So the saying often goes around that it takes a million practice words to really become a good novelist. A couple weeks ago I realized I have more than hit that mark. So just so ya'all know, I'm a good novelists now.
No, I'm so kidding.:D
But it is an interesting thought. Now, I assume that those words are meant to include things like all of the poems and short stories that I wrote in college. But I don't have any stats for those and ultimately, I think you learn to write novels by writing novels. So I thought I would list my novels and word counts.
Note: I extensively re-wrote every novel here except for the Basque Romance. So I will list "Words" and "Applicable Words" since I think all those words I re-wrote still count.
The Chain and the Sword: Words= 150,000 Applicable Words= 300,000 (minimum! I edited this baby until the pages were filled with blood. Blood, people!! Also, I generally count this as two book because it was two 100,000 words books that I combined and cut the crap out of. Just FYI.;))
Basque Romance: Words= 100,000 Applicable Words= Still 100,000
Wings: Words= 69,000 Applicable Words= 138,000 (Again, minimum. Rewrote no less than half this book just in first round edits.)
Spells: Words= 85,000 Applicable Words= 170,000 (I rewrote this sucker almost from scratch BEFORE I turned it into my editor. *Whine* Sequels are haaaaaard!!!)
Illusions/Wild: Words=88,000 Applicable Words= 132,000 (I'm giving this one 1.5x instead of double because edits were easier on this one. I think . . .)
Destined: Words= 73,000 Applicable Words= 146,000 (DEF doubled the word count in edits for this book. DEF.)
Life After Theft: Words= 80,000 Applicable Words= 160,000 (Though having worked on it for over five years, I think I deserve TRIPLE!!:D)
Earthbound: Words= 86,000 Applicable Words= 172,000 (Again, at least!! This is also a pushing triple book.)
Don't Close Your Eyes: Words= 90,000 Applicable Words= 135,000 (I've done first round edits, so I am giving myself 1.5, but not a full double.)
Earthbound 2: Words= 75,000 Applicable Words= 75,000 (No edits, no increase. *wink*)
So those are my ten (and arguably eleven) books for a grand word total of Words= 896,000 and Applicable Words= 1,528,000.
That's a lot of words.
I'm not really making a statement of any kind with these stats. I just find them interesting. Am I a better writer after 1.5 million words? I hope so. Have I picked up any bad habits in those 1.5 million words? I'm afraid so. But I have put about 1.5 million words into my career in the last eight years. And I'm proud of that.
Ciao!
Friday, May 10, 2013
Saturday, May 04, 2013
Anatomy of a Revision
So, aspiring authors often want to hear about revisions. Generally the question is, How brutal are they? So since I actually paid attention to some of my . . . stats, I guess . . . I thought I would talk about what happened during the revision of Don't Close Your Eyes, my upcoming YA Paranormal Thriller . . . Horror . . . something like that. (Okay, I haven't perfected my elevator pitch yet!:D)
When I turned in DCYE, it was 74,000 words. When I turned it in after edits it was 90,000 words. So, for starters, I added 16,000 words. However, I also changed about the same number of words. So I would say that a full 30,000 of the final 90,000 words were written or re-written. So yeah, I re-wrote about a third of the book in revisions this time. (I suspect that percentage was a full half for Wings, but about a third seems pretty normal for me.)
So what did I change? Here were the main things:
1.) I wrote this book fast so the details of my world were sketchy. Half of my revisions involved clarifying world/mythos/etc. it's also where about 10,000 of the extra words came from.:)
2.) Blended two characters into one. Which, oddly, required more words.:D
3.) Smoothed out my romance line and added several scenes to do this.
4.) Slowed my pacing down. And this was a shocker to me. I ended up rushing headlong into the plot so quickly I confused my editor. I added a prologue and a new first chapter at their request.
5.) Gave a personal story to every victim. (Did I mention the serial killer?) This was short. Probably 1,000 words total. But it made a huge difference.
