This blog has been running for EIGHT months now, and that is pretty fantastic. I thought I would take the time this week to share a writing update on Fireborn. 

Fireborn is my high fantasy manuscript with a strong female lead that I have been working on for the last five years. It currently sits around 124,000 words and over fifty chapters. Fireborn is what I’ve lovingly dubbed the series itself, so do expect new book titles when the time comes. I can proudly say that I’ve finished my first draft and launched into that primary reworking phase to go back and massage those extra details into my scenes. Very exciting. I have learned a few very important details about myself and my writing process so far that I plan to remain aware of moving forward and thought I’d share with you today.

1. I am a panster. Colloquially, this means that I fly by the seat of my pants as I write – I have very few outlines and character arcs plotted out in advance of writing scenes and I like to see where the story takes me. Well, on the one hand, this method is fun. I can download the story out of my head onto paper quite quickly and it allows me a level of spontaneity. On the flipside of that argument, however, it has lead to some inconsistencies in the plot that I now must go back and fix. While I do believe that my instincts are on the right track for the story, part of me wonders if this first pass would have been much easier if I used the targeted approach of a plotter. Definitely some food for thought for book two.
2. When I call something a “chapter”, it’s actually more like an act. I spent the last two weeks working through the dreaded Chapter Seven as it was 17,400 words long and I’ve refused to touch it for six months because it required such significant editing. I very maturely used the phrase, “That is Future Caitlin’s problem.” Let me tell you, Future Caitlin was not happy to painstakingly tease that chapter into shape and break it into five real chapters. That being said, I did find a remedy for this at the very end of book one. I wrote an outline for my “chapter” (read “act”), and drafted the content in a separate document from my manuscript. Then I broke it out into ten real chapters, rearranged according to pacing, and plunked the whole thing into the main document. The moral of the story is I am learning folks!
3. When reviewing my manuscript, I need quiet. I can write in areas with distractions, but in order to be effective in the editing process, I need zero distractions. Except for a glass of wine. That’s fine.
4. I need to walk around with a notebook. I have so many great ideas and always forget to write them down, even with a phone present!

So, what comes next you might ask? I am over halfway through my first pass to clean up glaring plot holes and tying off some loose ends. My brain is bursting with some really amazing ideas to polish the manuscript and make the characters shine, so that will come next. Then, the moment I’ve been waiting for … I shelf it for a month to give my brain a break and prepare for a deep-dive edit. I have a few people lined up after that to take a read-through and provide feedback. Those changes will be factored and added in as appropriate, and then I will rinse and repeat with a new group of readers. Once I deem it ready, I’ll take it to an editor for review.

One day, after all of these hurdles, I’ll be able to start querying publishers. And I cannot wait.