Things are going…ok? I’m pleasantly surprised at how fast my work on my WIP is going now that I’m in the third act. I had some problems with one of my AI editors because a scene was a little too spicy for them, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome.
I hope to wrap this draft up….maybe by the of the month? Maybe?
Then, post-production starts.
Then I have to do fucking open heart surgery on a structural basis to fix some real lingering problems in the nature of the novel. Like, my hero is too passive at times. And there is a moment in the second half of the second act where even I, as the writer, wonder why in the world anyone would want to hang out with these people.
They all seem so unhappy for no reason.
But, then, in the third act, things bounce back to where they should be.
Anyway, I’ve really enjoyed this struggle this go round when it comes to working on a novel. I continue to think, because I can’t afford a human editor, that I will get an AI to “gently” edit my copy as one of the last stages in the post-production process before I query.
I’m pleasantly surprised at how fast I’m going through the third act outline of this scifi dramedy I’m working on. I’m so fucking moody about my writing that there’s a chance it could be months before I finish this draft, but if I can focus I think it could be weeks.
And THEN what I’m going to do is do open heart surgery on some of the structure of the novel. Then I’m going to do “color correction” of the novel to stop it being the current hodge-podge of drafts that it is.
AND THEN, once THAT is done, I MAY take the controversial step of doing a once over with AI to give it a final burnish. I’m only mulling do this because, lulz, I can’t afford a fucking editor.
So, I would instruct the AI to “gently” edit my writing simply to bump it up to query-level. Of course, being a lot of people are dumb and horrible, they would say this means I “let AI write the novel for me.”
Nope. I have done so much hard work. But I just can’t afford a human manuscript consultant or a human editor. And my beta readers are simply not going to give me the input that I need. (And I can’t afford to pay a beta reader.)
I still haven’t quite decided to this yet, but I may.
I need to just do it and start reading Annie Bot. It’s a “comp” book to my scifi dramedy and, as such, it would really help the querying process to read it.
And yet, I’m really struggling to read it. To even look at it at all.
I guess the key reason this is because I’m not thrilled to be confronted with how badly my writing sucks in comparison.
So, the question is: am I ever going to read it?
Well, I own a copy to read. So, that’s a start.
And I do keep looking at the book. It’s just, I would rather keep working on my own novel instead of reading someone else’s novel about a similar premise.
As an “AI First” novelist, I sometimes ask AI to act as a more aggressive manuscript consultant than I’d normally prefer — punching up a scene when I’m frustrated by how short it is and need a quick-and-dirty way to get it to length. This adds to my workload later, but at least it gives me a guide for fixing length problems down the road.
The real risk is in the “color correction” — my term for the revision pass where I make every line sound like me. If I don’t do that properly, there’ll be an obvious gap between what I wrote and what AI expanded. That pass is where I earn the manuscript.
All of this is happening against a timeline that’s coming into focus. I’m targeting September 1st to start querying. I’ll hopefully — maybe — wrap up this draft within a few weeks. Then comes color correction, and then comes finding beta readers, which frankly worries me more than the writing. I have real doubts I’ll find anyone willing to read the thing.
One thing I’ll probably revisit during color correction: character names. A relative told me the “weird names” were off-putting, and I don’t entirely disagree — but I don’t entirely agree either. I’ll need to sit with that one.
Still, this is by far the farthest I’ve ever gotten in the process of writing a query-worthy novel. I feel a little sheepish about how many years it’s taken to reach this point, but I’ve had fun getting here. And for the first time, the next stage — actually querying — feels like something that’s about to happen rather than something I’m imagining.
I continue to cruise through the third act of the latest draft of this scifi dramedy WIP. One issue I’m facing is the scenes of late just aren’t long enough. I’m struggling to get them to be two pages, which is annoying.
My “comp” novel.
I plan on fixing that issue when I do “color correction” as part of the next draft of the novel. It won’t really be a full new draft, but rather just a lot editing because my ability to get anyone to beta read this thing is up to debate.
I continue to not read the comp novel for my novel, “Annie Bot.” I know I should, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Just the idea that there is a novel — especially what appears to be a feminist screed — that is so similar to my novel rattles my cage.
I have read a few pages and I already am being too hard on myself for my lousy writing. And, yet, I have to — have to — get over myself and read that novel so I can properly refer to it in my query letter.
I am also beginning to have a growing sense of unease about the querying process. This is, in a sense, the farthest I’ve ever gotten when it comes to this process of traditional publishing because I know if I actually put the work in this novel is query-level good.
There continue to be some structural problems with the novel that I’m going to have to do open heart surgery on the document to fix. That’s going to be a real pain in the ass because I’m ready to take things to the next level — seeing if I can get someone to be a beta reader.
But I’m so flat broke and generally don’t know anyone willing to be a firm but fair beta reader that, lulz, I’m going to have to lean on AI to be my “manuscript consultant” for as long as possible.
