Fiction Writing Archives

My First Novel: (2nd Draft Break) Jan.29, 2019

January 29, 2019October 21, 2022 Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

I’ve decided to take a break from my manuscript for a while. I need to finish reading a few books and put some space between me and my characters. After my last post, My First Novel: (Finishing 2nd Draft) I ordered a printed copy of my manuscript. It was substantially thinner than the first draft.

I can’t figure out the ending quite yet and there are still about a dozen places in dialogue that need work but I wanted to read through it once and see how it felt. I made it a point just to read through my 2nd draft without editing, making any marks or highlighting. I just had to read it.

It has been stripped down to the bare bones, I cut about 16,000 words from the original 50,000. There are places where I can put some much-needed padding and other spots where I saw that chapters were almost identical (as far as the intended goal). But overall I enjoyed reading my manuscript without editing it, it only took me about two days to finish reading it.

I plan on keeping myself away from my manuscript for about a week or two, then I’ll dive into the third draft. Until then I plan on posting a couple things about what I’ve been reading, such as all the Patti Smith books I’ve been reading, and a list of how-to writing books.

What I’m Currently Reading:

Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga

10882

What I’m listening to:

What I’m watching:

Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes

Thank you for reading about my journey writing my first novel!

-Alina

PATREON

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My First Novel: (Finishing 2nd Draft) January 24th, 2019

January 24, 2019October 21, 2022 Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

Yesterday, I finished editing the 2nd rough draft of my novel. I was elated but then immediately felt let down, in my mind I had finished writing the book again and was sad to see it end.

I still have some work to do before I order a printed manuscript. I have about a dozen pages that I have marked. These pages need work on dialogue, additional beats, expansion, and added details. I’m tempted on just ordering a manuscript today and working through it but I know what I need to do, it’s just hard.

What is also daunting is the fact that I’ve cut approximately 16,000 words from my first draft. My word count for the first draft was a little over 50,000 words. But after going through the draft and spending some time rereading chapters I cut, and cut, and cut.

The biggest cut that happened was the ending. At the time I was finishing the first draft, I was conflicted on who’s Point Of View (POV) I was going to use, so I wrote out about five different endings, all from the perspective of each character, the characters that mattered. I cut all the endings out and landed on a two-paragraph epilogue. The Epilogue doesn’t sit well with me because of the voice of the narrator and I’m debating on cutting that out as well and leaving the end of the book at the end of the chapter of Part Four. I’m just not entirely sure what to do about the ending.

I’ve read in many books on writing that working from the ending backward helps writers figure out what their story is really about. I know what mine is about but I am tempted to try this out, or at least on the next draft working backward, editing from the last chapter to the very first.

In summary, I am checking in and vomiting up my doubts and insecurities about my draft today. I have about four hours today to work on my novel and I will, I really will but with reluctance.

What I’m Listening to:

The inspirational playlist I’ve created for my novel GHOST IN THE WOODS

What I’m reading:

Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film

Thank you for reading! Please follow or subscribe to read more about my journey writing my first novel.

-Alina

Patreon

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My First Novel: (2nd Draft Progress) January 22nd, 2019

January 22, 2019October 21, 2022 Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

I’ve been working all weekend while trying to balance my time between work, my partner, and my novel. So far, I have found time before and after work, editing a chapter or two, or reshaping key dialogue parts. I feel like I’m making progress but sometimes I get overwhelmed with the work I still have to do.

I’m about two-thirds finished with the second draft but there are half a dozen chapters I need to expand on and the dialogue…so much dialogue I have to work on, the hardest part.

The most challenging obstacles I’ve been coming across the past week is weaving beats into my dialogues. Beats are pauses, like in music, between lines. For instance, having a character say,

“I want some milk,” she walked to the fridge, opening the door and grabbing the glass jug of milk on the second shelf [beat].

“Don’t drink all of it.” Her mother said.

The beat in this example separates “I want some milk.” and “Don’t drink all of it.” which would read completely different without it.

Example without the beat,

“I want some milk.” She said.

“Don’t drink all of it.” Her mother said.

I’ve been trying to use my beats appropriately, to add more to my scenes and hopefully show not tell what’s happening. Another big thing I’m working on, SHOWING NOT TELLING.

Even though the work is daunting, I’m not quitting. I like to have a challenge and I’m looking forward to finishing my second draft. When I finish my second draft I’m going to have it printed off into a manuscript to edit by hand, I did this with my first draft and it helped immensely. It’s an amazing feeling being able to hold my novel in my hands, sort of in book form and having a draft closer to the finished product is exciting.

On another note, I finished reading Patti Smith’s Devotion, which was amazing. It is a tiny book, short but full of so much. A few chapters on Patti’s experiences, a short story, poetry, and photos. Amazing.

Thanks for reading, please follow or subscribe to read more about my journey writing My Frist Novel.

-Alina

Alina’s Patreon

Alina on Instagram

Writing Fiction: My First Novel

January 18, 2019October 21, 2022 Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

I am writing my first fiction novel, a Supernatural Thriller! I want to chronicle the writing of my book so I have a reference point in the future. This will be the place on my blog (Fiction: Writing My First Novel) where I’ll be posting updates on my progress, discussing elements of fiction, and any issues I have. I will be blogging my journey of writing in case other new fiction writers are looking for relatable content.

