Category: WIP (Page 7 of 16)

Writing The Story Keeping Me Awake At Night

April 1, 2019 / Katie L. Carroll

I wrote something new recently and very different from anything I’ve written before. It came to me in a rush of excitement and creativity in a way I’ve never experienced before.

I’ve had ideas come crashing in, images or characters or some spark that leads to a story. But this was different. In the past, the ideas have been pieces of something bigger that needed a lot more thought to turn into a full idea.

This time, it was like I was possessed by the muse. It was literally keeping me awake at night. The idea, and moreover the emotion of the story, was a wave that kept churning inside me and wouldn’t let me focus on anything else until I let it out. And it came to me in such a fully formed way.

Not to say that it was easy to write. It required a good amount of research, but the research was just as exciting as the writing. Writing it felt like putting two parts of myself together that I hadn’t found a way to fit in the same context, even though the story is nothing about me in any way. It melded two of my passions that I’ve been trying to figure out how to intersect but had never been able to do so before.

I know this all sounds kind of vague, and I’m purposely avoiding specifics here on the blog for certain reasons that I’m being quiet about right now.

But I wanted to share the enthusiasm I’m feeling right now. Much of the writing and submitting process can be a slog. You face plot points you don’t know how to solve, characters that aren’t fleshed out enough, a voice that doesn’t stand out enough. Then there are the rejections…don’t even get me started.

This, right now, how I’m feeling. It makes all those things worth it. So I just wanted to let you all know that. Thanks for listening!

So Close to “The End” in the Second Elixir Book

February 27, 2019 / Katie L. Carroll

The cover of Elixir Bound by Katie L. Carroll.

Many of you know that I’ve been working on ELIXIR SAVED, a companion novel to my YA fantasy ELIXIR BOUND. Some of you know I’ve been working on it a very long time (see my blog post from 2017 “Why Is It Taking Me So Long To Write The Second Elixir Book?” for some of the reasons). It’s been so long that I wasn’t even sure when I started it, so I took a look back some of my earliest computer files for SAVED and see at least one dating back to 2010.

That’s just the oldest computer file I have on it. I have no idea how long some of my handwritten notes and ideas go back. The truth is that SAVED is the original book I had in mind when I first conceived of the Elixir world, and that was way back when I was still in college, so we’re talking 2003 probably. So a really (insert swearword here) long time!

The good news is that I have all three (yes, that’s three!) point-of-view characters written right up the to climax of the story. They’ve all been in different places for most the story and now they’re finally coming together for that final battle. I know some of the things that are going to happen, but I’ve left some room open for the characters to surprise me. And it’s so intimidating.

I thought once I got the characters to this point that I’d dive right in to finishing this draft. But I find myself hesitating to put the words down, finding that I need some time to think through more of the details. The vision I have so far for these final scenes is kind of vague and fuzzy in spots and I can’t quite pin down what those parts are going to look like. I might not figure that out until I start writing it, though.

Then I start wondering if it’s really that I’m not sure how to finish off the story or if it’s a matter of cold feet. I’ve been working on this story for so long, it’s weird to think about not working on it. Believe me, I have plenty of other projects that I want to start once this one is done (hello, my pretty middle grade witchy book!). And it’s not like finishing this draft means I’m anywhere close to being done with the story (hello, rewrites, revisions, and edits!). So it’s not that I’m afraid I’ll have nothing to do after. What is it exactly that’s holding me back then?

Part of it is definitely worrying about not doing the story justice, an extra large concern when one of the characters is inspired by my sister Kylene. Like I won’t even be close to bridging that gap between what I’ve envisioned for the story and what ends up on the page, which is always a concern with any creative pursuit. Though, it’s not like I need to have it there with a draft anyway…that’s what all those rewrites, revisions, and edits are for.

So why do I have a nervous bundle of energy in my stomach when I think about writing “The End,” something I’ve been striving for all this time? It makes me think about when I’m getting close to finishing a really good book. There’s that urge to read as fast as I can in order to find out what happens. But there’s also this urge to slow down and take it all in. Because once the book is over, that’s it. Sure, you can reread a book, but it’s never the same as the first time.

The End handwritten on a torn sheet of notebook paper.

Perhaps I’m just needing to be in this moment of almost-finished for a little bit before I get there. To take my time to be in the moment and appreciate it before it’s over…to keep those butterflies of anticipation alive a little longer.

Then I need to finish the book because, damn, that many years of working on it is enough already!

What Is This Life Even?

October 10, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

I’ve got all these thoughtful blog posts simmering in my brain, ideas sketched out in my notebook. What I haven’t got is time to write them. Which is actually a good thing. I haven’t had the time because I’ve been lucky to have a bunch of writing events this fall, I’ve got three wonderful kiddos that keep me busy and laughing and loving, and some days the weather has been too beautiful not to get outside. Plus, I’ve been devoting as much of my writing time as I can to drafting ELIXIR SAVED, and that’s actually been going well (fingers crossed I can write THE END by the end of the year).

And while my personal life is in a good place, the larger country and world is more often than not a trash fire, so on days when I do sit down to write, it’s easy to get distracted by that. And then I feel guilty that I have the privilege to be able to call all the politics and stuff a distraction. Yet I also know that my work of writing books for kids is an important and political act (as is all art), so when I’m working, I’m not actually ignoring those things but contributing (hopefully) to the growth of the very people who will be running the country and the world one day.

