Lauren Sapala

Category: Writing the Sloppy First Draft and How to Edit

  • Yay! I Finished My Book! So Why Do I Feel So Depressed?

    Yay! I Finished My Book! So Why Do I Feel So Depressed?

    Yesterday I typed those two little words every writer dreams of when we’re in the middle of a WIP…The End. I finally finished the novel I’ve been feverishly working on for the past seven months. For me, seven months is a record-breaking length of time to write a novel, but with this one, I just couldn’t help it. It was one of those novels that forced me to drop everything and write it, whether I wanted to or not.

    You would think I would feel happy. You would think I would be out celebrating. But, I feel the exact opposite. Now that the book is out of me (the sloppy first draft anyway) and I know the entire story of my characters, I kind of feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest. (more…)

  • Why Writing Your Way Through the Middle of a Book Is So. Damn. Hard.

    Why Writing Your Way Through the Middle of a Book Is So. Damn. Hard.

    Every time I embark on writing a new novel, it’s like total amnesia sets in about the last time I wrote a novel. The beginning is incredibly fun. The characters are fresh and new and interesting. They’re the irresistibly charismatic people I’ve just met at a party who I want to talk to all night. The story itself is intriguing. I can’t wait to find out what’s really going on and how it all turns out. Eagerly, I set to work and I just know it, this is going to be the best book I’ve ever written.

    And then…I hit the middle. (more…)