When I wrote my second novel, I noticed how different it was from writing my first novel. One of the main difference was confidence that I could actually finish a story from conception to ending. I even tried to change the way I plotted. For my first novel, I made character charts, outlines, maps and summaries, which stopped me from actually writing the book. I would not say it was a waste of time. The outline and summaries helped me, to a degree, but when I started to write the first draft, the outline did not work.
So, for the second book. I brainstormed the beginning and the end, created some characters and started writing. What really influenced me was reading Stephen King's book "On Writing." He advocated just writing the book and not to plot. I finish my first draft of my second novel in about five months, which was a far cry from my first novel which took me seven years to complete a first draft.
Have I learned a lot? I think so. I am still learning to what works for me. I know my books are not perfect. However, I will keep working until my books get better.
