Perhaps that’s the exact feeling I’m waiting for?

We’ve now reached the cover process for my novel and I’ve been finding that this stage has my thoughts going in ever direction, which is why I’ve been making notes and taking my time to really work through what it is I want. Not to my surprise, sitting around staring at images all day doesn’t seem to help me make a decision faster. I contemplate each element of the piece, and try to make a list of questions I have. I’m starting to realize that I don’t just want it to be right, I want it to be perfect. I want whatever I choose to feel like it belongs on my book. I want this cover to be something I’d pull off the shelf myself, something that peaks my interest and makes me want to take it home. I want to be confident when I make that final decision, that this is exactly what I want. I don’t want to be in that state of contemplation, of indecision, of unease…so I’m going over the images again and again, debating on if it really does feel right.

I wonder if this is what it’s like when you’re choosing a wedding dress? Was I this obsessed with picking the perfect prom dress years ago? I had a certain criteria sure, but I think at a certain point I put one on and it was the perfect fit and perhaps that’s the exact feeling I’m waiting for? I’m waiting for that perfect fit.

Still, at this moment in time I’m not sure what I want to do, which frustrates me because I like to give prompt responses. I don’t like to leave anyone hanging. I guess this blog post is also me figuring things out.

I hope I get to the point where I do. Where I can picture holding that book in my hand and go “This is the one.” Until then, I’ll be staring off into space, eating banana bread and enjoying a cup of tea.

Quick Novel Update!

Today I got to see the mood board that’s being sent off to the cover design team and oh my goodness…I absolutely adore it. I’ve looked at it over and over again. It has the exact feel that I want and there are so many amazing books on it as well!

I’ll share the mood board itself at a later date just because it’s really special to me at the moment…and I kind of want to keep it to myself just a little longer (I hope that’s okay?).

This is so cool. Like I keep asking myself if this is real.

While that’s all being done, I’m jumping back into editing and working on the draft for the sequel. I’ve been trying to take everything I’ve learned from this first book an trying to apply it here. I hope that my efforts pay off.

I know that there’s still so much to do and there is definitely a lot more for me to learn, but I’m going to keep having fun and I cannot wait to for my next set of instructions and to see what the team puts together!

We’re Getting Closer!

I really enjoyed the editing process so I’m looking forward to the next step in my publishing journey. I’ve got lots to do so I created a schedule for myself to keep track of everything. My deadline is fast approaching, so I’ve actually been writing this blog post in between during my breaks.

I’ve been meaning to post a novel update video on YouTube, discussing this portion of my journey, but I film on my phone and it hasn’t been working properly. I’ve got a few little clips that I backed up immediately onto my laptop just in case my phone decides to be a butt again…which is like a few times a week unfortunately. I also noticed the other day that I reached 100 subscribers on my YouTube channel, which honestly surprised me because last time I checked I thought I had only 30 people subscribed to my content. I really don’t understand how the algorithm works. One of my oldest friends from elementary school actually found my channel the other day but I have no clue how to message people on YouTube. I haven’t seen her since high school! It was funny because I had been talking to one of my buddies about her the other day. I’m hoping she reads this so I can be like “Hi!!!”

The feedback that I’ve received on my manuscript has been incredibly helpful. I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned. I’ve even made little notes so that I can go back and reference some of the comments and advice I’ve been given and apply it to my other work. My notebooks only got a few pages left in it now, but thankfully I have two cute ones that I’ve been saving for an occasion such as this one.

I’ve been trying to catch up on my reading during the lock down, but I suppose I’ve had to put that on hold because of all this publishing stuff. I’ve thankfully plowed through the majority of the owned books in my TBR, and ordered two more from a series I’ve been reading. One of my co-workers also gave me some excellent recommendations, so I’ll be checking those out once I’ve got a little more free time. I own one of the books from her list so I plan on starting with that one!

I wonder if anyone at work knows I have a blog?

