Author Journal 16th - 22nd January 2023 - SUSAN TIPPETT BRAITHWAITE

Author Journal 16th – 22nd January 2023

Hiya, everyone!

I hope you’re all doing well and had a great week. Last week was a wee bit of a mixed bag for me. I got sucked into another project and didn’t manage to meet the goals I set for myself. But you know what? I’m not too upset about it.

Introducing a New Series for Romantic Suspense Writers

That project I got sucked into? It’s a new series of blog posts on writing romantic suspense… with a side of action-adventure and spies. I’ll be sharing them with all of you starting in February. As you may have guessed, I’m a big fan of the genre, and Running the Asset is firmly in it ?.

The posts are focused on various aspects of the writing process specific to the genre, from outlining and characterisation to editing and publishing. I aim to share the knowledge I’ve gained over the last two decades of writing–and what I’ve learnt while writing Running the Asset. I want to help other writers who’ve struggled to find information dedicated to the genre (the stuff I wish I’d found earlier). So, if you’re interested in writing a more action adventure-y romantic suspense novel or just learning more about the genre, check it out in February. I hope you’ll find them as helpful and informative as I do.

This post contains affiliate links. This means that I may earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase using my link. I only share companies and products that I use and love!

And back to what I was supposed to be doing last week.

Review 9th – 15th January 2023

Last week’s goals were:

Re-evaluate the outline for romance and suspense beats for improvements
Scene blocking for new scenes
Scene blocking for rewrites

How it Went:

If you recall this image from last week in Plottr. You’ll know that my mind is made up of spaghetti. But, since working through all the plotlines, I’ve managed to get it all straightened out and simplified.

There are placeholder scenes for a couple of missing scenes, but it’s all so nice and neat now.

The Things I Didn’t Get Done

I didn’t get around to blocking the new scenes or blocking for the rewrites (I jumped the gun putting that on the list, to be honest). But I’m still happy with the nice clear thread of scenes.

This Week’s Goals

This week I aim to:

Scene blocking for new scenes

That’s it for today. Thanks for stopping by, and take care.

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2 responses to “Author Journal 16th – 22nd January 2023”

Author Journal 16th – 22nd January 2023

January 16, 2023

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Susan T. Braithwaite

January 23, 2023

Hiya ?

I hope you all had a fantastic week because I certainly did! This week was one of the most productive weeks I’ve had in months, and I have yet another secret project to share with you.

Last week, I mentioned I was working on a series of blog posts about writing romantic suspense. What I didn’t say was I’m also working on a non-fiction book series to help other romantic suspense writers.

When I say “working on,” I mean I’ve mapped out an eight-book series that’s easy to digest, with each book being around 20-30K words.

Last week, I finished drafting the first book, and I’m working on the first draft of the second one. Hence the upcoming series of romantic suspense posts.

I got so caught up in working on this series that I started to worry that I wouldn’t have enough time to work on my main project, Running the Asset. But, I took an hour to figure out how to do both projects without sacrificing time for Adam and Elle’s story.

My mornings are often limited and filled with distractions, so I decided to work on the non-fiction book series in the morning. After an interruption, I find it easier to get back into working on non-fiction things. On the other hand, afternoons are usually quieter and have fewer interruptions, making them perfect for working on fiction. So far, it’s been working great!

Review 16th – 22nd January 2023

Here’s what last week’s goal looked like:

Scene blocking for new scenes (Running the Asset)

Here’s How It Went

It went great! I was in a bit of a panic about going back to scene blocking. As you may or may not know, I have an aversion to scene blocking. So much so that I’ll do just about anything to avoid doing it. But ever since I developed my scene cards (well, printable A5 sheets with prompts), it’s been a whole lot easier.

I finally forced myself to sit down and go through my Scene Cheat Book (SCB) as I cry it. It’s basically a brief synopsis of what happens in every scene in the book—created after I finished writing it.

As I went through the SCB, I noted which scenes were missing or needed a total rewrite. Once I’d done that, I grabbed my pre-printed scene cards and went to work blocking out those scenes and slotted them into the SCB.

By the end of yesterday, I had all of the new scenes blocked out and ready to work on this week.

This Week’s Goal

I’m a bit nervous but mostly excited to get back to writing fiction after such a long break, which is handy with all the new scenes blocked out.

So, this week’s fiction writing goals:

Write Intro Adam (Act One Scene Two)

Write Elle’s got company (Act One Scene Three)

Those should come in at a total of 5K words. I think that’s a decent aim for my first time back with fiction writing.

On the Non-Fiction book series goals:

Complete drafting of Book 2

That’s my plan for the week. Fingers crossed that I can make it happen!

What are your goals for the week? Let me know in the comments!

Wishing you all a great week!

Thanks for stopping by, and take care.

Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter!

SUSAN TIPPETT BRAITHWAITE