How long does it take you to write a book?
How long is a piece of string? Jokes aside... I'm not sure. My first completed book draft took me 6 months, and it's around 140k words, but I also know that actual time spent typing was about 96 hours (Four days) because the program I write in tracks time spent actually typing. Changeling is the first time I'm tracking how many sprints I'm writing, and what my word count is on each sprint and it seems to be going slower than Stolen... but that could also be because I'm right in the middle of writing it, and up to my neck in crafting. Stolen felt like it took forever too, but when I look at my stats, I think they're looking to be about the same. If all goes to plan, the first draft for Changeling will be finished around the end of December.
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What is the biggest lesson you've learned about writing? WRITE. FOR. YOURSELF. FIRST. In my opinion, there is really no other lesson that comes close. Write for yourself. Write what you want to read. Write what you enjoy reading about.
Not only because if you love it, then it's nearly impossible that you're the only person on the planet who will like that thing, but also because if you love it, it will show in the writing. Readers will be able to sense the passion behind the words, and if you're unsure of your skill in writing, sensing the passion in a work can carry a reader through a rougher story. I've read books that weren't particularly well executed, but had passion behind every word and loved them. If you love it, your readers will love it. If you are bored, frustrated, or hating what you're producing, that will come through too. What was the last book you bought?
The most recent book I bought was a E-book and it was Book Four of a series called 'The Shadow Demons Saga'. It was called "Shadow Demons" and was written by Sarra Cannon. If we're talking physical books, then I picked up a copy of "New Hart's Rules: The Oxford Style Guide" for my birthday. But I also have to take into account that money's been tight this year, so most of the recent books I've "bought" have been read through a free trial of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited, so the most recent book I 'bought' in that sense was Shadow of the Beast by Cassandra Diviak. I feel like I should add some honourable mentions, since I've read a lot of great books this year by some amazing authors... How do you reward yourself?
Honestly? My reward is the words on the page. The only exception to this is during Nano when I sometimes need a bit of a motivation boost. During nano my rewards can be anything from a bar of chocolate after each completed chapter, or a new notebook if I see one I really love. Overall though I just love seeing my book come to life, and being able to read the story that's only been in my head until now is it's own kind of reward. It's National Espresso Day!
What is your writing snack/s of choice? For drink it's Coffee, of course. Although in the summer I can sometimes be found sipping from a mix of apple juice and lemonade. For snacks, I don't have a set snack but I do have a habit of self bribery. Usually something that's fulfilling in small quantities, like rich chocolates. See my Instagram post on Nov 16th for a picture of my Guylian Chocolate Seashells that I was letting myself have one of per 20 minute sprint! How do you Draft?
I draft my novels chronologically, which can be very frustrating. Unfortunately, if I try writing out of order, I get very lost in my plot, and it becomes a mess. The first step for me is figuring out how my story ends. Since storytelling is a series of events based on cause and effect, I have to know where I want to end up before I can figure out how to start. Then I work backwards. I plot the story from the end to the beginning, usually following the 3 Act Story Structure from Abbie Emmons on Youtube. Once I have something between a sentence and a paragraph for each plot point, I start writing from the hook, to the inciting incident, through to the end of the book... chronologically. That's my first draft. How do you fill your creative well? Other forms of media! I used to read a lot more than I do now, frankly my depression has robbed me of my attention span. I still love books and reading, but I am able to do it less often now than I'd like to. So instead I fill my creative well with films and games, but mainly tv series. I find that the longer format for tv series gives more time for plot advancement and character development, so I enjoy them more than movies. Recently I've been getting very invested in Korean Drama's on Netflix. There's something about Kdrama's plots that are so deep, so detailed, so intrinsically tied together, with such cleverly portrayed character development. I adore it, and they suck me in like nothing else. I've been watching a LOT of them over the last year, and just studying the storytelling in them, and examining how threads are pulled together, has improved my own plot crafting abilities. They're so much more intricate and clever than anything I've found recently in western media. Click "Read More" for my list of Rec's...
Post an Aesthetic from your book...
I've been doing 3 images a day, so I'll share two aesthetics to keep with the pattern. One for the vampires, and one for the fey... What do you write well? What part of your fiction is your best craft skill?