Hi everyone! How’s life? I miss you all!

If you follow me on instragram, you’ll know that I just started playing Animal Crossing. I’ve wanted to play for a while now and have had the game for at least a month, but I didn’t have time to start the game because I was either recording or editing…or babysitting. Then when I finally had the time to play, I got busy again! My sister’s been playing on my behalf. I finally got a house in the game.

I’d better get back to work. I’ve got some things I need to wrap up.

Novel Update – April 11th, 2021

What’s one to do with all this free time…?

I’ve finished another round of edits, which is fantastic, however every time I do, I have no idea what I should do with myself. Since my area is back in lock down, I have a lot of free time again.

Prior to this current lock down, I had been reading to keep busy between each of my edits. I find reading and engaging with different texts helps me stay on task. I suppose it’s like studying. I like to see how others go about building their scenes, creating atmosphere, how they break up their chapters…etc.

With all this free time again, I’ll probably jump back into writing since I don’t have anything to edit right now. Thankfully, I can record. I’ve been working on some music and animation projects that I’m very excited about.

I hope to share these projects with you all over the next few months. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I enjoyed working on them.

~ Ardin.

I’ve been listening to this track recently, and added it to one of my character playlists.

Other Posts on This Blog:

• polly Pocket: Adventure Studios Season 2 is Out Now!
• Love Song – Ardin Patterson
• Parked – Review
• Edge of Seventeen
• Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet – Manga Review

Novel Update

It’s been a while since I’ve post a writing update vlog/blog. Today I spent the afternoon writing, after watching Netflix for an hour. I binged two different shows in January and am pretty bummed out that I’ve finished them. I’ll probably check out a few different shows on Netflix until I find something new.

I’ve been going back and forth between two different writing projects, the first is the sequel to my debut and the other a novel that I’ve been working on since last summer.

I wouldn’t recommend working on several projects at once. It can get kind of hectic…then again I find that multi-writing occasionally works for me. If I’m stuck on a scene in one book, I’m able to work on something else while I brainstorm. As long as I’m still writing I don’t get writing block, which prevents me from feeling stressed or burned out.

This was something a professor of mine recommended and it’s probably some of the best writing advice I’ve ever received.

Anyway, I’ve made good progress on my sequel so far. I’m currently on chapter six. As for my other project, I’ve been editing and rewriting a few scenes. That’s actually been going fairly well. I definitely want to set a completion deadline for both. Setting a deadline is a good habit. It keeps me on top of my work, while also managing my other jobs.

I ordered pizza for dinner, which I’m definitely looking forward to. I ended up moving my laptop onto my vanity since the mirror isn’t finished yet, and am going to try writing from here for a bit today while I wait for my laundry to finish. I figured I’d be less distracted sitting on a stool versus laying on bed, wrapped in my fluffy red Indigo blanket. I’ve also got some stuff in my sketchbook to finish colouring…so I think I’ll do that after I post this.

I’m pleased with how my writing has evolved since going through the editing process. It’s kind of weird writing after doing so many edits…and editing for others. I can’t stop thinking “Oh this words one of your crutch words. Change it!” or thinking about better ways to have my characters interact with their surroundings. I’m applying so many different things that I’ve learned from reading and writing and studying the craft all these years, which feels…really nice. It’s just nice to see my own growth. It’s not something I usually pay much attention to unless I decide to revisit my older work.

I’m hoping to post a writing vlog sometime this month. I’ve got a lot of books to read on top of work, so I’m praying I can get to that soon. In the meantime, I’d best get back to work. I want to start colouring before my pizza arrives!

Novel & Editing Update

Howdy Peeps!

I’ve been working away at my last few edits before I go into my full read through of my manuscript. It’s been so much fun. I can’t wait to share this book with you all.