I try to remember to pause and be in the moment and appreciate where I’m at. I have this writing life that is gaining a little bit of steam and maybe (maybe!?) one day will be a full-time career. And, of course, I have this beautiful family that is a joy and a pain and a million other things all at once.

I guess what I’m saying is life is complicated in a wonderfully messy way. I love my blog, but lately life has been moving too fast to stop and give it the attention it deserves. But that’s okay…it’ll be here when I have the time for it.

Summer Writing Update: Elixirs, Witches, and Pirates!

June 21, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

The kids have been out of school for a week and summer break is in full swing here! We’ve made out lists of activities we’d like to do and places we’d like to go this summer. Some we’ve already done or have planned (like going to the zoo and strawberry picking), while others are probably not going to happen this year (like visit NASCAR’s Hall of Fame).

As for my writing, I’ve got a couple of things going on. I’m working on getting my YA fantasy Elixir Bound with the new cover back up for sale. Right now you can get the ebook of Elixir Bound from Amazon and that’s it. I’ll post when I get it up in paperback and on ebook for the other vendors. Plus, I finally created a book trailer for it, which was a lot of fun. It was nice to work a different set of creative muscles for it. (The map it features is part of the map of the Great Peninsula, which can be seen in full in the new version of Elixir Bound.)

I’ve been on something of a roll with drafting the companion novel Elixir Saved. I’ve been drafting this novel for years…yes, I said years! So long, in fact, that I’ve been calling it my perpetual WIP (work-in-progress). But I think I’m finally crested the murky middle section and can see the far side of the hill. I’m hoping to keep that momentum going over the summer and get it ready for beta readers before the end of the year. I’d like to publish this one some time next year (fingers crossed!).

Research for my next middle grade book has been going well. I’ve been doing a bunch of reading about the witch trials that took place in Connecticut (mostly before the more famous Salem Witch Trials) and what colonial Connecticut was like. I checked out a local history book from the library and mentioned it to my dad because he’s a history nerd. He was like, “Is that the book where I helped write and edit the updated history in the 1980s?” Turns out it was! And my grandfather, who was there when I mentioned it to my dad, was like, “My father, your great-grandfather, helped with the version that was written in the 1930s.” So that was an interesting serendipitous moment.

The witchy middle grade book–which in my mind is pitched as Mean Girls meets The Crucible–doesn’t take place in history, but it will be a contemporary middle grade that delves into history and ties it to the present, much like Pirate Island does with Captain Kidd’s history being woven into Billy’s story in the present day. I hope to start drafting this story soon, but I need to focus on Elixir for now.

Speaking of Pirate Island, the ebook is on sale for $1.99 for a limited time, so scoop that up if you haven’t already (links for Pirate Island on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo). I’ve also got an exciting announcement coming up for Pirate Island once my local library makes it public…just to give you a little teaser there. 😉

And I always have stuff I’m waiting to hear back about, so there’s always the potential for good news (or devastating rejections!). Thus is the nature of the publishing biz.

Anyway, I’m excited for the summer weather and hanging out with the boys and family day trips. And a certain writer/mama’s birthday is coming a few days before a certain gentleman’s first birthday. Oh, and I’ll be going to the big SCBWI conference in L.A. this summer. I’m so excited (I won the trip, so the airfare, hotel, and conference fee were paid for!), but super nervous about leaving the baby. I keep telling myself it’ll be fine. Busy times, busy times.

What are your summer plans?

Weaving Historical Facts Into Middle Grade Fiction

May 15, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

Coming on the heels of discussing the real history and legends that inspired my middle grade adventure PIRATE ISLAND (see my post “The Real Pirate Lore That Inspired PIRATE ISLAND”) and while I’m currently deep in research mode for my next middle grade novel, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to weave real history into novels. And how to do this for children’s books in particular.

Much of the history I’ve researched both on famed pirate Captain William Kidd (for PIRATE ISLAND) and on witch trials in Connecticut in the 17th century (for my current WIP) deals with dark topics and violence. Both involve execution by hanging, murder charges, and other not-so-pleasant topics. I’m a firm believer that children’s writers should not shy away from writing darker stories, and that these stories are important, so long as the material is handled in a thoughtful way (see Newbery winner Kate DiCamillo’s essay in TIME “Why Children’s Books Should Be a Little Sad”).

The key is to keep it age appropriate, which is hard to do when kids anywhere from say 7 or 8 all the way up to 13 or 14 might be reading your book. That’s where subtlety comes in. You can include heavier themes and images in a subtle way where more mature readers will get them and less mature readers will simply gloss over them. I like to think of animated movies for a good example of this. So many drop in jokes that are for the adults but that children just won’t (even if they’re funny to the kids on the surface, they won’t get the innuendo behind it).

Beyond making the material age appropriate, I think it’s important to make the history relevant. Whether that means making it fun (which isn’t necessarily the case of the history I’ve included) or by making it personal. Captain Kidd’s history is personal to Billy, the main character of PIRATE ISLAND, because Billy becomes obsessed with Kidd and models Kidd’s behavior to be brave. The history of the hidden treasure drives the plot of the story, but Billy’s emotional connection to Kidd drives the emotional story line.

I’ve only scratched the surface on this topic, but in the interest of keeping my blog posts short, I’ll leave you all on that thought for now. But there’s so much more material I have on weaving history into stories, I have to revisit this topic. Anything in particular you all would like me to discuss on the next post?