So yeah, that was essentially my revision. You'll notice there was very, very little cutting. That is NOT always the case. In fact it's pretty unique to this book.:) I'm a little sad that it doesn't look like I'm going to have a deleted scene for this book.
Of course, there is one more round of edits. . . .
Ciao!
When I turned in DCYE, it was 74,000 words. When I turned it in after edits it was 90,000 words. So, for starters, I added 16,000 words. However, I also changed about the same number of words. So I would say that a full 30,000 of the final 90,000 words were written or re-written. So yeah, I re-wrote about a third of the book in revisions this time. (I suspect that percentage was a full half for Wings, but about a third seems pretty normal for me.)
So what did I change? Here were the main things:
1.) I wrote this book fast so the details of my world were sketchy. Half of my revisions involved clarifying world/mythos/etc. it's also where about 10,000 of the extra words came from.:)
2.) Blended two characters into one. Which, oddly, required more words.:D
3.) Smoothed out my romance line and added several scenes to do this.
4.) Slowed my pacing down. And this was a shocker to me. I ended up rushing headlong into the plot so quickly I confused my editor. I added a prologue and a new first chapter at their request.
5.) Gave a personal story to every victim. (Did I mention the serial killer?) This was short. Probably 1,000 words total. But it made a huge difference.
So yeah, that was essentially my revision. You'll notice there was very, very little cutting. That is NOT always the case. In fact it's pretty unique to this book.:) I'm a little sad that it doesn't look like I'm going to have a deleted scene for this book.
Of course, there is one more round of edits. . . .
Ciao!
Thursday, April 11, 2013
YASH Winner
This has already been announced on the YASH main page, but the winner of an ARC of both Life After Theft and Earthbound is Justine Winans!!!!!
Justine, I think I found you on Twitter, but if not, please email me at Aprilynne Pike at Gee Mail dot com with your name, address, and how/if you would like your books personalized!!
Thank you everyone for participating!!!!
Ciao!
Justine, I think I found you on Twitter, but if not, please email me at Aprilynne Pike at Gee Mail dot com with your name, address, and how/if you would like your books personalized!!
Thank you everyone for participating!!!!
Ciao!
Thursday, April 04, 2013
Young Adult Scavenger Hunt with CHLOE JACOBS!!!
THE YA SCAVENGER HUNT IS OVER NOW!!! THIS POST IS NOW ONLY UP FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT!!! (Winners will be announced on the YASH Main page and once that has been done I will announce here as well. Check back!!)
Welcome to the Young Adult Scavenger Hunt! I am so pleased to be hosting the lovely CHLOE JACOBS who is the author of --> THE MYLENA CHRONICLES, beginning with GRETA AND THE GOBLIN KING which came out in December of 2012.
A bit about the story:
-->
And, of course, the author, Miss Chloe Jacobs herself!
-->
You can find out more about both Chloe and her books at her website, HERE.
And if you're interested in buying her book, you can find it HERE.
And for Chloe's YASH exclusive bonus content, we have an excerpt from GRETA AND THE GOBLIN KING!
--> A noise. Distinctive from the natural groaning of tree limbs weighed down by snow. A crunch behind her as someone took a step closer.
Damn. She’d miscalculated, assuming no one would have followed her while she was following the ghoul.
She spun as a familiar "ash of amethyst rushed her in the not quite dark. Before she could duck and roll, a thick, muscled arm slammed across her chest and shoved her against the cave wall so hard the back of her head scraped rock.
With a speed and strength that had been drilled into her daily for four years, Greta brought her knee up. Her attacker evaded but wasn’t quick enough to avoid her headbutt to his lying face.
“Danem Greta, stop.” Isaac grunted and frowned down at her. She sneered at his use of the conventional form of Mylean address. Not that she wasn’t used to it, but coming from Mylena’s shiny new goblin king—who was only a little older than her seventeen years—it felt like a veiled insult instead of an expression of respect.
