Tag: fiction

My First Novel: What’s next?

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

I’ve been reading bits and parts of my third draft and I’m liking it a lot. I’m trying to enjoy it as if it’s just a regular book, distancing myself from my work the best that I can. But now I’m not sure what to do next (I don’t think it’s anywhere near where it should be before I ask anyone to edit it). My gut tells me I still need to work through a few more drafts before it’ll be anywhere near done and by then I should have a few more kinks straightened out.

What I’ve been doing besides reading my rough draft?

Playing around with Ableton Live 10 . I bought myself a mini midi keyboard that I’ve been hooking up and using, plus learning how to play piano bit by bit with skoove. I am just messing around but I have been working on a handful of songs that are just ideas. I want to buy an analog interface so I can hook up my electric guitar, and I also need to get a microphone. (I’ve been playing with the idea of using Ableton to record myself reading my poetry and posting the recordings on this blog).

Besides working on music and trying to learn how to play piano, I’ve also been reading one of my favorite books from high school The Wereling, which is one of three in a series. A really cheesy but good werewolf story.  I love this series and I was so excited to buy the series and start reading it. I am taking my time to devour it and pull as much from it that I love (the blood, the gore) with the hopes of inspiring me to work on the parts of my book that need a little help with (the blood and the gore).

I plan on starting on draft #4 soon and I look forward to it, I just need to organize my time better so I can get it done.

Thanks for reading about my journey writing My First Novel!

-Alina

Writing Fiction: My First Novel

My First Novel: Hitting the Wall (5/2/19)

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

I’ve been in denial for a while now but I admit it, I’ve hit a wall. For the last month or so I have barely worked on my novel. Opening the googledoc and looking at a chapter, fiddling with the dialogue in another chapter, I always end up ignoring my book after about fifteen minutes. At the beginning of this year, I would spend hours a day and sometimes a whole day working on my book. Pumping out chapters or reworking them at break-neck speed, trying to get everything down on the page as fast as possible.

But I’ve felt stuck for a while, distracted by everything else going on in my life. I think I’m also distracting myself, starting and finishing new books while I have a whole pile that I’ve been meaning to finish for a couple months now. How does it feel to hit a wall? Like I can’t get anything done and the world is leaving me behind. I just can’t get back on the fast track to finishing my book right now.

There is also an overwhelming feeling of pressure whenever I think about my book. I know I need to work on the ending and solidify each chapter, rework dialogue here and there and round out my characters but I am worried about what comes after. Will I ever have a final product? Is it even worth my time to look for a publisher or should I think about self-publishing through kindle? I think I’m getting too caught up in my doubts.

I feel like I need a reset to clear my mind and get back to it.

My distractions:

Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays

 like my Patti Smith bender, I think I’m gonna dive deep into Didion to keep my mind fresh

Listening to:

good music is always required 

Overall, I already know what I need to do, just write. I’m sticking to my daily writing schedule and for last month wrote over 31,000 words. My daily writing consists of writing 1,000 words minimum a day, doesn’t matter what I’m writing, poetry, fiction, non-fiction as long as it is writing. I try not to make my daily writing into journal entries if I am lacking a focus and this is one of the hardest things to do. I know that as long as I stick with my daily writing, I can eventually get back into the groove of working on my novel.

To all my followers/readers and you, thanks for sticking with me,

-Alina

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My First Novel: Moving, NaPoMo and Tidying-Up (4/18)

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

This month has been crazy. With all the moving and changes happening I’ve been trying to keep up and finally feel like I got a foothold. Now that I’m more settled in my new place and I have a little bit more time on my hands, I can get back to business.

Working on “Part Two” draft of my book is difficult, there are so many places where I want to cut out whole chapters or rework certain aspects of characters but I’m holding myself back from completely tearing apart what I have. I miss my characters, in a weird way, it’s like I haven’t hung out with them in a while. I also need to get a quick refresh and reread my manuscript.

The Ending. I scratched about three to four different endings of my book a couple months ago before I finished revising the first draft. Now I’m left with an extremely rough outline of the ending I’m thinking of, still, it doesn’t feel exactly right. It seems like the ending won’t really be “the ending”, there could be a sequel which is scary.

