Book 1 vs. Book 2: The Tortoise and the Hare

Dorlana Vann ♦ June 5, 2013 ♦ 1 Comment

When my idea for my contemporary romance punched me in the face, I was actually in the middle of working on another rough draft. I figured I could work on both books, and did for a while, until the romance demanded all of my attention. Since this book wasn’t planned, like NaNoWriMo books usually are: ready, set, go – I approached it in what I will call the old-fashioned-way.

This method took approximately three months – (The same amount of time it took me to write the rough draft of Jaclyn’s Ghost in 2004 – which was before I even knew NaNo existed.) After that, I was introduced to NaNoWriMo and wrote 5 rough drafts that way –3 of these made it all the way to completion.

What was interesting is that the completed old-fashion-way novel took the same amount of time as a NaNo completed novel. See below:

NaNoWriMo: 1 month rough draft + five months edit = 6 months to complete

Old-Fashioned-Way: 3 months rough draft + 3 months edit = 6 months to complete

But now we are getting to what this post is about. I’m now working on book 2 of my contemporary romance series: My calendar says that I started the rough draft Feb 8. According to my calculations, that’s four months! And I’m only at the halfway mark …

What the hell?!

I have had a few detours, with family illness and such, but I’ve pretty much stayed on my writing schedule as much as possible. But I’ve also spent more time going over my beginning chapters too – and this is my first series, I usually write stand-alones. So I’m hoping this will be like the tortoise from the story, The Tortoise and the Hare: where it is slow to start but finishes with a blue ribbon. By this theory and my writing history, I should at least be finished in the same amount of time. Right?

5 months rough draft + 1 month edits = 6 months to complete  🙂

*sigh*

That doesn’t seem likely.

Unlike the The Tortoise and the Hare, I have to remember that novel writing is not a race. What’s important is that I have the best possible story. It’s just that I have this horrible trait unbecoming a writer. I hate to wait. Even on myself. I have no patience. I want the story finished. I want to know what happens! I want to get to the end of the first phase so that I can move on to the next phase, the 2^nd draft.

And like the tortoise, I should remember that even though this draft seems to be taking forever, with perseverance I will get to the end … and, fingers crossed, it will be a winner.

Love and Laughter,

Dorlana