A Little Writing Update

Several months ago, I began the process of drafting the Christian historical fiction novel that has been on my mind for years, tentatively entitled Chains of Belief. Here's a little blurb...

In “Chains of Belief,” Lian Chen, the eldest daughter of a devout Buddhist family in 19th-century China, struggles with her quest for truth beyond the rituals of her upbringing. When she encounters an English missionary, she discovers Christianity and secretly embraces her newfound faith, believing it to be her path to true freedom. However, as her conversion leaks to local authorities and the militant Boxers, Lian faces severe persecution. Torn between her love for her family and her commitment to Christ, she must summon the courage to stand firm against oppressive forces, even if it means sacrificing everything. This gripping tale explores the bonds of faith and the price of conviction in a tumultuous world.

After writing nearly every day for many weeks and holding myself to a very strict daily word count goal, I have taken a break. I found that I needed to pause the actual drafting and instead work more on outlining, character development, and polishing my plot. In addition to doing those things, I have been studying with a rigorous novel-writing course in an attempt to refine my craft and resolve the many questions I have about writing before I move forward. 

Now, I've returned to the actual writing process. It's going slower than I had hoped, harder than I had expected, and just as exciting as I knew it would be. I've certainly had (more than) my share of writer's block, and I've run into a lot of setbacks regarding the historical and cultural research and such. But I'm still moving along! I have more of an idea of how to structure my plotline, how to create strong characters, how to make my book what I want it to be. Here's a little of what I know so far...

★Writing a book is hard. 

★It will (hopefully!!) be more of a hard-hitting, gritty, but beautiful story than a lighthearted, fluffy one. 

★The specific setting of my novel will be the Baodi District of Tianjin, China, during the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901).

★The expected length of my novel will be between 175 and 250 pages. 

★I said earlier that the tentative title is Chains of Belief, but I have two others in the running: The Hidden Cross and Unbowed. *Feel free to let me know which of the three you like best!

★There will be no romance in this novel 😉

★I do not make any promises, but I *hope* that the first, rough draft will be complete and ready for editing by August at the latest. (There is a 99.9% chance that that will be changed, however). 

In summary, while progress has been much slower than I had hoped and expected, I haven't lost my vision for this book. Chains of Belief WILL become a reality, if it takes years! (It may).

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Bookishly yours, 

Lottie M.