Writing A Novel

[seduced2cheat]

Hello all,

I have a written a few stories over the last couple of years, but I have a couple of ideas that seem to be too large for a shorter work and I would like to create a novel (I have begun one here on Lit.com and have reached an impasse.)

I have read a few books on novel writing and most say write 3 pages a day, 10 pages a day etc, etc. I could do this, but the inspired portion of my writing usually dribbles out after two pages and then I am making up the story as I go along. This isn't a problem with short stories cause hey, they are only a few pages long, and the story kind of just plops onto the page mostly complete except for editing. With longer stuff that does not work at all.

Anyone have any inspiration? Should I just write through the rough stuff and edit it later? Also, how does one not become bored with their idea? I would love some feedback as this part of novel writing isn't really covered in the books.

Thanks,

S2C

 

[sweetnpetite]

I think you just have to stick with it.

Ignore the # of pages per day. Just make sure that you actually write on a regular basis, that's all.

Definatly just do a rough draft and work the kinks out later. You can fix anything- but you can't fix nothing. Don't be afraid to write crap if you have to.

To maintain interests: don't talk about it or write about it, that will difuse your need to write it. Read non-fiction on topics of your novel. (sexual teqnique, a city or country it takes place in, the chosen profession of a character, ect.)

I've never wrote a complete novel so that's the best help I can give you.

Just do it.

 

[Guest]

Hi Seduced,

I say just write the rough stuff and worry about editing it later. That's how I write, both short stories and novels. Most of the time I end up making up novels as I go along - seems to work well for me.

I completely understand what you are saying about just losing inspiration. That always happens to me around the middle somewhere, but I just plod on and write my way through it, and if some stuff needs going back over and re-writing, so be it.

Last November, a lot of fellow AH'ers joined me in NaNoWriMo. A lot of us wrote 50,000 words of a novel, in one month. I scheduled myself to write 2,000 words per day, and stuck to it. After November, I carried on and completed the novel, it ended up at 90,000 words. I'm still editing it now. It was the best writing experience of my life, and got me into some very good (for me) writing habits. I wrote that whole novel on the fly, and I am very proud of it.

All the best with it, whatever you decide to do.

Lou

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Hello all,

I have a written a few stories over the last couple of years, but I have a couple of ideas that seem to be too large for a shorter work and I would like to create a novel (I have begun one here on Lit.com and have reached an impasse.)

I have read a few books on novel writing and most say write 3 pages a day, 10 pages a day etc, etc. I could do this, but the inspired portion of my writing usually dribbles out after two pages and then I am making up the story as I go along. This isn't a problem with short stories cause hey, they are only a few pages long, and the story kind of just plops onto the page mostly complete except for editing. With longer stuff that does not work at all.

Anyone have any inspiration? Should I just write through the rough stuff and edit it later? Also, how does one not become bored with their idea? I would love some feedback as this part of novel writing isn't really covered in the books.

Thanks,

S2C

S2C,

There's no rule that says a novel must be written sequentially or even chronologically. You might try creating a rough outline. Then if you get bogged down on one section, start working on another part of your novel.

I begin each session by going back over what I did the day before and doing a little editing and re-writing. By the time I reach the end of the prior day's output, I'm primed to keep writing.

For me, new writing, creating the first draft, is the fun stuff. Unfortunately, producing a novel consists of that, plus edits, re-writes, a second draft, edits, re-writes, a third draft, etc.

I've been working on my second novel for two years. I thought it was finished. But this week I became convinced the opening was too slow and cut over a thousand words from the first chapter.

As Lou indicated, the key to finishing a novel, (many begin, many fewer finish) is HOKBIC (hands on keyboard, butt in chair). Unlike a short story, there's no quick reward. A novel is a marathon, not a sprint.

Good luck.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[dr_mabeuse]

There's nothing with writing a novel as a serial in episodes, with each chapter being like a short story. I've written a few like that. The form is especially well-suited to Lit because you can publish the chapters as you write them and get feedback that keeps you going.

---dr.M.

 

[cloudy]

I really have no new advice to add here, but wanted to add a small voice of encouragement.

I'm working on my first novel, and somedays it just doesn't want to be written, but I slog ahead anyway, knowing I can always go back and rewrite the horrible spots. The point is to keep going and not give up.

Good luck!

 

[KarenAM]

In my experience, the best way to write a first draft of a novel is:

Know the end. Write until you get there.

Once you have a first draft, revise.

 

[seduced2cheat]

Thank you!

Thanks everyone!

I appreciate the feedback. I am especially finding that Rumple's statement of it being a marathon not a sprint is entirely accurate. Up until now I have suffered minor attention deficit and have not been able to focus on a longer work. This is definitely a challenge.

I will soldier on and see what I am left with after the process. I suppose that is why there are not more novel writers out there because of the work involved, but this idea won't sleep, so I have to write it good or bad.

