Kathryn's New Blog

After almost 3 years of book blogging I'm moving from blogger to wordpress. All of my posts and comments have been exported to wordpress. I still have some things to do to help redirect RSS feeds and for my blogger posts to link directly to the same post on wordpress. I don't have time for that right now so head on over to my new blog!

Kathryn Cooper Writes

kathryncooperwrites.com

I wanted to merge both of my blogs, Clean Teen Fiction and Clean Adult Fiction. I also wanted a blog where I could post about my journey to publishing. I hope to get my YA book published one day. 

My new twitter is @katcoopwrites. My new facebook is facebook.com/kathryncooperwrites.

Revising My Manuscript

Hi everyone! Kathryn here. I know it's been a long time since I posted on here. I haven't been writing much recently since  I'm pregnant with my 4th boy! Early mornings before my kids wake up is the best time for me to write so with morning sickness writing just didn't happen. I'm feeling fine now and back on the saddle. :)

I'm almost finished with my first revising read-through, on word doc page 163 of 204. This time through I'm looking at the content checking to see if things make sense and are consistent. For example, I found mistakes like changing the name of a side-character or the eye color or knowing the name of a stranger before meeting them. Those things had to be fixed. The Everything Guide to Writing Children's Books by Lesley Bolton had some good advice on the revision process. (Click cover below to view on Amazon, if you purchase anything after clicking one of my links I'll receive a percentage of the sale while your cost remains the same.)



I'll need another read-through to check the content again. Then I'll have 3 or 4 read-throughs after that to check for other specific things. The last read-through will be checking the grammar. I'm having fun reading my manuscript again. I'm excited to finish revising and get an agent to help me get a publisher. I can't wait to get my book into the hands of all you readers out there!

Another writing book I enjoyed was Writing Magic by Gail Carson Levine.


Have you read any good books about writing?

First Draft Complete!

I can't believe I finally did it! I started this book three years ago! After stopping for months at a time I finally got into a good rhythm a few months ago. There is so much work to do on this draft. I changed names, character descriptions, and little plot lines throughout the book as I went along. I plan to re-write the first chapter too. But that's okay! I AM FINISHED WITH MY FIRST DRAFT!!! This was the biggest goal I ever gave myself, and I can't believe I finally accomplished it. I AM SO HAPPY!

First Draft Word Count: 68,833
Double Spaced Pages: 216 (I think that'll be around 275 novel pages.)

My Writing Progress and Goals

Hi Writing Friends! I wanted to share my writing progress and goals with you.

I got the idea to write a book over three years ago. At first I thought I'd write a picture book. I even submitted one to a few publishers. I enjoyed the writing and submitting process. At that time my love for reading young adult books was quickly growing. So I made the life changing decision to write a young adult novel.

I really love making up my own fictional characters and world. After reading everyone else's books it's my turn to decide the story and share it with the world. It's taken a long time. I struggle with Writer's Confidence. I have to fight thoughts that tell me I can't write, and everyone will laugh at me. Sad, but true. I also am a stay at home mom for three energetic boys, 5, 3, and 1 year olds. My life isn't too crazy or anything. ;)

I hope to finish my first draft in the next month or two and start on the editing process. I'm actually looking forward to editing my book to be its best. Now that I see the end of my first draft in sight I have the motivation to write faster.

Current Writing Stats:
180 pages
56,707 words

I'll keep you posted. Happy Writing!