With a hard swallow, she took in his appearance. His fur-lined cloak gaped open at the throat, and black hair streaked with deep purple curled at his neck. He had a square face and sharp features, although his cheeks were pale and smooth in the dark of the forest.
Like most goblins, he was tall and wide, built like someone had simply chipped away at a hunk of granite. It wasn’t hard to imagine him in a fight to the death for the goblin throne, no matter how young he was.
He rubbed his abdomen with a pinched expression. “What did you do that for?”
Because I knew it was you? “Oddly enough, I don’t enjoy being attacked from behind by strangers.”
His startling violet eyes locked on her. Lying eyes. Manipulative eyes. Eyes she’d been seeing in her sleep for too many nights. He chuckled low under his breath. “Ah, but I’m not a stranger to you, am I?”
She fought against the deep cadence of his accented voice and the mischievous grin that curled his lips, reminding herself it was all an act. Their entire relationship was based on tricks and lies, and Greta wasn’t going to fall for them again.
“But since you mention it,” he continued, “which one of us is out lurking in the Goblin Forest in the middle of the worst storm all year?”
She rolled her eyes. Sure, if he wanted to press the issue, this was technically the Goblin Forest and he was technically the goblin king. She was trespassing.
Technically.
Not that she cared about such minor things as legal boundaries. Not when it came to doing her job. Especially in a territory run by an arrogant goblin whose biggest claim to fame was that he happened to be the youngest monarch Mylena had ever seen.
“This can’t be the worst storm all year,” she said. “I’m sure the one that slammed us a fortnight ago was just as bad. Are there ever any conditions in Mylena other than crappy?”
He grinned and his face was transformed. Suddenly, he was the boy she’d met that evening at Maidra’s who smiled at her and made her feel accepted for the first time since…well, since she found herself trapped here. As the only human in a world where her kind was reviled and any suggestion of their presence created a furious outcry for blood, acceptance and the possibility of friendship were things she’d never expected to experience.
But she didn’t want him to be that boy again. He should go back to being the goblin king. At least then she knew where she stood—as far away as possible.
“I wasn’t aware you felt so strongly about the weather, Danem,” he teased. “Perhaps it irks you because it is one thing that remains irritatingly beyond your influence.”
If the weather really were the only thing out of her control, she wouldn’t have much to worry about. But after being torn from her family and everything she knew at the age of thirteen, thrust
into a hostile environment where food and warmth were luxuries someone like her could not afford, and forced to hide her true identity, Greta had ended up with a whole host of issues. If she ever made it back home, some lucky shrink was going to have a field day trying to figure her out.
“I have legitimate cause to be here. I’m on a job. Why don’t you let me do it?”
With a shove, she tried to get around him but he pushed her back against the rock. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make a point. “Unless you want to alert the ghoul in there to our presence, quit fighting me so we can handle the situation together.”
“Aren’t you too important to be talking to me? Go home. You have a responsibility to stay safe and provide for your people now.”
His teeth ground together. “Why don’t you let me worry about my people and what they need.”
Her shallow breaths exhaled in a fine puff of vapor that twirled around his, becoming one before dissipating into the frigid air. Greta finally nodded and his grip on her arms relaxed. She twisted and knocked her elbow up into his abdomen. A petty move, sure, but she wasn’t above immature displays of annoyance when the situation called for it—or maybe even when it didn’t.
He grunted as she darted around him and clasped his wrist in a quick twist behind his back. She used the momentum to push him face-first into the rock. In the shadows, his oversized incisors peeked from the corners of his mouth. He twisted his head to the side to look at her.
Her knife was at his throat before he could blink, going a little way towards salvaging the pride that had been damaged when he managed to sneak up on her. “Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I don’t play nicely with others.”
His arm tensed under her grip, and his gaze flickered to her mouth almost hesitantly. “On the contrary, I think the two of us would play very well together.”
