Old People Writing for Teens, IV

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Aslera

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Oh oh hi. I haven't been around in years. I finished my first ms in 6 years. I've written in those last 6yrs but I have a problem where I get to 27k-30k, and throw a tantrum, and sulk, and kick the WIP a bunch of times, and then I give up and start something new. I was at 33k on a rewrite of a story I've been working on for ages (literally) when this one hit me on Friday night. I wrote it between 7pm on Friday night and 9pm last night and it closed at just over 49k.

Now I'm facing editing and it feels daunting. I'm not even sure how to tackle all of the ways this story (which I happen to think is pretty good) needs help.

How do you all tackle this?

in other news, writing a 16yr old character made me listen to a *lot* of Angels and Airwaves, Goo Goo Dolls, etc. Iris is stuck in my head.
 

Sage

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So am I right in reading that the entire novel was written in just over 2 days? Congrats! I did a 3-day novel once, and it was lots of fun. I still love that novel, even after editing.

I suggest fixing things that you know need fixing right away. I'm talking, like, I knew that my ending needed expanded and my first chapter was way too rambly, so I reworked those immediately.

Usually I go right in and start editing, but I waited a month on my 3-day novel. I would say to reread it once, though, to get thoughts simmering in your head about it. You'd be surprise how much you forgot about what you wrote at 7:30 p.m. Friday by the time 9 p.m. Sunday rolled around, and even more what you wrote at 3 a.m. Saturday ;) I actually transferred mine to my Kindle to read it straight through, so I could do so without worrying about fixing things.
 

Aslera

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Hi, Sage! How are you? Congrats on Love Sucks!

Yep, 49k in 50 hours. I feel like my hands are going to drop off my arms.

That's smart about transferring to the Kindle! I think I can do that with my Nook if I put it in a PDF format? That's very smart. I'm going to go see if I can figure out how to do this now haha.
 

amlptj

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and I thought i was a fast writer. I'm on 25K in 4 days. That's amazing! Congrats!

And I did the same thing with my kindle for my first book. And i kept a notebook and would make little notes as i read it through about places i thought needed to be fixed or cut or whatnot. Then during my edits (which i'm still doing) I go three chapters at a time send them to my editor friend edit them some more and then repeat. So far I'm half way through the book, on my 7th rewrite/revision cycle.

But I'll clarify that I have several severe learning disorders which is why this takes me soooooooo long. (Its so far been a 10 year process) but now i'm getting help with it so its going faster.
 

Aslera

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I'm fighting with my nook right now, but I'll try to get a PDF on there when I have another break at work.

I wrote it fast, but I also haven't finished a story in 6 years, so ;) It might be another 6 years before I'm able to finish a story again. It's not the most productive way to write.
 

5398cane

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Aslera, go grab a freeware program called Calibre. It will convert from to any book format you want.

Very wasy to use.
 

5398cane

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Ally do you still need help on the male POV ? Ive got a bit of free time right now and your on...
 

amlptj

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Yeah, ended up writing a new SNI on a whim, and i need a Male POV even more then ever hehehehe! I'll PM you after i get out of class, thank you!
 

wampuscat

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That's smart about transferring to the Kindle! I think I can do that with my Nook if I put it in a PDF format? That's very smart. I'm going to go see if I can figure out how to do this now haha.

There's a couple of free downloads that convert docs to Nook-friendly files and will put them on the Nook for you. When I put PDFs on my nook, the font size, etc. were not to my liking.

I think I used calibre. I found it by googling.

(Oh! And congrats on 49K in 50 hours! That's quite a feat! I prefer to write first drafts as fast as I can, but wow!)
 

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When I put Fireflies (the novel version) on my Kindle, I used a PDF, and while it looked identical to being in my word processor, the font was teeny. So now I pay the 10 cents to convert to Kindle format through Amazon (though this has some format problems sometimes, like italics and tabs). I'll check out Calibre next time.

When I wrote my 3-day novel, I had been struggling with writing for a year. But afterwards, I had a lot of success with new and old things. Sometimes it's just a matter of finding the right thing. Sometimes doing a novel in a sudden burst of speed will get you through motivation problems you might be having.

