Countdown to a RomCom Novel

Cartoon image of an imaginary book title Smart Goals by Kim Clarke

When I started this website in September of last year, my intention was to have my first novel, a romantic comedy, written by the end of the summer.

 

But I had just picked a random date. I hadn’t even defined what ‘write a novel’ meant. A full first draft? Ready for professional editing? Ready to publish? Not only that, but I had no idea what was really involved in accomplishing any of it.

 

Back in my Microsoft days, we would scream from the rooftops about our SMART goals. (That was a lot of noise pollution. I apologize.) So why were my writing goals so wishy-washy? How could I countdown the days to my novel accurately if I had no idea what success actually looked like?

SMART = Specific + Measurable + Actionable + Realistic + Time-based

It was time to break out the nerd skills. Here’s what I came up with…

 

SPECIFIC

Finish writing and self-editing my romantic comedy novel. Write as many drafts as needed to achieve my best work and conduct multiple rounds of self-edits. Get the manuscript to the point where it is ready to be sent out for external feedback and editing.

 

MEASURABLE

Every genre (romance), and subgenre (romantic comedy), has a specific set of norms. Things that literary agents and/or readers expect. One of these is approximate word count. For a romantic comedy, that seems to hover around 80,000 words. So, while I won’t set a specific word count goal, I want to stay within kissing distance of that number. I will complete one manuscript that will be roughly 80,000 words.

 

ACTIONABLE

I know what I need to do to accomplish the goal, and I believe I know how to do it.

 

I started this process with a detailed outline. No, that’s a lie. I started with a really bad first draft that I wrote during NaNoWriMo. I then realized I didn’t know my characters at all. I spent months discovering who they were, what they wanted, what they needed, how they felt about each other and why. THEN I wrote a detailed outline. Some random scenes too.

 

The next steps were to write a draft that pulled it all together, write another draft that made it better, and rinse and repeat until I got a story I was proud of. Sprinkle in a few online writing classes and craft books along the way. Cycle it through a full set of edits and voila! Ready for outside input.

 

REALISTIC

I find comfort in knowing. When I decided to write a novel, I attended writer’s conferences, read craft books and blogs, took online classes, joined a writers group (Love those Tipsy Typers!).

 

Did it make me a better writer? Absolutely. Was it often just an excuse to avoid writing? Also absolutely. But it helped me see the big picture. To know what I was striving for and what I’d need to work on in order to write a novel I could be proud of. It showed me that I still had a LOT to learn. And that it was possible.

 

TIMELINE

It’s hard to estimate how long it will take to do something you’ve never done before. But I took what I’d learned and plugged a bunch of numbers into Excel to make it look official.

 

The result? I determined that writing a novel by the end of the summer would be possible, but almost certainly terrible. I also decided I could write several drafts in that timeframe and that I should have it ready for outside review and edits by the end of 2024.

 

  1. Complete Draft 1—May 31, 2024
  2. Complete Draft 2—July 31, 2024
  3. Ready for Beta Readers and Outside Editing—December 31, 2024

 

So, what happens between step 2 and 3 that takes five months? MANY layers of edits.

P.S. I did, in fact, complete Draft 1 on May 31, 2024. Whoo hoo!!

 

Layers of Edits

There are a number of story elements I want to focus on, possibly each in a dedicated edit. Those I know of currently are…

 

  1. Story and structure (story consistency, plot holes, pacing)
  2. Characters (character development, dialogue)
  3. Setting (setting consistency, atmosphere)
  4. Scenes and chapters (scene structure, chapter flow, timeline)
  5. Style (point of view, voice and tone, narrative, word choice)
  6. Emotion and theme (emotional impact, themes)
  7. Technical details (grammar, punctuation, formatting, name and term consistency)

 

Anything I’m missing? Let’s add it to the list!

 

Novel Countdown: Goals and Dates

My goal is…

 

Finish writing and self-editing my romantic comedy novel by the end of December 2024

 

I’m constantly learning new things about writing, my characters and my story. I don’t think I’ll ever reach a point where I can confidently write The End and know there was nothing else I could do to make the novel better. It’s like turning in a big exam. Are you ever really finished or did you just run out of time?

 

By giving myself an end date of December 31, 2024, I’m forcing myself to scramble. To write for hours every day, listen to audiobooks of novels while walking the dogs, flip through craft books while waiting for the dentist. Many of us do our best work under pressure. Sometimes we have to create that pressure for ourselves.

What projects have you done where you gave yourself a firm deadline? Did you stick to it? What did you do to help keep yourself on track?

Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear from you!

Post Category:
The Journey
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7 Responses

  1. Whoo hoo!! Awesome! CONGRATS Kim on completing Draft 1 on May 31, 2024.

    While your post mentions Beta readers, some of us would like to peruse the alpha version(s)… realizing that ‘dev builds’ don’t quite translate well in the world of books (just yet!) …

    1. Thank you Bobby! I would be honored for you to read the alpha version 🙂 Maybe we need a code name for it like we have for software products. I see another Reader Input Challenge in your future! 😄

  2. Nice! Always love-hate a good set of SMART goals. Training for a full or half marathon comes, for me, with a bunch of goals that build on each other. Follow the plan, enjoy the training.m, as I never know what race day will bring. Stick to the plan, but also understand life happens, injuries happen, but keep working best I can to reach the goal. Good luck Kim!

    1. Thanks Kathy! I agree with the love-hate relationship with SMART goals for sure. I think sometimes it’s nothing more than a fancy structure for a mediocre goal. But I think it’s a helpful tool. In my case, it reminded me to assess if I really understood what I needed to do to accomplish the goal (no) and if I really understood how long it would take for each step (also no.) That led to more research. I love your point about enjoying the training. With writing, it’s not enough to want to have written a book, you need to want to write. And to recognize that it’s not a linear journey. Bumps and pivots happen. Getting back on track when you can is what will ultimately determine success. Thanks for all your support, Kathy!

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