The characters. I've been writing since I was about 7 years old (so that's over twenty years at this point). Writing is one of the few things I have confidence that I'm good at. I can set a scene, tell a story, guide you through an intricate plot. I can play in various genre's and settings, but the one thing that's always come easily to me is the characters. I can create a character in a paragraph, or in a five-thousand word exposition pieces. I can let you into their minds in a 500-word backstory segue, or let you delve into their past via a flashback. I love writing about characters, and my stories are always character driven. The characters, for me, are the most important part of a story. If I can't get you invested in the characters, and caring about what happens to them throughout the course of the plot, then why would anyone read my books? A quirky character detail...
What is considered 'quirky'? I could tell you that Lizzy is not a morning person and requires copious amounts of coffee to wake up. She enjoys running in her free time. I could mention that Booker has surprisingly strong skills in telepathy for a fey of his age, and that he likes to sing while cleaning his house. The Headmaster of Speculo School enjoys playing chess against himself, and the movement of pieces on a board is why he went into vampire politics for so many years. And after her parents abandoned her, Cara Evelyn didn't believe she'd ever trust someone enough to fall in love with them, until she does... I don't know if any of these can be considered 'quirky'. To me, they're all just aspects of my characters personalities. This is so tough because, it kind of depends on the scene? I'd love the readers emotions to be reflective of that plot point at that time.
But for the purposes of answering the prompt question correctly, I think the main emotions I'd like to invoke with Fey Touched are... Eager to get to the next chapter... and then, hopefully, the next book. Interested in the characters and plot and the journey I'm taking them on. Warm in response to the friends, family, and connections I'm building between the characters. Overall, despite many of my stories being epic adventures, with high stakes, I like my books to be read as feel good books. I doubt I'll ever be invested enough to write a tragic ending. Introduce Your Villain
I can't introduce the main villain for Fey Touched as that would be a huge spoiler for the first book. What I can introduce are the kavians... At one point in history, the amount of toxins and pollutants that humans were ingesting made their blood toxic to vampires. The consumption of this tainted blood is what caused the creation of the kavians. Vampires went mad, addicted to the toxic blood. They killed anything in their way, for one more taste. Fey blood is particularly appealing to vampires, and these new rabid versions had no control over their cravings, so the fey were hunted to near extinction, until they fled the mortal realm entirely. The vampires figured out the source of the madness, and at the time of book one the consumption of human blood is illegal. Despite this, it doesn't stop some vampires from thinking they can control the madness, breaking the councils laws and partaking of human blood in exchange for the extra speed, strength and power that is granted to a kavian. Happy National 'I love to write' day - Do you binge write, or get consistent word counts?
I'm actually a binge writer. I'll go several months slamming out several thousand words a day, and then nothing for several months. I wish I could write consistently, but I struggle with depression and anxiety. Some days it takes all my energy to function on a basic level, and I have nothing left for writing. It's something I have to be patient with, and ride out. Even on my worst days though, I still create scenes for my stories in my head. Even if I don't have the energy to write them down or type them up, they exist, and are ready for the next time I can put fingers to keyboard. Give me a sentence from your novel... Changeling, Book One of the Fey Touched trilogy In the nocturnal peace of Lizzy’s bedroom, that was lit only by the dim shards of light from a newly risen crescent moon, the thud of her jewellery box hitting the hard wooden floor and snapping open seemed amplified. In your writing, or your writing business, what do you keep track of?
In my writing I consistently track word count and time spent writing. I also like to look at my stats so things like, average chapter length, longest and shortest chapters, the time it took to write each chapter etc, but only out of curiosity. It's not something I take into serious consideration. On the business side, I track income and expenditure on each book, and overall. That includes cost of formatting, editing, covers. I also track time spent writing so I know how many "hours" a week I'm "working". What part of the writing process do you like the best?
It probably sounds completely cliché, but I love the writing part! I despise editing, and the marketing part gives me anxiety, but the act of creating makes it all worthwhile. The planning, outlining, and actual writing part of the journey is an absolute joy, and everything else is a price I'm willing to pay to share my stories with readers. Where do you usually get stuck when you write?