Thanks again for the help/ Lit.com always gives me inspiration to keep going.

S2C

 

[steve w]

seduced,

I've written three novels and it IS a very different experience from short story writing. I think you already have the trickiest bit done, in that you have an idea that won't quit. My advice would be to write every day, whether it's the novel or something else. You never know when inspiration for the novel will strike, or when a phrase, a sentence, or an idea for the novel can be lifted from the short story you're writing.

Keep pen and paper handy so you can jot down any idea or phrase you like, whether it's relevant to your idea or not. The way someone describes something, the way you'd describe their accent, and so on. Once you have several hundred scraps of paper on your desk, it will help!

Personally I prefer with a novel to not know the ending, as I tend to rush to the end too quickly, or inadvertently leave clues during the book to my "surprise twist", which consequently turns out to be neither! But I know of other people who do it differently with success. And sweetnpetite is absolutely right - so much easier to edit something, than create it out of thin air in the first place.

One tip you might want to follow, is to just write down, in fifteen or twenty words, what the novel is about, and pin it up in front of the keyboard. That needn't be the plot - it could be the reminder that the story is essentially one of redemption, or love lost, or honour, or whatever. That might help you to self-edit, as you can see whether what you've written has contributed to your fundamental theme.

Hope that helps, and good luck

 

[Sabledrake]

The stat I usually hear is that if you want to call yourself any sort of a writer, you must write a minimum of 1,000 words a day, hell or high water, rain or shine, richer or poorer, in sickness or in health.

Far as I'm concerned, that's rubbish.

I've written many novels (just finished the first draft of my eleventh last month), and the so-many-words/pages-per-day can't be looked upon as a hard and fast rule. It's going to be different for every author ... and, more, it's going to be different for every story.

Sabledrake

 

[Rhys]

C.J. Cherryh, 2 time winner of the Hugo award for best science fiction novel, and Nebula award winner said this:

"Write shit. Edit brilliantly."

 

[sweetnpetite]

C.J. Cherryh, 2 time winner of the Hugo award for best science fiction novel, and Nebula award winner said this:

"Write shit. Edit brilliantly."

lol

love it!

 

[snooper]

The stat I usually hear is that if you want to call yourself any sort of a writer, you must write a minimum of 1,000 words a day, hell or high water, rain or shine, richer or poorer, in sickness or in health.

Far as I'm concerned, that's rubbish.

Far be it from me to disagree with a successful writer, but I do disagree. As a full-time profession, novel writing is no different from many other jobs. I do it from 10 to 6 every day, Monday to Friday. Some days I write 5,000 words (but not often) other days I spend hours tinkering with something I have written, trying to get it right. I do try to average more than a thousand words a day, and I keep track of my performance against that ideal.

 

[Sabledrake]

I don't think we're all that much in disagreement, Snoop ... at least not in practice.

I'm not writing full-time yet, but I am lucky enough to have a job that allows me to write at work for about 5 hours. I average 3,000 words a night, 4 nights a week Sunday through Wednesday.

Thursday, my turnaround-day, I am good for nothing because I'm trying to switch back to a real-people sleep schedule. Friday, I attend to other writing-related matters such as editing, submitting, querying, critiquing, and other related stuff like website updates, e-mailing artists, etc.

Saturday is my real day off, to spend either gaming or on family outings.

What I object to is the idea that someone's not a _real_ writer unless he or she does an externally stated number of words per day, that's all. It's going to be different for everyone.

Sabledrake

 

[Svenskaflicka]

And if you ever start to doubt what you're doing, remember that every writer has to write a bunch of slag before he/she writes that Masterpiece.

Unless you're one of those lucky devils who score with the first try, like some of the famous authors out there.

 

[Dirt Man]

Okay, here's how I write my legitimate novels. I write until my inspiration is exhausted, then I set up three help documents. One is a Character outline, the second is a story outline, and the third is my research list. Each of these three help documents are built upon the novel in progress, and they develope more, and more as the novel developes. But what is most important about these three help documents is that when I am blocked in the novel, or my inspirational flow is dampened I can work on them and often times it sparks a renewed energy flow of inspiration that puts me back on track with the novel. And what is best about these three help documents is that when I've finished the first draft, and I'm into the editing process, I have them to help me see the trees in the forest.

Now reguardless of how many words you write a day either on your novel or otherwise the thing to remember here is that a writer writes, but that isn't all that he/she does in his/her life. And writing is a job, and like any other job the writer needs to get away from it to refresh their soul. I seldom write on weekends anymore as I am now on disability retirement from my other life long career. So by keeping these three help documents up to date when you do have other things to do, going back to work on the novel isn't half as hard as it could be. And it's a lot easier to create if every time you come back to the novel you have your own guide to refresh your muse's memory.

In any event I wish you good luck with your novel however you go about it.

As Always
I Am the
Dirt Man