Elle Houston

Adventures of a New Writer

October 10, 2020

13. Finding My First Editor

So I finished my first draft and then let it breathe for a couple months. Stepping away was a good opportunity so I could look at it with a fresh pair of eyes again. I also discovered The Novel Factory could export my manuscript into a digital format that I could read on my Kindle, so when I was ready, I spent an afternoon figuring out how to get it loaded onto my device so I could read it more organically, instead of on the computer (I read all my books digitally now).

It was such an incredible experience sitting with my Kindle in my hands reading a story that I wrote! Curling up in a chair or in bed allowed me to get closer to it than I would have been able to if I was always stopping to correct something while I was at the computer. And I quickly found ways to highlight glaring errors or important notes without dramatically interrupting my reading.

I felt like the opening scene needed work and I wanted a second opinion. My husband sat watching TV in the next room and I wondered. I met my husband when were both working in the film industry and even though neither of us are in it anymore, he still has friends that give him their scripts to read and he always gives them notes. I wondered a little more. He was also an English Lit major, so he’d already and experience reading novels and giving his thoughts on them. However, my story was NOT his genre. But maybe he would at least take a look at the beginning and let me know what he thought.

So I walked out of my room and told him I felt like the opening was a little off and could he take a look at the first 20 pages for me. He looked at me a little skeptically. We both knew I wrote a romcom which was not his cup of tea. But since it was just the first 20 pages, he agreed.

When it came time to give me feedback, he was energized and excited, with lots of encouragement and helpful notes. Turns out, he may not know where the tools are, but he can edit a manuscript. Sensing his enthusiasm, I asked if he would be willing to keep reading and giving me notes and he agreed! So I printed out the whole manuscript for him and every day when he came home from work he would read through chunks of it and drop the next section of notes on my desk. It was so special to me that the first person to not only read my novel, but give me thoughtful and detailed feedback was my husband.

That English Lit degree finally came in handy!

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September 10, 2020

12. Finishing the First Draft

When I got back from New Orleans, I got back to work on my first draft, trying to fit in time whenever I could. Because of how detailed my outline was, I always chose to work through finishing scenes vs word count goals. Finishing a scene was always a natural stopping place for me. It’s always so hard starting with the very first scene, but watching the progress go by and getting to the half way point, knowing I wasn’t in the early scenes anymore, really helped to keep me motivated.

With slow and steady progress, six months later, I finished my first draft. My eyes were watering as I wrote the words “the end.” I couldn’t believe I did it. After slow and steady progress over two years, I finished my first draft! I took a picture, shed a tear and ran out of my office to give my husband a high five and a hug.

If nothing else happened, I knew I finished a complete (110K word) manuscript. I was so proud of myself. I didn’t give up, I kept pursuing and finding the time, even when things didn’t always go to plan and I got it done. Phew! I had discovered in my writing research, that the first draft is really only the beginning…so let the adventure continue!

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August 10, 2020

11. Continuing the “Write” Space

I had claimed the “catchall” room for my writing space and two years later while continuing to work at a folding table, I had finally saved up enough to start building out my office space. As part of the agreement for using the spare bedroom, I had to incorporate a rather large(r than expected) wine fridge into a small usable space, so I was already starting out with a pretty big challenge. 

My friend had given me a bright and happy birthday card and I wanted to use the colors as inspiration. I also knew I wanted to have inspirational art and quotes that would make my office a welcoming place to work. Creativity needed to happen in this environment, so I needed it to feel bright, cheerful and happy (just like the card!). After figuring out a way to hide the wine fridge in a cupboard, the only way to balance out the available wall space (most of the room had closets or doors on each wall), was to build a matching cupboard on the other side. We decided that this additional space would be storage and hold things like the printer.

Based on the set up with two cupboards on either side of the walls, the only place my desk could go, was between them. I was afraid it was going to be a bit of a tunnel for me, but as it was built out, I realized there was enough space between them where I didn’t feel trapped between two objects. The ceiling is really high, so we decided to take the shelves all the way up instead of creating a false stopping point at a normal ceiling height. We also decided a bright white paint would really make it pop.

Everything came together beautifully. My space is filled with colorful art and inspiration, that is always bright and cheerful. I sit with enough room for two monitors, which is a huge help in giving me more space to have documents open when writing and I have the occasional hum of the wine fridge to keep me company.

Outlining the Shelves

Outlining the Shelves

We put up tape to outline where the shelves would go on the wall.

The Card that Inspired My Office

The Card that Inspired My Office

I just loved the colors in this card, they are so bright and cheerful.

Printer Cabinet

Printer Cabinet

This is the side where my printer and files will go.

Where My Desk will Go

Where My Desk will Go

The actual top part of my desk isn't in place yet, but the set up is now built for it.