******
Thank you for joining me on this stop on the hunt!!!
Did you make it to the end? Did you know there might be something special down here? Well there is!! In addition to the prize packages for the Scavenger Hunt, I am giving away an ARC of both LIFE AFTER THEFT and EARTHBOUND right here!!! So before you move along to the next stop, take a second to leave me a comment and tell me your very favorite song to enter. I'll pick winners early next week!
Next on your merry way is Marley Gibson!!! You can find her site HERE!!!
Ciao!
Welcome to the Young Adult Scavenger Hunt! I am so pleased to be hosting the lovely CHLOE JACOBS who is the author of --> THE MYLENA CHRONICLES, beginning with GRETA AND THE GOBLIN KING which came out in December of 2012.
-->
While trying to save her brother four years ago, Greta was
thrown into the witch’s fire herself, falling through a portal to a dangerous
world where humans are the enemy, and every ogre, goblin, and ghoul has a dark
side that comes out with the full moon.
To survive, seventeen-year-old Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young Goblin King, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines her determination to escape.
But Greta’s not the only one looking to get out of Mylena. The full moon is mere days away, and an ancient evil knows she’s the key to opening the portal. If Greta fails, she and the lost boys of Mylena will die. If she succeeds, no world will be safe from what follows her back…
To survive, seventeen-year-old Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young Goblin King, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines her determination to escape.
But Greta’s not the only one looking to get out of Mylena. The full moon is mere days away, and an ancient evil knows she’s the key to opening the portal. If Greta fails, she and the lost boys of Mylena will die. If she succeeds, no world will be safe from what follows her back…
And, of course, the author, Miss Chloe Jacobs herself!
Chloe Jacobs is a native of nowhere and everywhere, having
jumped around to practically every Province of Canada before finally settling
in Ontario where she has now been living for a respectable number of years. Her
husband and son are the two best people in the entire world, but they also make
her wish she'd at least gotten a female cat. No such luck. And although the day
job keeps her busy, she carves out as much time as possible to write. Bringing
new characters to life and finding out what makes them tick and how badly she
can make them suffer is one of her greatest pleasures, almost better than
chocolate and fuzzy pink bunny slippers.
You can find out more about both Chloe and her books at her website, HERE.
And if you're interested in buying her book, you can find it HERE.
And for Chloe's YASH exclusive bonus content, we have an excerpt from GRETA AND THE GOBLIN KING!
--> A noise. Distinctive from the natural groaning of tree limbs weighed down by snow. A crunch behind her as someone took a step closer.
Damn. She’d miscalculated, assuming no one would have followed her while she was following the ghoul.
She spun as a familiar "ash of amethyst rushed her in the not quite dark. Before she could duck and roll, a thick, muscled arm slammed across her chest and shoved her against the cave wall so hard the back of her head scraped rock.
With a speed and strength that had been drilled into her daily for four years, Greta brought her knee up. Her attacker evaded but wasn’t quick enough to avoid her headbutt to his lying face.
“Danem Greta, stop.” Isaac grunted and frowned down at her. She sneered at his use of the conventional form of Mylean address. Not that she wasn’t used to it, but coming from Mylena’s shiny new goblin king—who was only a little older than her seventeen years—it felt like a veiled insult instead of an expression of respect.
With a hard swallow, she took in his appearance. His fur-lined cloak gaped open at the throat, and black hair streaked with deep purple curled at his neck. He had a square face and sharp features, although his cheeks were pale and smooth in the dark of the forest.
Like most goblins, he was tall and wide, built like someone had simply chipped away at a hunk of granite. It wasn’t hard to imagine him in a fight to the death for the goblin throne, no matter how young he was.
He rubbed his abdomen with a pinched expression. “What did you do that for?”
Because I knew it was you? “Oddly enough, I don’t enjoy being attacked from behind by strangers.”