It’s Na(tional)Po(oetry)Mo(nth) and I almost forgot, I admit it. I have a couple poetry books that I am trying to finish right now and I’m planning on focusing on those until the end of the month as a sort of mini-celebration.

William Carlos Williams Selected Poetry

Poetry Magazines April 2019 Edition

What else I’ve been reading:

Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem

I need to read more Didion, or at least I’m in the mood to now. I feel like after my Jane Austen binge I want to get back to reading more modern works. And I am holding myself back from rereading some of my favorite Patti Smith books right now. I have read a couple other Didion books and I love her style and approach to content. This one is no different and presents a very specific slice of time that I’m able to tap into as a reader all because of Didion’s writing.

Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying-Up

Curious about this popular trend, I got on the bandwagon about a month ago when I knew I was going to move. I didn’t follow Kondo’s method to the T but I managed to get rid of over half of the things I owned (and didn’t need). After watching the Netflix series I am now almost done with her book. It is has a simple format and it’s an easy read. 

What I’m listening to:

Thanks for reading!

-Alina

 

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PATREON

My First Novel: Moving with Austen (3/27/19)

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

It has been a wild two weeks and I have to admit I have fallen behind but for good reason. I am moving! It is official and even though I’ll be moving only about five miles away into downtown it’s still significant. The last couple of weeks I’ve been cleaning and packing, readying myself for the final move-in day. It will be great going to a new place right as spring is finally taking hold of Salt Lake City but my novel has suffered because of this.

I’ve edited a few passages and read the end of part one about three times since I got back from Vegas earlier this month but my heart is not in it right now. I am distracted and unable to focus. I will get better and I am almost done with the transition now and I know right when I move I will want to focus on writing instead of unpacking.

What else have I been up to? Working and reading.

Over the weekend I felt like a little Austen so I watched a movie and then watched The Jane Austen Book Club. The movie was ok but bad enough to just make me want to read Austen instead of watch people ‘read’ her.

On Monday after work, I went to one of my favorite book stores and bought a cheap copy of Persuasion by Austen. I started reading it the same day and was about halfway through by Monday night now I only have about six pages left. It is good and I don’t think I’ve ever read it before. I love Pride and Prejudice but I am more fond of the Bronte Sisters than Austen. I thought why not, I’ll work my way backward with Austen and read her last work (Persuasion) then second to last and so on. It is a lot of reading and of course, I am reading about 17 other books right now but I can’t help it.

I think it’ll be a fun little list to read but I know I’ll cave in and read some Bronte here and there, I usually read Jane Eyre about once or twice a year.

Overall, I am on a little involuntary break from working on my novel and it is tearing me up. I will work more diligently on it soon after the chaos settles until then I write a little bit here and there for practice, my daily writing.

Thank you for reading my updates and following me on my journey through writing my first novel.

-Alina

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PATREON

My First Novel: Back from Vacation (3/14/19)

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

Last week I was on vacation in Las Vegas, Nevada. I went out of town to visit family and took only the essentials. I was torn up between bringing my manuscript or laptop but decided against it. It was a good choice, I wouldn’t have had any time to work on my novel and I needed to focus on my family.

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Flying to Vegas March 2019 Photo: Alina Happy Hansen

 

I’ve been back since the 9th and today is my first day off since returning to work. It’s nice to get back into the groove of my regular schedule but at the same time, I am aware of how far behind I am.

What do I have planned for this week? Catch up on my reading, work on about 90 pages of my novel and write a few poems for submissions to literary journals. Last month I worked on one poem for about two weeks before submitting it to a lit journal. I am still waiting for a response from the journal but it was more of an exercise for me to have a deadline, a goal, a poem to work on.

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Las Vegas March 2019 Photo: Alina Happy Hansen

I am looking forward to returning to my characters. I feel like they’re close to smashing up the furniture if I don’t give them some attention.

What I’m currently reading:

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

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What I’m listening to:

Bauhaus The Bela Session

 

Thank you for reading,

-Alina

 

PATREON

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