My Completed Office

My Completed Office

Here it is freshly painted! (The wine fridge is on the left)

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June 10, 2020

9. Finding the Time

It’s been interesting trying to find a rhythm of incorporating writing into my life. With a full time job, a husband and an active social life, I found it could, at times, be challenging to set aside the time to write. I also knew I didn’t want to pressure myself, as this was supposed to be fun and make me happy. And I didn’t want to feel guilty about not doing something because I felt I should have been writing instead.

The thing I love the most about The Novel Factory is their Roadmap. It’s a very detailed step by step guide that takes you from a sentence describing your story to a full blown novel. By following all the steps/exercises in the roadmap, I always knew my next step. So even when I had to take breaks from writing, I always knew where to pick it up again. And when I say that I was setting aside time to write, my “writing” time was doing all these assignments in the roadmap. By fitting time here and there I was making progress, but I spent over a year just working my way through all the steps without actually starting my first draft. I realized this all could have moved along much faster, but sometimes there would be weeks where I didn’t write at all. I trusted in the process though, because by continuing to build on my work, the basic outline I first started with was turning into very detailed scenes.

And as I started watching tangible progress unfold, I was finding more and more motivation and need to keep going. When I saw long weekends coming up, I would beg my very social husband to leave them open so I could have uninterrupted days to really get in the zone and hit the next milestone of being ready to officially start my first draft. I even took vacation days to bump up against long weekends, to give myself extra time. And it was in those set aside times that plans sometimes changed…friends were in town or had events coming up that we couldn’t miss, and I had to find that balance of feeling this desperation of wanting to do something completely for me and also wanting to be a part of these special life moments.

I think writing will always be a balancing act. I’ll always be trying to steal those extra hours for writing while still making sure I’m present in life. After a year and a half of working through the roadmap, I was so proud that I actually followed all the steps and reached the milestone of officially starting my first draft.

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March 10, 2020

6. Surrounding Myself with Romance

I have always enjoyed Chick lit and Rom Com novels. Curling up with them makes me happy and helps my anxiety go down. I take pleasure in the love stories and getting a good chuckle now and then…or sometimes a girly squeal when the couple does something swoon worthy! I knew when I started writing my own novel that this would be the genre I would work in.

I needed to immerse myself in the Romance world. First up, I started doing A LOT more reading. I was on a quest to find fabulous new stories. I started using Goodreads for recommendations and suggestions. I discovered more New Adult, LGBTQ, Historical, Contemporary, Regency and Erotic romances. And best of all, The Ripped Bodice, the only brick and mortar romance book store in the United States is located in Los Angeles! How lucky am I?! They are a wealth of knowledge and suggestions to discover wonderful, new books, pushing me past what I would have chosen on my own. Check out this great article about them: https://www.glamour.com/story/the-ripped-bodice-bookstore-interview

I also discovered Passionflix.com, an amazing site/app turning romance novels into movies. I want to work there one day! I couldn’t believe all these wonderful companies were coming into the universe as I was starting to truly understand the genre. And not only appreciate the genre, but learn to be proud of a genre that is largely responsible for supporting the book world as a whole.

Here are some contemporary authors that have really inspired me:

  • Mariana Zapata
  • Elle Kennedy
  • Sally Thorne
  • Kristen Ashley
  • Helen Hoang
  • Lisa Kleypas

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January 10, 2020

4. Creating the “Write” Space

When I first downloaded The Novel Factory (TNF), I was using an old computer that I had bought on sale at Best Buy for $300 as part of a bundle. It was so slow, it took forever to power up and open any application. I used to have to sit patiently waiting for The Novel Factory to open and then for updates to save. We had a bedroom in our house that we nicknamed the “catchall” room because anything we didn’t know what to do with, we stashed in this room. You could barely move in it because there were piles everywhere (but it made the rest of the house look nice!). When I realized I wanted to start writing more and that I needed a place where I could shut the door (instead of the dining room table), I moved a few piles around in the catchall room and brought in a folding table from outside and a chair from the kitchen. I created my own little space.

When I found myself starting to consistently write in the evenings and on weekends, I decided it was time to upgrade my computer to something that ran a little faster. I also wanted to have two monitors so I could have notes open in one program while I also had TNF open. With the help of a friend, I purchased a new computer and two monitors and suddenly it felt so much easier! I felt like I had “space” with more monitor real estate, and all the programs running so much faster felt like a luxury. I kept on writing.

After about a year of writing like this, I thought, this room isn’t used for much, I wonder if I cleaned it up and started saving, if I could make this an inspirational space that encouraged creativity. I asked my husband if he would mind if I took over the catchall room, and he said if I could find an area for a wine fridge in my new office, then I could have the room. A wine fridge didn’t seem like such a big deal, as I was picturing one of the smaller mini fridges that could be concealed in some cabinetry. I decided to order the wine fridge he wanted first, so we could make sure we physically had it when we were ready to start building out the space. I didn’t want any wrong measurements.