The Story Thus Far and NaNoWriMo

In 2014, I scribbled out a few pages of a story, an image stuck in my head of a man on the run puking up blood. But I hit a wall, and the pages were eventually forgotten. Four years later, in the Fall of 2018, I recalled the story, the image of the man popping into my head one day out of the blue. Since then, I have become obsessed with writing my novel.

✨Check out my Pinterest board for my novel HERE ✨

NaNoWriMo 2018: Writing My Novel and What’s Next

For the National Novel Writing Month of November 2018, I spent the entire month writing the first draft. Barely over 50,000 words in three parts with countless chapters, it revealed itself as a Supernatural Thriller, no big surprise there. Now, in 2019, I am working on the second draft, which is a long and grueling process.

From now on, I will be chronicling my work, including my progress and the reading materials I am using (such as Self-Editing for Fiction Writers). I hope to create a dialogue about writing fiction novels that can help other writers while keeping an archive of my journey for future use and reflection.

Are you writing a novel? Let’s connect! I’d love to hear about your experience, process, and recommended reading materials.

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What’s going on? Jan. 9th, 2019 (The Holidays, Patti Smith and Self-Editing)

January 9, 2019April 3, 2022 Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

(Originally published on Patreon on Jan. 9th, 2019)

The holiday season is officially over and I finally feel like my daily life is back on track. Since the second week of December I was working 10-12 hour shifts at least two to three times a week plus a couple normal shifts, my family came into town, and then there was the need to shop for Christmas presents which I put off until only a few days before Christmas…as usual.

On the Christmas week, me and my partner had the same four days off. Christmas Eve and Christmas day we took turns going to each other’s families for dinner then spent the 26th together and finally had Thursday to ourselves, a day for both of us to get back on track. Getting back on track definitely did not happen for me. I ended up going to Park City to spend the night at a relatives house and didn’t get home until Friday afternoon. And the start of my workweek was that same day only a few hours later.

In summary, I don’t feel like I really had a day off on Christmas week, and then I worked all weekend. Worked a morning shift on New Year’s Eve, then worked 11 hours on New Year’s Day. Just one thing after another, got a flat tire my first day off since Christmas, then my family came back into town to say hi for New Years. Started my work week again, then on Monday my battery was dead and I had to take a lyft to work.

Finally, here I am, Wednesday, January 9th, my first real day to myself, my first real day off.

I have a million groceries to buy. I’m down to a roll of toilet paper, a cheap razor found in the bathroom closet and eating chili out of a can unless I want to eat Captain Crunch. I’m not necessarily looking forward to all the shopping I have to do but I am relieved, it feels like forever since I could wake up and know I have an entire day to get my daily life squared away.

Today’s to-do list:

Grocery Shopping

-bread

-soup

-almond milk

-razors

-toilet paper

-snacks

-tea

Laundry – might need to go to a laundromat today, washer isn’t working and dryer is questionable

Go to craft store buy yarn (I’ve been crocheting a blanket the last few months, its huge)

buy detail (fine) paintbrushes, I’m working on a plaque (acrylic paint)

Write (1-3,000 words today)

Work on Blog (set up posts for the next week, talk about where I’ve been)

Post on Patreon (this is it)

Between my shifts, coming home late at night and relaxing before I go to bed, I’ve been reading reading reading. For Christmas I got some pretty amazing books, all the books I suggested or asked for and it’s always great to get what I really wanted.

One of the books I got for Christmas is M Train by Patti Smith. Right now I only have about 50 pages left, it is approximately 300 pages long. It was a slow start and for a moment I was unsure about this Smith book but I am a huge Smith fan, I love her writing, her music, her work, everything, she is one of my biggest role models, so I stuck with M Train and finally got into the groove about 100 pages in.

Now I’m almost done with it and I am already feeling a little sad it’ll be over soon. What I am noticing in M Train, is that Smith is weaving together many different aspects of her life such as dealing with the loss of Fred (her deceased husband), her dreams (her descriptions of her dreams are poetry, absolutely beautiful), and her travels where ever they lead her (tracing the lives of artists and writers or work).

It is an exploratory journey, reading Smith and there are so many subjects that she talks about that resonate with my ideas and my own experiences. So reading her work is both comforting as well as inspiring for me as a writer to push myself, my writing, and at the same time really be aware, live life and be present with each experience as an individual and as an artist.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

This book is amazing, I am already half-way finished with it and it is the perfect companion in helping me with my first completed rough draft of my book. The advice is amazing and it also includes useful tips, questions, and exercises to help writer’s practice what they’re learning.

Self-Editing talks about dialogue, beats, narration, show and tell, point of view, interior monologue and much much more. It’s written in a very comfortable and clear voice that makes it incredibly easy to read and I’d have to say it is the best book I’ve read thus far on editing/writing fiction.

I am reading other books right now, about 12 to be honest, but these two are the ones I’ve been focusing on the most recently. I feel like there is a lot that I can gain from giving so much of my time and attention to picking apart M Train while at the same time absorbing everything Self-Editing has to say.

These two books, I know will be pivotal to this month and my writing. For the month of January I plan on finishing my second draft of my book and chiseling out a rough outline of chapters, parts and plots so that I can get started on my third draft which should be (I hope) close to a place where I can start giving sample chapters to people to read (an idea I am playing with, it could be a bad idea).

I look forward to the rest of January and I know that this year will be amazing. I have a load of fantastic books to finish reading, tons of plans for my writing, and a good amount of content that I can start working on to submit to literary magazines in hopes of publication.

Thank you for reading, please feel free to comment or message me.

-Alina