A boy, A turtle, A monster
A boy, a turtle, and a monster walk into the woods. No, this isn't the beginning of a joke, it's the start of my 7-day book challenge.
Last week, I participated in a 7-day book challenge where we started from nothing and were challenged to build a first draft in 7-days. I chose to write a middle grade adventure for boys, inspired by books like Goosebumps and National Geographic Kids.
Starting the challenge
I knew from the start that I wanted to include an animal in my story, and after some research, I decided on a turtle. Why a turtle? Well, they're actually the least represented animals in children's literature (according to my Amazon research), so I thought it would be a fun niche to write for.
As for the plot of my story, it's all about forming a new family. The main character, Sam, who's mom is starting to date again a year after his dad passed away, forms a bond with a turtle he finds in the woods.
As most of you know, I love mythology so I thought it would be fun if the boy finds THE turtle that holds the world on its back. The turtle is sought by evil faeries for nefarious reasons. Sam must work with his reforming family to protect the turtle and the world from eternal darkness.
The draft of my book was 25,000 words, which is the length of a Goosebumps book. It's about a boy who forms a new family with a turtle and a monster. It was a lot of fun to write, and I'm looking forward to working on it more.
How do you write a 25,000 word book in 7-days?
With focus, planning and some AI. Some is the keyword. I didn't do a ton of AI work on this one. I did some but a significant amount of this book was written by me. The brainstorming was heavily using AI but the actual generation of words was 60% me, 40% AI.
Want to write fast? Here's how I did it. Your mileage may vary :)
1. Outline your story. This will help you stay on track and make sure you hit all the key points.
On this one, I'd say be open to flow. Don't plan so much that you kill the flow. Let the story go and see where it goes. This is where I love to use the AI program. It helps me not get lost in "now what" or "should that happen". Again, remember FIRST DRAFT. It doesn't have to be good. It just has to get your ideas flowing.
2. Make a writing schedule and stick to it. This will help you stay productive and not get overwhelmed.
I did 1.5 hours each night with some extra time over the holiday weekend. Total, I spent about 15 hours writing. 2 hours planning (this is where the AI really helped). I chatted with my writing support team about the book and accountabilibuddies online to keep focused.
As a fun side note, I recorded myself writing the book with AI. I plan on sharing that as a digital download available with the book when it gets published in the future. I do NOT plan on putting a lot of effort into this book. It was a toy project and not something I'm going to invest a lot of time in. The learning was the value to me. The story is fun and maybe I'll do more with it but probably not.
3. Remember, it doesn't have to be good to be a first draft
Yeah, I said this already :) I'll say it again but it is critical. Your first draft doesn't have to be a masterpiece. I love a quote from one writer I heard: "I'm a terrible writer but a great re-writer." They didn't focus on making something good first. They just made something and then discovered the greatness in it.
In this book, I saw the need to put more about the dead dad into the story. I'll do that on my next pass. Right now I have a fun adventure. An interesting main character. A magic turtle. Monstrous faeries. And a future step-dad who really is trying to do right by his family-to-be.
So, what's the raw output look like?
Normally I'd save this for my newsletter but here I'm going to share it for you all because I get a lot of questions about what AI produces. This is mostly AI produced content. Here is Chapter 1 of "On His Back":
Chapter 1
As Sam walked through the park, he saw a turtle on its back. The world was spinning around it and the turtle looked helpless. Sam knew he had to help. He picked up the turtle and turned it over. The turtle was covered in mud and had scratches all over its shell. Sam cleaned him off and the turtle scampered away back into the woods.
"What did you find?" Sam's mom called over to him.
"A turtle." Sam said.
"That's great! What's his name?" she asked.
"I don't know." Sam replied wiping the mud from the turtle's shell on his jeans.
Seeing the streak of mud smearing along side the stains of other smears of mud, Sam's mom sighed.
"Don't get so worked up." Her new boyfriend Greg whispered into her ear. "Boys get dirty." He smiled and laughed. She laughed too. She was happy and Sam was happy for her but he didn't want Greg to be his dad.