Well, when the fridge was finally delivered, it came up to my chest! It was huge! I couldn’t believe what it looked like in person! Clearly, I did not pay close enough attention to the measurements. In my defense, I saw the tall fridges online and understood we were ordering a shorter one, but I didn’t realize the short was still tall! Ugh. I should add that the way the bedroom was laid out, there was only one usable wall because the others had a door, a sliding glass door and a closet. Adding my husband’s wine fridge looked like it would take up a third of the usable space! Also, it occurred to me we would need to actually design around the fridge because it was so large. Sigh.

Well, I had to keep saving anyway, so in the meantime, the fridge went in the guest bedroom where we had the space for it and at least I had a better computer and a room to write that was officially mine. This helped keep my motivation up.

My writing desk

My writing desk

My new computer on my folding table.

The small usable space by the closet

The small usable space by the closet

I did not have much room to expand out.

The back wall

The back wall

This was the only uninterrupted wall and it's really high.

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December 10, 2019

3. Now, How do I start?

I am someone who really likes organization. I feel at ease knowing there is a plan. When I had taken my screen writing courses in college, they provided me with great structure. My classes had been broken out into two: the outline and writing the script. It was there that I really learned the value of an outline. I found it’s the best way to figure out the structure of the story, while still being able to  easily make structure changes.

Realizing I’d had success with completing a screenplay using the outline method, I wondered if I could find something similar for writing a novel. One night, when my husband was out with some friends, I decided to watch ME BEFORE YOU. I think it was around 11pm when the movie finished, probably 11:30pm by the time I had finishing sobbing and my breathing had returned to normal. I found myself inspired by the slow development of the relationship between the two main characters. Suddenly I had this strong urge to start writing. Like, I needed to start writing in that moment.

I went over to my computer which was set up on a folding table in a spare space we called the “catch all” room, because it held piles of things we didn’t know what to do with. I started to google novel writing software and something called The Novel Factory came up. My eyes started to get misty again; it was EXACTLY what I needed: a step by step guide that started with a one sentence description and built from there. I purchased and immediately downloaded it, and that night I officially started to write.

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November 10, 2019

2. Inspiration

After deciding that I wanted to try writing as a creative outlet, my next step was figuring out what kind of writing. Did I want to try a screenplay? I had written a script in college as part of a screen writing class; it had been really intimidating. Could I really write a movie? But through the guidance of the class, I did manage to write a complete script.

After deciding that I wanted to try writing as a creative outlet, my next step was figuring out what kind of writing. Did I want to try a screenplay? I had written a script in college as part of a screen writing class; it had been really intimidating. Could I really write a movie? But through the guidance of the class, I did manage to write a complete script.

I didn’t want to get bogged down with all the formatting I’d need to do for the script. It had been so long, I would need to figure it all out again and I just wanted to write. Could I write a book? Through the years, I had picked up books and wondered how an author had been able to come up with so many words that they could form a whole novel. Back in college I had thought trying to write a screenplay was out of the question, so a book seemed truly impossible.

However, in my new, happier state of mind, I found myself dropping historical novels and biographies in favor of chic lit novels. I love a good romantic comedy and chic lit is often a rom com (as “the industry” would call it) in book form. I had been getting so much pleasure out of reading them, I began to wonder if I could write one myself.

So, I knew I wanted to write and quite possibly, I wanted to write a chic lit novel, but what did I want it to be about? I still needed an idea.

One night, my husband and I started watching MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. and I was introduced to Henry Cavill. After we finished the movie, I looked him up in photos and interviews. Not only is he a beautiful human being, but he comes with an English accent. What more could a girl want? I started to wonder in what world a normal person could ever hope to meet and possibly date Henry Cavill. Suddenly I realized I had an idea for my book!

How would a normal person get to meet and hang out with someone like Henry? I worked as an assistant at a movie studio. We interacted with talent on our movies. They always say go with what you know, and I knew about this. I could write about this.

I was inspired! This was my story! I started having ideas, but needed some help forming them. My amazing husband started to go on long walks with me after work, to help talk out thoughts and story lines with me. He responded to my questions around love triangles and dating entanglements with thoughtful opinions.  I was so grateful that he was applying his English major and years reviewing scripts to my own story. There was absolutely no judgement in a genre that I knew held no previous interest to him.

Along those long walks, I also decided I wanted to set parts of the book in New Orleans. It was a place I had always wanted to go and I hoped if I was really going to try and write this, it would finally push me to travel there and check it out.

This inkling of an idea was starting to come together…

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