake and eat it!

Unfortunately, my approach to rewriting is closer to my cake decorating skills than I really like.  I want to be a meticulous editor and poet who analyzes every word, phrase and sentence in my books and makes them perfect, but I'm not like that.

My goal for this new draft is to be patient.  Let the cake cool.

Plan how I want it to look.  Pick out the right decorations.  Have the right tools in hand.  

I am going to take my time and make this book beautiful.  

And then I'm going to eat it and enjoy it!  

Let me know how you approach rewriting -- I'd love to hear your experiences and how you decorate your cakes :)

Fashion Week Paris June 2013

Fave of the day:  Inspired by Dandelion Fluff?

 

 

 

Check out my Pinterest Board Awkward Styles

Fashion Week in Paris! Keep up with the fun on my Pinterest Board Awkward Styles

It's here - Paris Fashion Week!  Have some fun and check out my Awkward Styles board on Pinterest...

Awkward Styles

I did it!

Draft is finished!  I have one more chapter to add but the story is on paper now.

WHEW!

Two more days!

Two more days!  I have a really fun scene left to write tomorrow and then my draft is done!

I'm looking forward to finishing it!!!

Day Three - Feeling the Crunch!

The reason why I called this blog ZAP! Writing is because sometimes when I'm writing or thinking about writing it feels like my head just got hit by lightning.

I'm at the point in finishing my draft where I have to make the reader feel like that, too.  I want to surprise the reader with the story, but at the same time, electrify their thoughts and make them want to read so fast that they can't breathe.  

Here's the thing -- for me, I usually think I already know the story as I am writing it, but it's a great feeling when the story surprises me and takes me down an expected path.  So for me, that's a ZAP!

The zaps are what make writing fun.  

I love having a little pressure to finish the draft.  When the draft was dragging out over months and months, I was really unhappy.  I feel so happy that I have only 3 days left to get the story down on paper.

It's going to be great to shift to edit mode!

Thinking ahead - my next book is going to be about a character in the current book, Sofia.  I'm watching for opportunities to bring in a few "hints" about the next book, "A Guy's Last Request."

Day 4 Going with the flow

Amazing how the draft is transforming into a book.

I have a plan for where the story is going, but the book is going its own way. I know I have to get from A to B but the details of how to get there are actually a lot of fun to discover each day.

It's fun to see all the secrets revealed.  Over the next few chapters, time will speed up.  It's hard to imagine only 2 days pass in 30+ chapters.  Isn't that wild?