Kaitlyn Shell's Blog

That title isn't sarcastic. I do like my characters. But gee golly me, are there a lot of them.

So, in Acacia, I had a main cast of six characters. That wasn't too overly difficult, since there weren't a ton of scenes with them all together. Even then, the characters had a pretty good blend of personalities, so the conversations were very fluid. Now, I have added two more characters that were only briefly mentioned in Acacia, but I think I've said that before.

Also, in my current project, I have a lot of group interactions, and less one-on-one interactions. This is necessary, and I think it can be a lot of fun once I get the hang of it. However, that requires me to get the hang of it first. I don't have a lot of grip strength. Hanging onto things is difficult.

Nevertheless, we persist. Good riddance.

So, remember when I was saying that I didn't need a break? How hilarious was that?
I did need a break. Through attempting to start my second book at full speed, I found out that writing is a truly draining process. Especially at my age, there are millions of distractions shooting me from every direction. Clearing your mind takes time. So, at the advice of someone else I know that's writing a book, I took a break. And I survived!
After a weekend in what may actually be the most beautiful place in the country, I'm feeling jazzed. I'm feeling rejuvenated, and I have a better idea of my book's setting. (Because we went to where the second book takes place.) I left my laptop at home, so the entire time I was thinking about what I could write. They were all just ideas, and I didn't have to execute anything right away. I could just sit and think. That was good for me.
So, my people, my babes, my dudes, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to write like my character's lives depend on it. The game is afoot. 

I have a deadline, okay?

Well, in my head. In my head I have a deadline. It really has no bearing, no consequences, other than me being disappointed in myself. My drafting deadline is July 31st, although I'd love to be done before then. I have twenty (twenty one, including prologue) chapters and three months to write them, which means that I need to write seven chapters a month. That's a little less than two chapters a week.

However, I like to plan ahead, so I round up. Two chapters is somewhere around twenty pages, so that's 2-3 pages a day. One week of May has passed, and I have written a grand total of seven complete (ish) pages. That's a little bit less than the twenty I was striving for.

My lack of writing isn't due to lack of time, and it's not even due to lack of energy. It's purely lack of motivation. That's really, really odd for me. Never in my writing career, no matter how short it may be, have I not wanted to write. I've always wanted to write. Always. My theory is that I'm just crashing from the high that is publishing a book, but I'm not sure. Does uncertainty make me anxious? You betcha, my dude.

I'm not stressing. You're stressing.

You know what? I don't mind outlining.

Outlining is probably the most optimistic part of the entire book writing/publishing process. The bright-eyed and bushy-tailed author is full of hope for the future. Honestly, I'm pretty excited to write my next book. After months of harboring ideas, and especially because I haven't written in weeks, I was ready to go.

So, I sat down to write my outline. I'd just gotten out of a conversation with someone about outlining, which meant that I was extra motivated. I pulled out my little, yellow writing notebook, I brought my hand to the page, my pencil nicked the top of my page, and...

Nothing. Nothing happened. I had completely forgotten how to outline.

I tried again. Shaking off the dust, I stood up, did some stretches, and sat back down. I took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling as I prepared. I know how to outline, I've done it before, I reminded myself. I had done it before. But with Acacia, I changed almost everything about my outline. Never mind that, I sharpened my pencil. I hunched over the paper, and...

Nothing! Nothing happen, again!

Admitting defeat, I shifted back into my seat. Even though it was begrudgingly, I referred back to my first outline to see what I'd done before. It worked! My memory was restored, and although Acacia's outline is less than perfect, I managed to write my new outline in two days.

Maybe one day I'll show everyone what the first outline of Acacia was, I'm sure they'd get a kick out of it, it's so much different than was actually happened. Alright, until next week!

If you're reading this, then they've finally gotten to me then my book Acacia is finally out!

I did it. I have published a book. I don't feel very different. Sheer momentum alone is wanting to push me to write the next one right away, but all the advice I've heard is telling me to take a break.

That isn't me saying, "Wow, I'm so good that all I can do is write!" No, what I'm saying is I'm freaking obsessive. This hobby, career, pastime, whatever you want to call it, has taken over my life. Ask anyone that knows me, it's all I talk about. I's all I think about. It's all I do (aside from watching YouTube.)

Honestly, Acacia's release is the first time I've felt that my addiction has paid off. I did something. I did something that I'm proud of. And, although I know my book has it's faults, I'm so, unbelievably proud that I accomplished something of my own. It's my first step towards an actual career in writing. It's the first thing that I've done.

I mean, of course I do other things. I eat, I breathe, I get through school, I interact with people occasionally. But none of those are really optional. None of those require more than a little effort, usually. Acacia, though? It was tough. It took a lot of time, a lot of patience, and a ton of frustration. But, maybe for this first time ever, I didn't give up. And I think I'm allowed to be proud of that.

So, it's out on Amazon. If you decide to read it, first of all, thanks. I really appreciate your support. Second, tell me what you think! Questions, comments, concerns, I'll be here for all of it. Next week, We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming. I know I got a bit sappy, but sarcastic and somewhat detached Kaitlyn will return soon.

https://www.amazon.com/Acacia-First-Book-Gifted-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B07R9LR3ZX/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=acacia&qid=1556523423&s=digital-text&sr=1-3

Remember when I said publishing a book was going to kill me? Well, I was only being slightly dramatic.

I had no idea how friggin' complex formatting could be. So, I write on Google Drive. It was free, easy, and just what I had always used for school. I like Google Drive. We're pals. We've been through a lot together, and it's what works for me.