I also will say that I see no difference in amount of edits I need between a quickly written novel and a slowly written novel.
 

Aslera

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Sage, I hope you're right. I'm doing line by line right now because you're right, I totally forgot about details I put on page 5 and didn't use or pick up. Some I want to use, some I don't, but I printed out this baby today and I have a red pen. I also have coffee. This is also known as Lera's armed and ready.
 

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Good morning :). Here Is to a productive day of hammering at my second draft. I did pitch my novel to a large group of teen girls. They seemed to latch onto the idea of a gay MC and guy on guy. Interesting research.
 

5398cane

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Its amazing how much change can happen in on generation. My daughters best friend is a young man who is gay. When he came out she was like... and .. so ???? She told me she had just known for years. Me I would never have guessed. He is not a femm type gay at all. Actually he plays middle line-backer for the school.... and has several big D1 schools looking at him for a scholly nexy year.

The Homecoming king at her school was another gay kid thats big in the theater program. (Her school is HUGE into theater)

Just twenty years ago that would not have happend. Not here anyway..
 

bertrigby

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Just put my completed draft on my Kindle, inspired by this post... soooo happy to have finally got an ending for this WIP! *waves at old people* been so long my friends, nice to be here :)
 

Delio

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Its amazing how much change can happen in on generation. My daughters best friend is a young man who is gay. When he came out she was like... and .. so ???? She told me she had just known for years. Me I would never have guessed. He is not a femm type gay at all. Actually he plays middle line-backer for the school.... and has several big D1 schools looking at him for a scholly nexy year.

The Homecoming king at her school was another gay kid thats big in the theater program. (Her school is HUGE into theater)

Just twenty years ago that would not have happend. Not here anyway..

IT Is amazing how teens are slowly becoming more acceptable to It all. Of course you still get the terrible ones that bully but most seem to love it. Here's to hoping my WIP (Whenever I finish this edit) get's greeted with open arms.
 

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Just put my completed draft on my Kindle, inspired by this post... soooo happy to have finally got an ending for this WIP! *waves at old people* been so long my friends, nice to be here :)
Congrats on finishing and welcome back!

Working on TM. Reading through it and making a timeline.
 

Sage

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Um, I really love the scene I just read. It is everything I want for Austin. But the rest of the book deviates from it for him, unfortunately.
 

Smiley0501

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:D Hi new here...although not sure I am an 'old person' lol but I am def not a teen!

I hate it when a friend is reading your WIP and it makes you nervous. All I'm getting is static in the wait, lol. :popcorn:
 

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I can handle anyone reading my ms, as long as I don't have to watch them do it. Once I had someone read a short story in my presence, and it was AWFUL. I tried not to look every time she made notes, but it was impossible, even with another friend there talking to me.
 

Aslera

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Just put my completed draft on my Kindle, inspired by this post... soooo happy to have finally got an ending for this WIP! *waves at old people* been so long my friends, nice to be here :)

I love your avatar. Starbuck = love.
 

Aslera

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:D Hi new here...although not sure I am an 'old person' lol but I am def not a teen!

I hate it when a friend is reading your WIP and it makes you nervous. All I'm getting is static in the wait, lol. :popcorn:

I just sent my WIP (now up to 55k!) to a friend. I feel like I'm going to puke from the nerves, haha.
 

bertrigby

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I love your avatar. Starbuck = love.

:D my favourite character ever.

well done on sending your ms - it's scary to have someone else read it but it can be such a big help.
 

amlptj

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I used to be terrified when i would have friends or beta's read my work, but after i never got responses back the nerves died away. Now i stopped caring what people think of my writing, the only one i still get nervous about is my mom...

for the last 10 years she sort of hated the fact i was a weird little kid who rather write then go outside and play, now she finally realized its not a silly little phase and is trying to be supportive. She finally read my first book a few months ago and i was sitting on pins and needles hoping she would like it. She did, and actually ended up crying at the end!
 
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