Trope reveal for my new project 👀

Plus: how I get an idea onto the page.

Hey y’all! I can’t believe we’re almost halfway through the year already. Is it just me or is time passing, like, really fuckin’ fast these days? I blink and suddenly it’s Wednesday; blink again and then it’s a brand new week?? The joys of aging, I suppose.

Time flies when you’re having fun too! I started the new project I’ve mentioned previously on April 2, and I’m nearing 40,000 words 😱 While I’m close to completing draft one, I’m anticipating the word count to climb even higher in subsequent drafts.

Yes, we may be looking at a word count record-setting Aurora Graves book this year 😭

Does it have a title?? A blurb??? A cover???? A RELEASE DATE?????

Title and blurb – yes and yes. Those were written and done on day one. Will I share either of these things today? No, sorry – nothing is ever solid until we reach line edits, and that’s a draft three or draft four problem.

Cover – no. I’m not that far yet. I like designing my own covers, but I want to improve what little design skills I have. I got a cover design course to do so – plus help me learn a new-to-me graphic design program, because my mortal enemy is Photoshop – but I have yet to really dig into it. Been busy writing, you see. As such, I’m on a major delay with covers. (Yeah, that means Southern Discomfort doesn’t have a cover yet for when it rereleases after The Tales of the Scorned anthology. I’ll get around to it eventually.)

Release date – also no, also I’m not that far yet. I have an idea of when, but I’ll feel a lot more comfortable announcing a solid date after it’s in an editor’s hands.

That said, I can confidently share ✨tropes and triggers✨ 🤩

Creating this graphic made me remember why I quit social media lmao. I created this instead of writing!!

I know a lot of y’all are looking at this and wondering: is it dark at all??

Well… not in the least. It’s angsty and heavy, for sure, but it’s nowhere near dark. Given *gestures vaguely* the current hellscape we’re living in, I really have not been keen on anything dark or violent. It’s been so cathartic to work on a piece with tropes I’ve been dying to write without worrying about how to make it dark, so I’m letting it be the story it wants to be. And because it’s still angsty and heavy, I’m refraining from starting a whole new pen name for angsty contemporary romances. I hope you understand and will still hang on for the ride.

Do you like the dad’s best friend trope? How do you feel about death metal romance?? Reply to this newsletter or leave me a comment to let me know!

Reader question: How do I get my ideas onto the page?

This question comes from a reader from the last newsletter…

When an idea comes to you for a book, do you outline it first? Do you just write? What are the steps that you do to get your idea on paper and in order?

I thought this one would be fun to answer, especially because I don’t exactly do it the same way every time. But here’s how it generally happens.

1. The Idea™️

Ideas are weird little things that seem to come out of nowhere and, with the passage of time, seem like complete and total nonsense, ‘cause like… where the fuck do they come from???

I get a lot of my ideas from music. A song will be playing, and my brain catches onto a particular lyric. Synapses do their thing and connect those lyrics to visuals I’ve seen, people I’ve met, places or things I’ve wanted to explore.

While half of my ideas stem from music, the rest come directly from whatever I’m doing in real life. When I’m stuck creatively, the sure fire way to get things moving again is for me to get out of the house and do something, even if it’s just driving around town, because I’ll see, hear, or experience something that will trigger a spark.

And, suddenly, a scene starts to play.

2. Getting The Idea™️ out of my head

If you ask Mama Graves, she’ll say I’ve always had a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other, my constant companions everywhere I went (yeah, even during church). With the advent of smartphones, my trusty little pen and pad turned into the notes app on my phone.

Most of my ideas start as notes, so I’ve got a shit ton of scrap pieces of paper filed away and even more digital scraps between my phone and computer. Much of the time, it starts with writing an actual scene and following it however far it’ll take me; other times, it’s a quick summary sentence or paragraph and notes or links pointing to what inspired it, including a song or short playlist.

This is a random example. Out of context it doesn’t make any sense – and, hell, sometimes looking at it myself I’m like ????? – however, I believe it’s important to always leave breadcrumbs to an idea’s origins. Even if I’m confused when first rereading my notes, that initial spark almost always comes back, which adds fuel to the fire.

I don’t always pursue a spark right away, though. I have more ideas than I know what to do with. Sometimes a spark lasts only five seconds, and I’m not about to waste my precious time on a tiny blip that fizzles out as quickly as it came. Instead, all of my ideas sit in the simmer pot for a very, very long time, percolating until one day it boils over and I can’t ignore it anymore – it demands to be written and told. A character comes to life, taps my shoulder, and knocks me over the head, saying, “Get to work!”

