Blog Post No. 529
Before I sat down to write this week’s post, I wasn’t 100% sure what I was going to write about. I had a few half-thought-out ideas, but nothing that felt strong enough for a post. Then, I went through some old posts to determine exactly when I started the Invasion Novel (because I’m not done talking about that thing, yet and won’t be for some time). Turns out, the first post where I talk about actually starting the novel was in November of 2018. I remember having a false start on the book. I had written a couple of chapters with a strong narrator, but right away, I knew that wasn’t the story I wanted to tell. Even still, if I take November 2018 as the starting date, that’s nearly five years of working on this book.
Sure, in that time I wrote and release three books in the Synthetic Albatross Novella Series, but still. Way too long for how I write. I know some folks take a decade or more to write their novels, but they tend to be much higher profile than a sci-fi novel about an alien invasion and an unwilling protagonist. Technically, I’ve been finished writing the novel for some time, but I don’t think a book is done until the edits are finished, and I’m not finished with the edits on this one.
Thankfully, even though I was totally overwhelmed last week with a number of things, I going over Brittni‘s beta read of the Invasion Novel. I was completely intimidated since along with the in-line notes and edits, she wrote a four-page overview of her thoughts which I stupidly read before I had the time to actually sit down and work on it. That left me even more discouraged and made starting (starting anything being my personal Everest) more daunting.
Thankfully at my next writing session with Christian, I did get started. Making progress on those edits actually helped alleviate some of my stress. I still have Brittni’s four pages of notes to go over, but I figured my best course of action was to work on the in-line review while trying to keep her overall thoughts in mind. Then, when I get to the end, I’ll start at page one with another full reading of the book, with a specific focus on those big thoughts. I think it’s the only way I’ll be able to put one foot in front of the other on this edit.
Since I’m on pace to finish the first pass by the time this post is out, I hope another week and a bit should be enough for me to wrap up this draft entirely. Then, I’ll send the book out for one final round of beta reads before a final (but for real this time) edit and submissions to agents. All easier said than done and without knowing how long the next round of betas will take to get back to me, I don’t want to guess at a timeline. Hopefully, I’ll get this draft done as quickly as planned and I can work on the novella for the new anthology while waiting for more feedback. If all goes smoothly, I’ll finally be able to finish this book and move on to the Salvage Novel. Though, you’ll still be hearing about the Invasion Novel through the submission process (and if I get an agent, through the release process, too!).
Ben Van Dongen 