Tweeting

I'm on twitter (@haleshannon). Here's what I tweeted re: Palace of Stone during the creation process. While I began outlining and writing this book long before February 2011, that was the date of my first related tweet. At the time, no one but my husband knew what book I was working on. I kept it a secret for a long time.

2011

Feb 9: "Feels so good to leave my WIP in a place that I'm excited to return to the next day."

Feb 22: "Excited every day to work on my WIP. That's not always the case with every book, so I'm luxuriating in the sensation!"

Mar 1: "Writing a first draft and reminding myself that I'm simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles."

Mar 4: "Best mood enhancement drug? A good day of writing. I'm buzzed!"

Mar 11: "The best way to infuse crippling fear into my writing day? To think 'I am writing something important.' Try it out! Good times."

Mar 23: "It's always interesting and a little frightening to find myself in the middle of my manuscript and realize how little I know."

Mar 23: "A first draft is for asking questions. The answers come in the rewrites. The whole process demands a lot of faith."

Mar 29: "What's that? Eating salted caramels while writing increases your productivity*? I'll test that theory!"

"*theory nonexistent"

Apr 21: "As per usual, upon finishing the 1st draft, I thought, Wow, this is great! And upon finishing the 2nd, I think, wow, this sucks. "

Apr 27: "Here's pretty much what I wrote today: 'Blah blah blah, blah blah.' #amwriting #genius!"

May 5: "Writing lame, half-baked scenes today, but just have to get them down, otherwise what will I rewrite later?"

May 6: "Just found out that my 4-yo thought being a writer means I ride bikes."

Jun 30: "Yay! Just had a breakthrough on my WIP. Such a relief when I finally figure out what needs to happen in a scene."

Sept 7: "Some days my goal is to write 1000 words. Some days it's to cut 1000. Today's a cuttin' day. #slash #yeeha"

Sept 14: "In a 1st draft there are fun chapters and necessary chapters. The trick in rewrites is to make the fun ones necessary and the necessary fun."

Sept 29: "I have a sudden, profound fear that the book I'm writing sucks. Which means the chapter I just revised isn't done yet. Back to work."

Oct 13: "Just got my manuscript back from my editor for another round of revisions. Is it weird that I get excited to see all the marks and notes?"

Oct 18: "Today: cutting similes. I overwrite similes so in the final drafts I can cut all but the very best ones."

Nov 15: "I remind myself that it's normal to hate my book right now. I see only its problems, which is good, so I know what to fix."

Nov 18: "All work and no play makes Shannon a dull girl. All work and no play makes Shannon a dull girl. All work and no play... #amwriting #deadline"

Dec 7: "Apparently when I'm feeling down, eating sugary, crappy food comforts me. I can't believe I'm the first person to discover this!"

Dec 21: "Combing through my manuscript, trying to work out the snarls without breaking any strands."

Dec 24: "Almost-final draft delivered. Babies asleep. House somewhat tidy. I'm ready. Christmas, you may come now."

Dec 30 "This draft: finding better verbs. Sometimes it takes me 10 minutes with an online thesaurus to hunt out just the right one."

2012

Jan 2: "Think we finally picked an official title for the PRINCESS ACADEMY sequel. I'll make sure then announce."

Jan 6: "Cutting more lines I like because they're too similar to lines 100 pages earlier. It takes me lots of drafts to ferret these things out."

Jan 17: "Just sent the final draft to my editor. My tummy is all squelchy. I think it's ready, just playing with words and commas, but still–"

Jan 17: "Trying to remind myself that I felt great about the book the last few drafts, but now that it's out of my hands I'm FREAKING OUT."

Jan 17: "I was able to keep the pressure/expectation of this book at bay while writing. Now that part's over, all that's left is anxiety."

Jan 25: "I love being a writer. Sometimes I wish I could write all day. But babies are awake."

Jan 26: "Announcing the title of the PRINCESS ACADEMY sequel: PALACE OF STONE."

Feb 10: "So hard going through copy edited ms. My brain is wired to write with keyboard, not pencil. But I must fix things!"

Mar 12: "I want to sleep. I want to nap away this cold so bad. But instead I'm working. And that's what makes me a writer. *cue hero music*"

Mar 29: "I am literally trembling. Just got ARCs for PALACE OF STONE, which means it's out there. People might be reading it right now! AAH! #nervous"

Apr 5: "Whew! Just finished reading through PALACE OF STONE proofs and so relieved to find that I liked it! Finally feeling more confident."