"I'm going to name him Shelly." Sam said as he walked away.
"That's a nice name." His mom called after him.
"Good turtle name." Greg said. He came over to Sam and kneeled down to him. They both watched the turtle crawl through the trees and eventually vanish. Greg didn't mind the dirt and mud which surprised Sam. Greg always dressed so nice. Sam was just a jeans and t-shirt kid but Greg always wore a suit and tie. Even on weekends.
"Turtles are cool." Greg said.
"Yeah, I guess." Sam said as he walked away. He didn't want to talk about turtles with Greg. He wanted to talk about turtles with his dad. The turtle vanished in the woods.
Greg stepped back to Sam's mom. She frowned but Greg buried his disappointment in a smile. "It's going to take time." Greg rubbed her shoulder. "We just need to give him space Carole." Greg kissed her cheek.
Sam shivered. Gross kissing and he didn't want his mom to be called Carole. Only his dad could call her that.
"Come on let's go home." Greg said as he put his arm around her. They walked away and Sam followed behind them. He looked back one last time for the turtle but he was gone.
Sam stared a moment longer into the woods and saw a hint of sunlight hit something on the forest ground. Whatever it was, glowed bright in the sunlight and seemed to swirl. Sam looked harder, a cloud moved in and the glow was gone.
Examination
Notice that Chapter 1 is VERY short. This is common in Goosebumps (remember, that's what I was modeling on).
Also, notice we don't have a lot of descriptors here. Just talking heads. Yes, that's also by design. The narration, dialog and slight elements of description are enough of a sketch that I know where to go next. I need to describe the park more. I need to describe Sam, Carole and Greg more but for right this moment, all I need to know is where they are, what they're doing and create a hook at the end to get the read curious.
This won't win any awards but it is the first draft. And, I'm not trying to win awards. Just trying to be fun.
Wrap up
It was a fun 7-day challenge. 20 chapters later and I'm pretty happy with this first draft. We'll see where Sam and Shelly go from here. I'll probably make this a newsletter exclusive and release it for free so sign up for my newsletter to get it when it comes out.
[dis]connection
Don't forget, [dis]connection launches on July 22nd! Make sure to pre-order your copy today to get it on launch. [dis]connection is a YA modern dark fantasy with a tech spin novel-in-verse. Lots of words there but I'm working towards a niche. If you know a young woman who is interested in tech and fantasy, this book is for them.
Here’s the blurb:
Making friends is hard but, creating friends from stolen technology can be deadly.
After a bullying incident leaves new girl Erin isolated and alone, she finds an experimental 3d printer and creates herself a friend, just not a human friend. But, when her creation turns violent, Erin must connect with new friends and push her programming skills beyond anything she’s ever imagined: Hacking the AI mind of her creation.
[dis]connection is book one of the Pandora Project. Magic, technology and mythology wrap together in this dark modern fantasy series where mystical societies and big tech companies collide for control over reality.
What will be unleashed in the Pandora Project? Start to find out with [dis]connection.
Poem for the week
I hope you enjoy (or find it reflective) this week’s poem.
Until
I like to walk
in graveyards
and look at
the names
the dates
the dedications.
Among those
names
I’m not alone
I’m not lost
I’m not wandering.
I’m with others
on the same journey
with the same destination
and when I arrive,
I will know them.
The loving mothers, wives, sisters.
The caring fathers, husbands, brothers,
not workers
not their jobs.
I will know them by what they did
that mattered
as they will know me
the same.
But, what will they know of me?
<eom>
Thanks to Jan at https://bookseedstudio.wordpress.com/ for hosting Poetry Friday this week.
See you all next week as we enter the countdown to launch for [dis]connection! I’m going to have some neat things going on around launch so make sure to get on my newsletter to keep up with all the exciting news from give-a-ways to launching a new immersive companion story to [dis]connection.
See you there!