However, it's formatting tools can be finicky. I'm trying to make the paperback version of my book a 6x9, because its a good, small book size. Google Drive doesn't have an option (that I've found) to make the formatting 6x9. Very, very long story short, I tried nine or ten different ways of formatting it, and nothing was working.

I was so frustrated that tears were threatening my eyes. There's lot more problems that I was having, and trust me, I tried everything that I could think of. Nothing worked. I wanted to scream. I wanted to punch someone. Most of all, I just wanted the stupid thing to work.

Note to self, writers aren't always tech savvy.

We've made it. As I come to the final stages in publishing my book, "Acacia," I'm finally beginning to outline the second installment in the series. It doesn't have an official name as of yet, so from here on out, it will be simply known as, "Second Book." I know, it's very clever and well thought out. Leave your praises in the comments.

So, Second Book is a massive task. Acacia left off on a pretty intense cliffhanger, and that means that a lot needs to happen in Second Book to remedy Acacia. However, I have also planned time for a third installment in the series, (to be known as "Third Book" until officially titled) which means that I need to save some tension for Third Book. Anyway, figuring out how to include action without having too much has always been a struggle of mine. While I think I did well with that in Acacia, Second Book is presenting some problems.

Also, in Second Book, I introduce two new main characters. They were both briefly mentioned in Acacia, but neither of their personalities were explored, and I myself don't even know them well yet. My cast of six is about to become a cast of eight, and that's a handful. There were two characters who didn't get much screen time in the last book, so now it's a process of subtly switching the view to them and the new characters, while still keeping the integrity of the old ones. Gah, it's a mess, but I think it will work.

There you go, your weekly Complaining with Kaitlyn session. I hope that you got everything you wanted out of it. Until next week!

Publishing a book is slowly killing me.

I swear, I had no idea how much work there could be. I already wrote the book. It's nearly ready, I just need to work on the final revisions. I thought that was the hard part, but oh dear lord, it was definitely not.

I may have already mentioned this, but I'm self-publishing. Maybe it's masochism, maybe it's the fact that self-publishing looked the most attainable, but that's what I decided. That leaves the work of editing, marketing, cover design, and all the stressful - I mean - fun stuff, to me.

The current challenge I'm facing is cover design. There is no way on earth that I would be capable of designing my own cover, so I decided to use a website where people post services, and you can hire them online. Then, you communicate with the seller, let them know what you want, they do it, you pay the, voila. It would be so, so easy, if only I knew what I actually wanted my cover to look like. I don't. Let me tell you, it's really hard to tell someone what you want your cover to look like when you can barely describe the plot of your book when someone asks.

So, I contacted one of the sellers. They were listed pretty cheap, so I reached out and asked her how long it would take. She answered, we got to discussing details, and I finally got an idea of what I wanted. Finally! After months of painstaking research of book covers, I got an idea.

Then, she boosted the price. By $150. Sigh.

Well, tune in next week to get the scoop on whatever struggling I'm facing by then!

But Kaitlyn, you argue, you haven't even published your first book. When are you going to start writing a new one?

That is such a good question. Honestly, I don't know.

I thought that when I finished writing my first book, Acacia (working title) I would just magically be completed. A few revisions here, maybe a few over there, but nothing major. I didn't even put thought into cover design, editing, beta readers, or legitimately anything that comes after the first draft until clicking a button to publish.

Sweet, sweet, naïve little Kaitlyn from 2018 had no idea what was ahead of her. Writing and outlining can be strenuous enough on their own, as you'll see towards the end of April through the summer. But publishing. I had no idea.

Here's the thing that I've learned from experience, and many hours of YouTube videos: First drafts suck. You can't help it. No matter how talented you may be, your first draft will be awful. Horrendous. Tragic. Appalling. Atrociously, horribly bad.

That's discouraging. After putting all your effort, time, and half of your soul into one document, to see that it wasn't all you hoped for stings. To summarize, and I'll go into further detail later, getting your story from it's first draft to it's last is a long, grueling process. I'm not exactly sure when I'll start outlining Acacia 2,

Ah, but yet, there's hope. As the punctual person that I am, I've set aside May 1st - August 31st for writing the manuscript of Acacia 2. That means, I need to have at least a partial outline before May. To me, outlining is the easiest part of the writing process, so it should be fun.

I can't wait to take you on this journey with me! See you next Tuesday!

I wrote a book.

I know, I know. You must be thinking, Wow, Kaitlyn, that's a lot of time and effort. Oh, yes. Hours upon hours of my life have been handed over to this hobby, career, artform, whatever you care to call it.

Let me tell you, some days, it was brutal. How can writing be brutal? What a good question, I'm so glad you asked! Writing requires late nights, long days, note taking, revisions, rejection, and that's sounds like a good day. On the more difficult days, there's the nagging stress. You ask yourself if the hours you put in were worth your time, energy, or efforts. It will be, just wait.

In the beginning, I nearly scrapped my book. Looking back now, I can't believe the thought crossed my mind. I understand that my writing is flawed. I haven't finished school yet, which means that I make mistakes in abundance. That simply means that I have room for improvement, which undeniably, is a good thing.

Some of you won't believe me when I say how difficult it was. While I work to publish my book, I'm going to take you on the journey of writing it's sequel. If you choose to stick around, you'll get a first hand look at the entire process, from outlining, to drafting, to beta reading, to a finished product that everyone can be proud of.

I'm going to begin posting on Tuesdays regularly. Trust me, you don't want to miss this!