I usually get stuck on transitional moments. Transitioning between one scene and the next, or even from one chapter and the next. I've gotten better at this by not stopping writing for the day at the end of a chapter. If I finish my daily words, and need to go and do some other job around the house, and I happen to be at the end of a chapter, I'll take another 5-10 minutes and just keep writing. It means I can come back, and I'm not faced with a "blank page" for a new chapter. I have a paragraph or two to just bounce off, and continue from. Despite this, transitional scenes in the middle of chapters can still stump me for several days at a time. Describe Your Novel In Emoji's
Act One Fairy / Tree / Moon / Vampire / Car / School / Writing Act Two Teacher / Dagger / shopping / Fight / Shush / Argument / Secrets Act Three Night / Sleep / Run / Smug / Forest / Flirt / Fight / Worse Fight / Blood / Injured / Magic / Special / Driving Away When Do You Buy Your Covers?
There are two stages to my covers. Before I start writing I will put together a placeholder cover for myself in paintshop. I use this cover in blog posts, social media, and for any nanowrimo projects during the first draft process. Once the first draft is finished that's when I start looking for a cover designer whose style fits my book, and who is within my price range. Very little, plot wise, changes after my first draft is complete, so I'm comfortable at that point, committing to a final cover design. What's your favourite scene in your book?
My favourite scene is near the beginning of Chapter 11. It's a small scene between Lizzy and Booker, but it really shows how close they are, and how well they know one another. Introduce the world your story is set in...
Changeling, and the Fey Touched Trilogy, is predominantly set in our world, but in a shadowy, secret, and hidden side of our world. The vampires have their own society, but the line between the vampires and humans is a blurred line as they live amongst us in clans, spread out through cities and more rural villages. There are three levels of governance in Vampire society, and then vampires simply trying to live their daily lives within clans. Each clan has an elected clan leader. Within each country, one clan leader is elected to sit on that continents Vampire Council. The council that will be seen in the books is the European Vampire Council Between the council and the clan leader sits the third level of government; The Kavian Hunters. They are the fighters and protectors of the vampires, and act as a kind of military service. While they work directly for the Councils, they can be lent out to clans under external threat. The other aspect of Fey Touched is the fey realm of Arbaon. Arbaon is a magically constructed realm, formed through the magic of the first fey queen when they were being hunted to near extinction by rabid kavians. Arbaon is ruled by six powerful fey. They bribe, manipulate, lie, blackmail, and assassinate their way to claiming seats within the High Court, and between them rule all corners of Arbaon. The Fey Queen will only step in and cast a deciding vote when the High Court is in a tie. The Fey Queen is always female and is always a descendant of the fey who created the realm of Arbaon. Introduce A Side Character
I had a couple of side characters to choose from. Booker is Lizzy's best friend, Cara and Andric will be love interests, but Mia Harris is just so much fun to write, that it simply had to be her. Mia Harris is one of the first people that Lizzy and Booker meet at Speculo School and she doesn't make a good first impression. She makes no secret of her interest in Andric, and when Lizzy and Booker are brought to the school by the object of her affections, they become instant targets for her ire. As the series progress, I hope that Mia will become the kind of character that everyone loves to hate. Despite her jealousy, possessiveness, gossiping and backstabbing, there's a hidden layer to Mia that won't come into play until book three. Introduce Your Protagonist
My protagonist for Changeling is Lila Isabelle Hail, but no one is allowed to call her Lila except her mum and her best friend, Booker. She goes by Lizzy. Lizzy was raised by her mum in the fey realm of Arbaon. At the start of Changeling, Lizzy is only a few weeks shy of her eighteenth birthday. Not the most ideal time for her mum to go missing. Unlike other female fey, Lizzy does not have wings. Because of this, she has grown up ostracised and teased. Without her mum, the only person Lizzy can reply on is Booker, and together they plan to track down 'Whatever Happened to Madeline Hail'... which is, not so coincidentally, the name of the novelette prequel that will be available exclusively to my newsletter subscribers. Genre
What genre do you write in? I write Fantasy of all kinds. My favourite is epic fantasy, but my current project is contemporary fantasy, and I've dabbles in low fantasy, portal fantasy, etc. As long as there's fantastical elements, I'm happy to play in the sandbox. On that note, I also enjoy writing Sci-fi. Although I'm not as widely read in the genre, so I don't anticipate writing any sci-fi books intended for publication in the near future. Do You Read While You Write?
Do you read in your genre while you write your books? The short answer is; No. I don't usually read while I write. I tend to alternate between the two sides of the coin. I find if I read while I write then I doubt my own abilities too much. There are rare exceptions like, when a book comes out that I can't wait to read, I'll set my writing aside specifically to dig into the beauty. |
Arista Holmes
I'm a writer in her thirties, who is based in the South East of England. Archives
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