So, a recap of August: I didn’t work on the book as much as I wanted to. I moved into my own place at the beginning of the month and seriously underestimated how much time it would take to unpack, transfer things over, acquire what I need (the only chair I’ve had is my office chair for nearly 3 weeks!), and acclimating to my new surroundings. I’m finally getting a sofa delivered this weekend! You don’t realize how luxurious a chair is until you have don’t have one. LMAO.
I am really excited with the direction the book is heading in. I basically tossed out my original outline, and I am starting from scratch. This is exciting and stressful. The creative in me gets off on the unknown, while the business side hides under the bed, moaning and rocking back and forth. Writing by the seat of your pants is like trying to follow a path on a pitch-black night with a dying flashlight. Every once in a while, you can see ahead, but for the most part, you’re going step by step. It’s more of an intuitive approach. Instead of acting like the director and giving the characters instructions, you take yourself out of it completely and attune yourself to them and let them lead without preconceived notions. I think this makes for much more realistic, shocking, and heartfelt writing. The downside is, it takes more time, but this is actually my preferred method of writing that I’m going back to.
I’m trying to condense as much of the story as possible for your sakes and my own. I’m hoping I can kill off one book, but we’ll see. Instead of the rigid outline I had for each book, I’ve tossed that aside and have been introducing scenarios I hadn’t intended to discuss until later books.
Take the snippets with a grain of salt. I’m mixing and matching and will probably toss a lot of shit. At this stage, I jump back and forth in the timeline, jot down fragments of discussions and potential scenarios, and concoct a ton of experiments to see if I like the results. This part is extremely messy and most of the time I don’t know what I’m doing, so if you don’t mind reading stuff that may or may not make it into the book, feel free to follow along. I will continue posting random tidbits/snippets. If you’d like to be notified when I start posting the actual raw draft, I will announce that publicly when I’m ready.
I don’t have a release date, and I’m not going to give one, considering my poor track record with such things. I’m just going to say what stage I’m in. Right now, I’m doing the first draft. I expect to make a lot of headway in September now that I’m settled in.
If you’d like to talk to other readers about the Singed Series or books in general, join our Discord! I pop in and out of there throughout the week. I post on Ream and Patreon, so Discord is where we gather to chitchat! Don’t be offended if I don’t respond to comments on snippets. I try to avoid them because I don’t want to be influenced by anything while I’m creating, so I remain happily oblivious unless I’m tagged on Discord.
I know it’s hard waiting, but I’m actually really happy that I spent time away from Roth and Jasmine and didn’t immediately dive into book 4. A lot has happened in my personal life that has given me a different perspective on things, which changed the trajectory of this book. It’s scary how Jasmine and my life mirror one another.
I am stoked that I have a safe place to write this book because I am going to be an emotional wreck! I wrote Bitter Confessions and Corrupt Obsession around my sister and brother-in-law. I’d smile at them as I went to get my coffee and an hour or two later, emerge from my room distraught with puffy, bloodshot eyes. They were completely baffled by my process. LMAO. I’m relieved they won’t have to see me go through this book. 💀
I’m looking forward to cooler weather, starting a routine, and getting emotionally wrecked by my characters. What are you all looking forward to? 🤣
I think that about sums it up for me. As always, thank you all for your patience and support!