Tag: paranormal

One draft closer

~ stephaniehaggarty ~ Leave a comment

I completed a draft of this novelette yesterday and I think with a few rounds it should be ready for publication. I was intending for end of September, but I dragged my feet with this maybe it’ll be end of October. I’m also planning on putting it up on Booksprout to get some reviews. I’ve never used that service before so it’ll be interesting to see if it works out for me.

This edit was mostly line and paragraph changes. I did do one larger plot change and that was easily fixed in a few word changes. One of the joys of writing shorter works is that everything is quicker to do. Writing, editing, reading. I’m pretty sure that for the foreseeable future I’ll be putting out more shorter works and maybe eventually put a whole bunch of them into a collection or something.

Writing a novelette in under 3 weeks

~ stephaniehaggarty ~ Leave a comment

My last post mentioned that I was working on a novella, but it turns out that this story is going to be a novelette – it is under 15,000 words.

I for one cannot believe that I was able to churn this story out in under three weeks! But I did it. It was another quarantine idea that I had thought up off and finished within 2020. I have one more to go. The fact that I’m going to finish this story by the end of September shows that I’m on a roll. I’m going to meet my goal of two stories by the end of the year 🙂

This novelette will be priced at 0.99 cents and I’m planning on having it out by September 31st. Then I’m going to go on to my other supernatural story. That one is going to be longer, but I’m not sure what the word count will be.

How I managed to write this in under a month comes down to simply putting in the time. I did not write every day. When I did write I would range from a few hundred words to just under two thousand. I didn’t edit that much during the writing process, but I do think I added comments to change things as I went. I also found the internet a big distraction and I wonder how much more I could have accomplished if I was cut off.

I had fun with this little piece. I wrote in a difference voice to what I’m used to and I even switch POV’s. The first chapter is in 2nd, while the rest is in 3rd. I think that was the best way to start the story. I also have a male protagonist as the lead. Never done that before. I’m not sure how many edits I’ll do. I get better at writing with each new story and this is no different.

Jumpstart draft no. 11

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iStock-669387114_1I opened this word doc and to my surprise saw that I was already mostly done with this draft. I guess I gave up some time ago lol. Anyhow, I’ve had this story in the works since mid ’17 and god damn have dragged my feet on this. But I’m worried about when I have it done and there is no sequel ready. I have only written the first chapter and dot points for the next series of events.

I did more editing than I thought I would for something that is supposed to be in its eleventh draft. I think I deleted as much as I added. I know I have more to do with it as Chris has given me some pretty decent comments to go on.

I hope that when this is ready to be released I will have progressed with the next story. Also, I have no idea how that story is going to end and where the third book begins eeeek!

 

9th draft of Jump Start done

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iStock-669387114_1After an unproductive morning, I finally managed to start and finish another draft. I also discovered a feature on Microsoft Word that that shows how long I was editing my story for. It was, I’m not kidding you, 333 minutes. That’s five and half hours long! And in one sitting.

For the most part, it was just line edits and proofreading. There were no structural changes and it’s nearing completion. Thank God. I’m getting tired of this story and just want to move onto the next part in the story.

Jumpstart edit 8 done

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iStock-669387114_1Finally got the eight edit done. It was like torture. I could only do a few pages a day. It seems that my energy for this story is coming to a close. I think maybe one or two more edits (praying to the writing gods here).

I could see that I had repeated some information and cut a lot more words out than I put in. It was all line edits, nothing structural anymore. I think that was done with that a few edits ago.

I reduced the word count to under 22,000. I have a few bits and pieces that need to be fixed, but I’m just glad I got through this round. 🙂

What is the point of Jumpstart? (Tune Trilogy)

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iStock-669387114_1Jumpstart is the prequel novelette to the yet to be completed novel Tune In. Honestly, I began the sequel before pausing and thinking that maybe I needed to introduce the main character Odine King and give her the appropriate backstory.

This is because I am trying to create a realistic character and she may not come off as that without this novelette. I’m also using this story as a means of garnering attention for the series. I’m also thinking of making this free so that it’ll entice more people to find me.

The whole point of this story to show Odine as she starts her journey into delving into the world of the paranormal. It is also to show that her talents are still not set in stone and she still has to learn how to control them. Please note, Odine’s powers are limited to communicating with the dead and sensing the nature of a person through touch.

I’ve also set this story in a fictional world of aliens and space exploration. In my head my storyline makes sense, but I’ve have had someone tell me that the two do not go together. Maybe, maybe not. I’ll see how it ends up.

This is my third attempt at creating a series. My first one was a Young adult trilogy from when I was 19 and the second is a dystopian science fiction from my early twenties. At the time I didn’t quite have the skill level as I do now to create something so large and all-encompassing. But I intend to go back to them one day. I have a lot of admiration to JK Rowling for her Harry Potter series. I think this time around will be the one 🙂

Fourth draft of Jumpstart completed

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iStock-669387114_1Yesterday I finished another edit of Jumpstart. It’s a prequel novelette for this sci-fi and paranormal adventure story I thought of some time earlier this year. I haven’t even worked out where the book will end or what the next one in the series will be about, but I’ll work it out later.

The series was going to be called Odine King’s Big Space Adventure, but I changed that a few days ago to the Tune Trilogy.

The premise revolves around a young woman who has the ability to communicate with spirits, hence the tune references (get it? Tune into the spiritual world). She is also fluent in a second alien language, Dalradian, that she uses as a means to escape her homeworld and go off into space for an adventure and employment prospects. She is employed as a private translator for a business ship that has the goal of setting up independent trade relations with the Dalradian race.

But her psychic abilities are growing and they alter her interactions will everyone. She has to decide what course of action she is going to take. Use it for her own gain and the gain of her employer or keep quiet and ignore it. But in the end, it might not matter.

Jumpstart Update

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iStock-669387114_1I’ve finally gotten around to finishing the end of Jumpstart. For months I’ve been distracted with other stories or have been not writing at all. When I opened the word document I saw that I had last saved it back in August, which to me seems longer than it actually is.

For some reason, it’s been torture to get back to editing this thing and I do not know why. I like the novelette a lot and I’ve already got some ideas for the next story too. But I seem to be clouded editorially.

Futurewise I think this story might be a few more drafts away from beta readers and publication. I’m thinking of having this story listed as only $0.99 because it is only around 22,000 words and the small intro price will create an audience for the next book. Tell me what you think of the blurb for this story in the comments below. Thanks.

New story idea brewing

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Currently, I’ve got this new space adventure idea churning in my head. The main novel, which I’m planning on calling Fine Tune, is still forming in my mind. But I’ve already written just under 12,000 words for a prequel. So far the two books will be under the banner name of ‘Odine King’s Space Adventures‘. The genres of the series are sci-fi, young adult, paranormal and space adventure.

The prequel is more thriller and mystery because of the main character, Odine King, is in the process of learning to utilize her psychic powers. Initially, she goes into a psychic research study with the hopes of finding her father’s killer. He’s been missing just under a year and things are not looking good. However as her powers begin to grow and she starts to control them, the story takes a darker turn as another ghost makes contact with her. This begins her journey of amateur detective in the cold case of a missing, presumed dead young woman.

I’m not sure how many more words it will be, but I think I’m about 1/2 to 2/3 complete for a draft 🙂