Already, AI has pointed out that my hero is way too passive. That’s one of the structural issues I’m going to have to fix.
Things are going pretty well with the scifi dramedy novel I’m working on. Even though at least one of the AIs I’m using balks at the term “dramedy” for the novel. But that is the general goal of the work — I want it to be very much in the same vein as “Her.” Though, admittedly, the Megan Fox vehicle “Subservience” is, in a way, a better comp movie. But my novel is more like if Subservience met The Enteral Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (in my dreams.)
I’m currently in the third act and hope to wrap up this draft in a few weeks if I can stop drifting towards my goal and get my ass in gear. I have something pretty special in play here and it’s just a matter of doing it.
Once I get this draft of the novel finished, I’m going to take a VERY DEEP BREATH and do some structural open heart surgery on it. It’s going to be a serious fucking pain, but it has to be done.
I keep getting nagged by the AIs that I use that my hero is too “passive.” And there are some other issues that simply have to be addressed.
I am a bit annoyed that in the second half of this draft my scenes just are too short. That, too, is going to be something I’m going to really give a lot of thought to. Your scenes are supposed to be, in general, on average 1,000 words.
Though, I will note, that that’s just a rule of thumb. I feel a little uneasy that my scenes in general seem shorter than what they should be. But I think my style on a structural basis is closer to Stieg Larsson than anything else.
Anyway, today I hope to knock out a few scenes and wrap up an complete chapter. That’s the goal, at least. I keep worrying about what literary agents will think of me as a person when they do due diligence on me.
Are they going to think I’m too nuts to take on as a client? I really worry about that. I’m the first to admit that I have some pretty gaping character flaws, but, in general, I mean well.
Or, as the late Annie Shapiro would say, I’m a “delusional jerk with a good heart.”
This novel is very cinematic, if nothing else. Too bad I would be nearly 60 if the absolute best happened and I sold this novel, it became a success and then was adapted into a movie.
I’m just about to get to the end of the second act with this scifi dramedy I’m working on. It’s been a tough few scenes, though, to write. I just was beginning to feel as if the characters just weren’t very likeable.
And it didn’t help that the AIs I’ve been using to map this novel out really wanted to lean into the very elements of unlikability that I was trying to avoid.
So, I definitely had a little bit of a crisis of faith for a few days there. But I think — think — I’ve finally sorted things out enough that I can start to move faster, especially once I get into the third act.
I think once get fully into the third act, things should move a lot faster. Though, the last time I went through the third act I kind of cheated some just to stress test the outline. As such, there are some scenes that are barely written.
This go round, however, I’m going to force myself to write fully developed scenes.
And THEN, I am going to “color correct” the scenes of the next draft. That is going to take some time. Probably as much as a few months.
Which would keep me on track to begin querying this novel around Sept 1st.
A LOT of chaos is probably going to erupt in my life between now and then, but, if nothing else, just the idea of being able to query gives me some hope.
So. I’m currently torn. The novel I’ve been working on for months now may be falling apart just as I have a great idea for a new novel that would hopefully fix a lot of structural issues.
But.
I don’t know.
I really like the novel I’m working on as-is and I’m so old that I’m reluctant to just throw everything away. I say this in the context of Gemini 3.1 pro telling me different ways to “improve” the novel I’m currently working on.
I’m old. Too old to do what I want with this new scifi concept I’ve come up with — write a trilogy. So, instead, I hope to write a tight novel that deals with a really profound concept.
The idea is something I’ve written about before, something I call The Impossible Scenario.
I think — think — I’ve come up with an interesting way to present the story. I only am even doing any of this because as I work on the actual main novel I’m working on….I’m getting a little nervous.
I’m getting a little nervous that the characters aren’t very likeable. As such, I want a novel where there’s no question that the main character is likeable and interesting.
Of course, I have to put my weird spin on things, but that’s to be expected.
I really need to get over myself and read the comp book for my novel, Annie Bot. I’ve flipped through it a little bit and I’m already rattled that it’s a much better written novel than mine.
And, yet, I think that my novel is still written well enough that people will enjoy it. And I do have a really strong backup novel concept that I can explore if something goes wrong with this novel.
My main concern right now is I worry that as I enter the third act of this novel that my characters just aren’t likeable enough. I’m worried that I have to characters who don’t like each other forced to be together and, as such, no one will actually want to finish the fucking novel.
So, as such, I keep daydreaming about this backup novel I have that is much more like Project Hail Mary — a positive protagonist that does something cool and extraordinary.
Now that I have one comp book, I’m worried this is just the beginning of a flood of novels that essentially tell the same story as my novel, just in a different way. But I have to focus. I have to keep going until something really dramatic happens and I have to stop this novel and work on a different one.
If all else fails, I still have my thriller trilogy to work on, but that one would require a lot more work and I simply don’t have forever. I’m not getting any younger.
One thing I wish I could do is focus on more than on project at a time. That would really help things. But, alas, that just isn’t very applicable.
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