His startling violet eyes locked on her. Lying eyes. Manipulative eyes. Eyes she’d been seeing in her sleep for too many nights. He chuckled low under his breath. “Ah, but I’m not a stranger to you, am I?”
She fought against the deep cadence of his accented voice and the mischievous grin that curled his lips, reminding herself it was all an act. Their entire relationship was based on tricks and lies, and Greta wasn’t going to fall for them again.
“But since you mention it,” he continued, “which one of us is out lurking in the Goblin Forest in the middle of the worst storm all year?”
She rolled her eyes. Sure, if he wanted to press the issue, this was technically the Goblin Forest and he was technically the goblin king. She was trespassing.
Technically.
Not that she cared about such minor things as legal boundaries. Not when it came to doing her job. Especially in a territory run by an arrogant goblin whose biggest claim to fame was that he happened to be the youngest monarch Mylena had ever seen.
“This can’t be the worst storm all year,” she said. “I’m sure the one that slammed us a fortnight ago was just as bad. Are there ever any conditions in Mylena other than crappy?”
He grinned and his face was transformed. Suddenly, he was the boy she’d met that evening at Maidra’s who smiled at her and made her feel accepted for the first time since…well, since she found herself trapped here. As the only human in a world where her kind was reviled and any suggestion of their presence created a furious outcry for blood, acceptance and the possibility of friendship were things she’d never expected to experience.
But she didn’t want him to be that boy again. He should go back to being the goblin king. At least then she knew where she stood—as far away as possible.
“I wasn’t aware you felt so strongly about the weather, Danem,” he teased. “Perhaps it irks you because it is one thing that remains irritatingly beyond your influence.”
If the weather really were the only thing out of her control, she wouldn’t have much to worry about. But after being torn from her family and everything she knew at the age of thirteen, thrust
into a hostile environment where food and warmth were luxuries someone like her could not afford, and forced to hide her true identity, Greta had ended up with a whole host of issues. If she ever made it back home, some lucky shrink was going to have a field day trying to figure her out.
“I have legitimate cause to be here. I’m on a job. Why don’t you let me do it?”
With a shove, she tried to get around him but he pushed her back against the rock. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make a point. “Unless you want to alert the ghoul in there to our presence, quit fighting me so we can handle the situation together.”
“Aren’t you too important to be talking to me? Go home. You have a responsibility to stay safe and provide for your people now.”
His teeth ground together. “Why don’t you let me worry about my people and what they need.”
Her shallow breaths exhaled in a fine puff of vapor that twirled around his, becoming one before dissipating into the frigid air. Greta finally nodded and his grip on her arms relaxed. She twisted and knocked her elbow up into his abdomen. A petty move, sure, but she wasn’t above immature displays of annoyance when the situation called for it—or maybe even when it didn’t.
He grunted as she darted around him and clasped his wrist in a quick twist behind his back. She used the momentum to push him face-first into the rock. In the shadows, his oversized incisors peeked from the corners of his mouth. He twisted his head to the side to look at her.
Her knife was at his throat before he could blink, going a little way towards salvaging the pride that had been damaged when he managed to sneak up on her. “Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I don’t play nicely with others.”
His arm tensed under her grip, and his gaze flickered to her mouth almost hesitantly. “On the contrary, I think the two of us would play very well together.”
******
Thank you for joining me on this stop on the hunt!!!
Did you make it to the end? Did you know there might be something special down here? Well there is!! In addition to the prize packages for the Scavenger Hunt, I am giving away an ARC of both LIFE AFTER THEFT and EARTHBOUND right here!!! So before you move along to the next stop, take a second to leave me a comment and tell me your very favorite song to enter. I'll pick winners early next week!
Next on your merry way is Marley Gibson!!! You can find her site HERE!!!
Ciao!
Monday, March 04, 2013
About Rejection
I don't blog very much these days. Why? Because I have four young children, one who jumped into terrible twos with both feet three months ago, a husband in grad school, three children in both school and piano (and I am a Piano Nazi), and my in-laws with two teens still at home living with me. (That makes ten in our house.:D)
Oh, and because I'm writing two books a year.
