Dying for Daiquiris – 10,000 words written

Having written three books, I can say that the part of the process that I find most fascinating is the transition from Hot Trash to I’m Proud of This. The transformation from first draft to slightly-less-rough draft.

That magical transformation has happened with all three of my previous books–I’m especially proud of the dramatic change Mai Tais & Murder underwent–and with Dying for Daiquiris, I’m simply trusting the process.

Because, right now, the book is solidly in Hot Trash land.

I started writing on January 1 with a commitment of 1,000 words a day. My goal is 30,000 words by January 31, which will be half the book.

As of the session I just finished, the book is at just over 10,000 words, and comparing it to the first draft of Mai Tais & Murder, I know I’m making similar “mistakes.” When this goes to my editor, I know what she’ll say: “This is fine. It’s just that nothing is really happening.”

“This is fine. It’s just that nothing is really happening.”

The story is plodding a little bit as I get my writing feet back under me. In revisions, I know I’ll need to make the first twenty percent of the book move faster, but for whatever reason, my initial cut tends to hobble along. It’s like the first stretch of a roller coaster, when the cars climb that incline before the first big drop and it’s so slow you feel like you might actually die of terror (or is that just me?).

And once we find that dead body, that’s when things start flying.

But for now, my job isn’t to critique the story in its current form. My job is to simply to trust the process and show up for the words.

Magic will take it from there.