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Thanks for setting this up, Jamie! I'll do a longer, more in-depth intro than I did on the class forum, since we may be here a while. I'm Carol, 43, and a marketing copywriter. I live and work in Minneapolis. I wrote tons of fiction as a kid but it got very spotty after college. I tried NaNoWriMo every year but never got very far, until one year I did it, and since then I've completed a novel every year (2017 was my 5th). I never did much with them, but then I thought, now that I know how to pound out a first draft, let's see if I can get better at the revision aspect. I came into Kate's class thinking OK, I've got the manuscript, I don't see the need to change much, I'm not trying to make art here. I'll just polish it up a bit and then self-publish to say I did it. But the assignments got me thinking of ways I could improve the character arcs and amp up the pacing and tension quite a bit. So I face a longer road than I originally intended, but it's by choice, so I'm happy. If I do get it in a good place, I'll probably still just self-publish. But I'm hoping the process will make me a better writer and reviser, and maybe someday I'll try to go the traditional publishing route with a different book!The manuscript I'm working on is actually two consecutive NaNoWriMos--I wrote a sequel to the first one, but thought they'd be better as a single book. So marrying them together is one of my challenges.Here's my query hook from the class: Trying to escape a mysterious virus spreading through their high school, a group of suburban teenagers takes a road trip to rural West Virginia. But when, one by one, they begin to exhibit the psychic abilities that are harbingers of the disease, they realize they've unwittingly brought the virus with them. As they struggle to understand and contain the disaster that’s overtaking them, unusual relationships develop -- deep mental and physical connections that may be the key to staying alive and thwarting the shadowy government organization that seeks to use the virus to undermine democracy.I'd say my genre is closer to paranormal than sci-fi, because my "virus" isn't very believable from a science standpoint. It's pretty trashy, lots of sex and drugs, though my characters are pretty goodie-goodie (other than the sex and drugs). I like to write about polyamorous relationships that are positive and not the only/main point of the plot (but are important to the plot), so I have three main characters who are in a relationship with each other (and are also psychically linked because of the virus--and in fact their connection is what keeps the virus from killing them like it does most people who catch it).My challenges as I see them so far are:- Work on the plot/structure. Tighten the pacing--make the plot more exciting, amp up the tension and conflict, speed up the pace.- Make my main characters more interesting/flawed, make them make more mistakes, make them argue/fight with one another more. - Look at my secondary characters and see which of them need to play a bigger role, and whether there are any I don't actually need. (I"m hoping a lot of both character challenges will start to become clear as I work on the plot)- After I feel like plot and character are in a better place, give it a good copy edit and proofread.- When I'm getting close to where I feel good about the manuscript, I want to start marketing my book (I heard you should try to build buzz *before* you publish) and researching the self-publishing options out there.That's my rough plan for the year, but my first step will be breaking these bigger goals into manageable steps. I find I do well if I put tasks on my calendar, so I'm going to try and work on this novel at least one weeknight and one weekend day per week, and schedule that time with as specific and finite a task attached to it as possible.

It would be helpful to know where everyone is in their book-writing journey?I've been working on mine for two years. The first year was initial research and a timeline for the BP's life.  And learning I knew nothing about writing fiction. I began seriously to take classes about 9 months into it.My second year has been drafting 'islands' according to a storyboard.  In the process, I discovered I have 3 main characters not one.But now, I'm into my 3rd year and find myself 'floundering' over the "story' vs. what happened.  I'd love to hear where others are.RJ

Thanks for setting this up, Jamie. This is great.I'm Monique and I live in Ottawa (Canada) with my partner, teenagers, and cats. My day job is in communications for a small non-governmental organization in the area of global governance. My novel is hard science fiction. Millie Jones is a cargo pilot who is unexpectedly offered the opportunity to lead a mission to explore Saturn's moon Enceladus -- and find out what happened to the last mission that was sent. Obviously, things do not pan out in the way that she expects.

Hi,I'm RJ. I live in Tucson and am writing my first novel,  a HF about the Black Prince. I have kept in touch via personal email with a classmate from my very first Loft class for over a year now and find it helpful to have a 'writing buddy' to share ideas, frustrations, and problems with.  And we also do a bit of workshopping. I hope we will be able to share progress relative to the exercises Kate provided as well as updates on our books.Good luck to everyone!

Hi Jamie!  Thanks for setting this up!  Hopefully we'll get lots of members from the class to join.Amy

Hi all!  I created this forum so we could keep in touch after the Finish Your Novel online class with Kate Heartfield from the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis.  Since I'm so bad at remembering names and details, I thought I'd reintroduce myself, and you can do the same!I'm Jamie, I'm in St. Paul but spend most of my time in Minneapolis at work and out writing, and I'm working on an LGBTQ+/POC inclusive historical fantasy YA novel (trilogy) about a hunter-gatherer girl who meets up with the last drake in Sky, and then takes off on an adventure to find the rest of the vanished dragonkin, discovering new lands, cultures, and friends along the way. (Hey, how many words is that?  Why couldn't I come up with that for my plot query hook?) 

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