Well, that's not exactly accurate. I am having two books published a year. But I'll let you in on a secret. I'm writing more than that. Or, at the very least, I'm writing pieces of more books than that.
Why would I bother writing bits and pieces of more books than I'm having published? Because I just love the ideas and am itching to write them? As much as I wish the answer to that question was yes, I seriously just do not have the time for that these days. Maybe when my husband graduates. (Two months! Two months!)
So why am I writing these extra bits of books?
Because I write them, I turn them in, and they get rejected.
Yes, that's exactly what I said.
As a starry-eyed, not-yet-published writer, I thought that if I could just get an agent I would say goodbye to rejection forever!!
Two books and 15 rejections later I sold Wings.
Wings went on to be a #1 NYT Bestseller. One of the few debut novels ever to do that. Well, NOW I would truly say goodbye to rejection forever!
Not. So. Fast.
I want all of you aspiring authors who are drowning (and yes, some days it truly does feel like drowning) in rejections to know that published authors, bestselling authors, mega-ultra bestselling authors know how you feel. No, really. I had a full novel rejected after three bestselling novels and a partial rejected after four. It's easy to think that once you've made it, you've made it forever. But it's not true.
So what do I do? The same thing you do. I pick myself up off the ground, I wipe away my tears, I eat way too much chocolate, and then I try to write something better. Sound familiar?
So I guess this is a really long way to say that the book that seriously poured out of me over Winter Break has been accepted for publication. And when the news came in, yes, I was excited and happy and all those things. But above all, I was so incredibly relieved, because it was my third attempt to fulfill this contract.
It doesn't end, guys. And I don't mean that in a demotivating way. You have to always be reaching, always learning, always pushing yourself to be a better writer. So when your next rejection comes, as it inevitably will, remember that we're all doing this together and that your next story will be better if you want it badly enough.
Ciao!
Oh, and because I'm writing two books a year.
Well, that's not exactly accurate. I am having two books published a year. But I'll let you in on a secret. I'm writing more than that. Or, at the very least, I'm writing pieces of more books than that.
Why would I bother writing bits and pieces of more books than I'm having published? Because I just love the ideas and am itching to write them? As much as I wish the answer to that question was yes, I seriously just do not have the time for that these days. Maybe when my husband graduates. (Two months! Two months!)
So why am I writing these extra bits of books?
Because I write them, I turn them in, and they get rejected.
Yes, that's exactly what I said.
As a starry-eyed, not-yet-published writer, I thought that if I could just get an agent I would say goodbye to rejection forever!!
Two books and 15 rejections later I sold Wings.
Wings went on to be a #1 NYT Bestseller. One of the few debut novels ever to do that. Well, NOW I would truly say goodbye to rejection forever!
Not. So. Fast.
I want all of you aspiring authors who are drowning (and yes, some days it truly does feel like drowning) in rejections to know that published authors, bestselling authors, mega-ultra bestselling authors know how you feel. No, really. I had a full novel rejected after three bestselling novels and a partial rejected after four. It's easy to think that once you've made it, you've made it forever. But it's not true.
So what do I do? The same thing you do. I pick myself up off the ground, I wipe away my tears, I eat way too much chocolate, and then I try to write something better. Sound familiar?
So I guess this is a really long way to say that the book that seriously poured out of me over Winter Break has been accepted for publication. And when the news came in, yes, I was excited and happy and all those things. But above all, I was so incredibly relieved, because it was my third attempt to fulfill this contract.
It doesn't end, guys. And I don't mean that in a demotivating way. You have to always be reaching, always learning, always pushing yourself to be a better writer. So when your next rejection comes, as it inevitably will, remember that we're all doing this together and that your next story will be better if you want it badly enough.
Ciao!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