I’ve also been reminding myself to record these last few edits. I nearly forgot! I really want to document this portion of the process because well…this is my novel debut! It’s exciting and honestly it still feels like a dream. I’ve written so many stories over the years it’s incredible that one of them is going to be published. My characters won’t just be mine to laugh and cry with anymore. It’s crazy the more I think about it.

I’ve adored stories my entire life…they have this ability to connect you to people fictional or not through so many mediums. There are so many wondrous places to travel, things to experience…and stories provide all of that adventure. I hope the stories I tell whether it be someone elses through my career as an actress or ones that I tell myself as an author bring some warmth, fun and adventure into someones life.

Stay safe,

Ardin.

Editing Update: Three Chapters Left!

I have three chapters left to edit…just three. It’s also 3 am while I’m writing this and I’m not sure how my brain is functioning. I’ll probably read this post in the morning like, “What did I write?” but I wanted to express my thoughts now while they’re fresh.

I still have to do a full read through again before I’m officially done this edit, and from what I remember there are a couple of places that I wanted to return to just to double check that everything lines up properly. I think there’s also a scene or two that needs a bit more building…but as for everything else, there are only three left to edit. Just three.

I guess this edit took me the majority of the month. It was fun. Hard work but definitely fun. I really enjoyed reading my editors comments. I really only talk about my writing with my sister these days, so having someone else read my work has been fantastic. Aside from twitter and some online writing chats, I don’t usually have discussions about my characters.

I mean, I haven’t even addressed them by their names on my blog or Twitter. I did this because some names had been changed during the editing process, and it was just easier to do initials on Twitter to save character’s…but still. I’m sure if people wanted to know my one MC’s name, they could just go to my publishers website. It was in one of the newsletters.

Wow…this just…everything is really starting to hit me. My novel is being published. Other people are going to be able to read my work. Gah…this is so weird. Weird in a good way. I can’t believe how much editing I got done. I felt like I didn’t do anything today, but apparently I did way more than that single chapter I was going to work on.

Part of me wants to print everything off once I’ve finished and just read through it in its entirety. I wonder if I could finish it in one sitting? I should set some time aside to do that.

I’m definitely treating myself once I finish this edit. I’ve been working on this book for such a long time…and I’ve grown to love it more and more. Editing it has been almost therapeutic. Especially with all that’s been going on this year.

I’m going to go to sleep now. I’ll try and record my final edits for my vlog. I have one that was supposed to go up today but the video had a strange error when I saved it, and I had to start all over. So it will be up tomorrow instead. I mean…today? It will be up on the 30th. Which is today.

I can’t believe I’m almost done this part of the process!

Novel Update

I finally finished writing out my potential scene replacements! I’m so happy. I got very busy working on other projects and thought it would be a long while before I completed them.

Today’s plan is to take a bit of time to read over what I’ve written, maybe get a second opinion from my sister if she’s not too busy (she’s an artist, she’s always busy) and then send it off to my editor for her thoughts.

Currently I think that this scene fits within the narrative but I am worried about it’s length. The scene its replacing was 2 pages shorter. I also struggled with making it a scene that didn’t have any loose ends that would need tying up later.

The more I edit, the more excited I am to have others read this book. It’s my first time publishing anything…and I’ll be honest I’m a bit nervous. I’ve spent years working on this book and my hope is to have others love it as much as I do.

Editing Update: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

There’s a scene in my manuscript that my editor and I both think should be removed…and I’ve been having a debate with myself on whether or not I should replace it with something else or just ignore it completely.

I think I could use it as an opportunity to better develop certain characters, however I don’t want to force something in that doesn’t fit.

Obviously, I’m going to show these potential replacements I’ve written up to my editor for her thoughts on it. In cases like this sometimes it’s easier to have someone else make the final decision. I’m still going to play around with what I’ve done and see if I think it will work with the previous scene and the chapter that follows. If it doesn’t feel natural I won’t bother and will just remove the scene entirely. Otherwise, I’ll keep my fingers crossed and see if I can pull this off.