#FirstDraft60 – Days 1&2

It needs a fun cover. Obviously.

The Master Style Sheet, Name, Calendar Binder. It needs a fun cover. Obviously.

The fabulous Kaye Dacus is hosting a #FirstDraft60 challenge over on her blog. I’m sort of shadowing, in that I’m not following the game plan she’s using because of what I need to get done in the next 60 days. But I am using it for accountability ;). (The pics are all from they day 2 thoughts.)

So…here’s the day 1 questions to think about:

  1. Why do you want to write?
    Because I have to. I can’t not tell stories – even if it’s just to myself when I’m bored. And now that I’ve gone indie I have readers waiting for the next book! How cool is that?!
  2. What will finishing this project in sixty days mean to you? Do you think that completing this challenge will change you? How?
    It will be a lot of stress off. I want to get two more novels out this year. One won’t be a problem because it needs edits, but is pretty well done. I’d like to have it out by the end of October, which means edits need to be done by the end of September.
  3. Front of the interior. Eventually, those lines will have notes about what goes where. I think.

    Front of the interior. Eventually, those lines will have notes about what goes where. I think.

    If this is your first attempt at completing a manuscript, how do you think finishing it will impact your life?
    OR, If you’ve completed multiple manuscripts, what will finishing another one mean to you?
    The full manuscript I want to work on will be my 14th (I think – plus two novellas). It will be good because I NEED it done by the end of October so I can do NaNoWriMo!

  4. What will happen if the people closest to you don’t understand, support, and encourage you during this challenge?
    Fortunately, now that I’m an indie, my family is much more understanding about my writing time (and they were pretty understanding before). But now, I’m making money with it which helps pay for things they want/need. (Mostly need…)
  5. Imagine how you will feel on October 31 knowing that you’ve completed this challenge. How can you use that to motivate you during the next sixty days?
    A yet-to-be-used name sheet - includes first book appears in and subsequent appearances.

    A yet-to-be-used name sheet – includes first book appears in and subsequent appearances.

    I think “elated” will be one way I’ll feel. This will be the first novel I’ve written start to finish while doing this indie thing. I’m still trying to work out how this is going to work with new manuscripts and not ones that were already partially or nearly complete when I put the first one out last November.

  6. What is the ONE thing you think you’re going to need the most to help you accomplish your goal for this challenge?
    Focus. I need focus. I’m perfectly CAPABLE of getting done what I need to. I just need to do it ;).

From Kaye’s blog:

FirstDraft60 Day 2 Assignment:

Overview Calendar - birthdays, anniversaries, important events - for all characters.

Overview Calendar – birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, important events – for all characters. This year Princess Jessabelle and Prince Nicklaus were born. King Antonio was crowned.

Your project for today is to figure out how you’re going to keep track of your revisions, style info, and research—and to go ahead and set them up. Then come back and let us know how you are planning to do it and how you’ve set yours up. Links to images would be great (e.g., Instagram, your blog, photos on Facebook shared publicly so we can see them even if we aren’t connected, etc.).

My answer:

I have a big binder (see pics) that I’m working on organizing all the stuff she mentions into. I have calendars for each book, which helps make sure we don’t have 52 weeks of “spring.” (Yep. Happened once.) Because everything is in the same universe, I have sheets for names (first and last) which will, eventually, let me know what names I’ve used and what books they appear in. I’m also debating a master list from each book along with brief description of who the person is (heroine’s best friend, school principal, etc). In theory, Mrs. Brown will be in the name list with 2.1 as the first book she shows up in. If I look at the master list for book 2.1 (Good Enough for a Princess), it’ll tell me she’s the principal of Lindsey’s school.

First page of the Montevaro Monarchy Calendar. You probably can't see all the eraser marks ;).

First page of the Montevaro Monarchy Calendar. You probably can’t see all the eraser marks ;).

At least that’s how I think it’ll work :p.

I’m still debating the best way to do this. I think I’ll just keep all the master-ish stuff for each series together, including the calendars. It’s going to take some doing to get it all done – the style sheets and all that stuff.

Fortunately – I have a couple of fabulous friends who are helping me as they read through the books. They rock! I just need to KEEP doing it as I go forward ;).

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