5 Things I’m Doing Differently for My Next Book Project

From drafting to marketing, this project will be different

Photo by Angelina Litvin on Unsplash

I’m the author of three books (two novels and a memoir). I believe every book project is different, but after three published books (and two more complete drafts hiding in my virtual desk drawer until my brain tells me it’s the right time for those stories), I understand enough of my process to know there are things that have to change from time to time. I want to keep on improving.

Here are five things I’m doing differently from my last book.

1. I’m managing my time differently. My most recent release, a Simon & Schuster young adult adventure, was written slowly and organically. I didn’t set a timeline; I just let the story come to me. I didn’t have much of a system. But I know I want to do things differently this time around. I have two more books I want to write after this one, and the ideas are pretty clearly fleshed out for them already, so I’m keen to get this book off my desk and into the hands of my agent.
   And, about a year ago, I took a full-time job, my first in 22 years. It’s very demanding much of the year and not so demanding in other times, so I need to be really intentional with where I spend my time.
   It’s still fine to let my brain noodle at its own pace. But where I didn’t need to set blocks of writing time aside before, now circumstances are dictating the need for dedicated writing time.

Photo by Djim Loic on Unsplash

2. Related to that, I’m enlisting my friends and family in my writing process. I already do some of this, making two rounds of beta reading (beta readers are readers who read your drafts and provide feedback) a part of my revision process, but I’m alone during all of my drafting process.
For my last book, though, I joined a Saturday-at-6AM Pomodoro group. We chatted between 25-minute work sprints and I got a lot of long-hand drafting done. I didn’t draft this way for the entire novel, but I found myself so much more productive when I was with other people who were also working — and when I knew I could come back to company after.
This time, I’m going one step further. My husband Jim, the…