3. Getting The Idea™️ onto paper

When I can no longer ignore characters, that’s when I explore my notes more deeply.

I have a couple of templates to help with this, but the main one I’ve used the past couple of years is like a summary doc that includes:

• Initial notes (e.g., the one-line summary)

• A longer summary (the paragraph summary)

• Characters, specifically notes/ideas about the FMC (female main character) and MMC (male main character)

• Tropes (trope ideas have a question mark after them)

• Triggers

• And a modge podge of scene ideas that I keep track of as they come to me

The potential scenes list is where the gold is. A lot of the time, that’s where my notes start out: after a jot down a quick idea, it turns into listing out a bunch of potential scenes long before I figure out who the main characters are, what the beginning or the end are, tropes, etc. Tropes and triggers tend to be an afterthought, more of a preemptive list to help me with refining the blurb and marketing later on (also to help remind myself and keep track of triggers because I’m paranoid of missing something and upsetting someone).

Eventually, when I start writing, I move these details from my space in Anytype to my working document in Storyist. There, I have more in-depth templates for each individual main character, a doc for supporting characters, a “spitballin’” doc for any and all ideas that come to mind to work out potential plot directions, etc.

4. To plot or not to plot?

I won’t delve into my tumultuous history with plotting and how it was a huge factor that made me quit writing for 10 years. 🙂‍↔️

That said, I do typically outline these days. There are a bunch of different methods and ways of plotting and outlining — the three act structure, the five act structure, the snowflake method, the hero’s journey, beat sheets, the LOCK method — but nothing makes me want to quit writing all over again like a formal outlining method. After years of trial and error, I’ve figured out that zero drafting is my sweet spot.

You’ve heard me mention this method before. Basically, it’s something between an outline and a bare-bones first draft. Because this is what happens: I start planning out scenes since my notes start with scene ideas, but my brain doesn’t work in scenes but in chapters, so it turns into chapter outlines, but then I start adding details and BAM! suddenly there’s dialogue. Once there’s dialogue, it’s no longer an outline, and there’s ALWAYS dialogue in my “outlines.” Enter the zero draft.

I love this form of outlining because it doesn’t feel like plotting. It gives me the freedom of pantsing (writing without an outline) while keeping track of details and being able to work out plot holes or missing details before they become problematic later on. It makes writing feel like it takes for-fucking-ever, especially since adding more of the fancy and sensory details comes in subsequent drafts, but editing is quick and fun. It allows me to focus on one thing at a time, like figuring out the plot first before writing in my weak areas (*cough cough* line edits) so the story I craft only gets better and better with each pass.

I want to hear from you: would you be interested in following the complete process of me writing a story from idea to published book? I’ve toyed around with the idea of “write a book with me” to let y’all in on my process from start to finish since I think it’s interesting and wild to watch creatives do their thing. Leave a comment or reply to this email to let me know if you’re interested!

What I’m into lately

Listening

My friends, it’s a great time to be an Amorphis fan because they just released an incredible new single last week and announced a new album.

I’m betting y’all would be much more interested in my current writing playlist, though 👀

Don’t come after me, the actual death metal starts like 20 songs in 😂 The official playlist will be different from the writing playlist!

Watching

I’ve been bingeing Acre Homestead videos for whatever reason. I guess because it’s a great for background noise as I’m doing something else with the occasional interesting tidbit to make me glance up for a few minutes, but still allowing me to get work done on something else.

I’ve also gotten into Tank the Tech’s Roadie Storytime series. I’ve watched his other roadie videos and interviews, but the storytime vids are absolutely delightful too.

Off YouTube, Mr. Graves and I went to see Sinners in theater, and y’all, if it’s still playing in theaters near you, cancel your plans in the next few days and GO WATCH IT. Listen, I know I said I haven’t been keen on anything violent, but damn… this is exquisite.

Reading

Continuing on with a Southern Gothic theme: it’s been on my TBR since it was released, but I’m finally reading Then, Earth Swallowed Ocean by my lovely friend

Shiloh Sloane

. My friends, believe the hype about this one. It’s pure fucking poetry on the page. I’ve been reading it for over a week now despite it being around 330 pages or so, but I’m enjoying reading it in small chunks to chew on it and savor it. It’s just that kind of book.

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That just about does it for this month. I’ll be heading into draft two by July at the latest, and I can’t tell y’all how stoked I am for edits for this one. I’ve been so damn excited from day one, and I really hope y’all are too!

Stay fucked, abominations ❤️‍🔥