First Draft Unlocked!

As usual I’m working ahead, promoting one book, editing another and drafting the next! While I’m beyond excited with how well a Taste of Italian Sunshine is doing in the Kindle charts, I’m probably even happier about finishing a first draft.

I love the drafting stage – being immersed in the book universe, using every brain cell available, unravelling the complexity of characters and themes and the tiny details that make a book come alive. There’s a magic few weeks (or months, depending on the book/life!) after fumbling around in the dark for the first part of the draft, where the characters are living in my head and the scenes just come to life and I know where the story is going and it is THE MOST FUN.

Book eight for Boldwood was the fastest draft I’ve ever written, 81,500 words in five weeks! I will of course need to fix it up, but I’d had the story mostly fully-formed in my mind for a few months so I was desperate to get it out. I did write a lot in the evening as well as during the day, but I managed to keep weekends mostly for kid stuff (although there are some parts of the house that didn’t get cleaned the entire time I was drafting). The difference I think was just that the characters’ goals and motivations were clear and juicy and they just unravelled as I was writing, meaning my daily output was more like 3-4,000 rather than the 2,000 I managed with Snow Days.

I think also because both characters are parents, I strongly identified with them and that also helped the story come pouring out. I just loved the tension in this one, which mainly came from the satisfying set-up (possibly another reason it was a quick write?) It’s a *very* awkward situation the two main characters find themselves in.

So what is it about? Well because you are wonderful for searching out my blog, here’s a bit of a sneak peek:

It’s about forty-something Joanna (Jo) who is reluctantly attending her ex-husband’s wedding to support her teenage children Liss and Dec (gosh I loved writing the kids). On her way to Spain, she realises another reluctant wedding guest is on her flight – the bride’s ex-husband Adrian, who she knows (and resents) from the parent-teacher association at the primary school her kids used to attend.

Of course, the flight is diverted and a series of mishaps leads to a disastrous road trip…