The past four days have been a blur for me. I’ve been staring so much at my novel in progress that I scarcely looked at anything else. Anything I watched on television was either basketball (my break) or a series of movies that make me think more about my novel (perhaps someday, I can share what those movies are).
With all this focus, did I make progress?
Yes. I wrote 200 pages last fall of this novel for a first draft. I let it sit for a few months and picked it up again in early February to revise. I’m now at 220 pages (all usable, some new, some old) and have around 150 pages to go. I call that progress.
To write a novel:
1. You must write something. Holding a story just in your head doesn’t count. Every writer has had to write the story down. I wrote last fall for three straight months and ended up with a story that was so rough, I despaired it would ever be smoothed for publication.
2. You must rewrite often. I’m in this phase. Rewriting the same scenes over and over and over until I get all the elements in that I want. Rewriting is half thinking, half daring to try something different.
3. You must outline. I know some writers write by the seat of their pants. Even they confess they know what will happen two or three chapters in advance. Get used to outlining. Just start.
4. You must throw away a lot of words that don’t fit. It’s very hard to write a first draft and then go through and cross out in red all the pieces that won’t work in the next draft. And to do this with every single draft, sometimes up to five times.
5. You must read widely. Sure, I’m the one who didn’t read for a week, but I’m reading again and drawing inspiration from all sorts of places. My second draft is stronger because I saw a technique used in someone’s novel and I pulled it into mine. There’s no such thing as writing in a vacuum. We all write what we’ve read or observed throughout our lives and sometimes you have to draw on many, many varying sources to get the right mix for your novel.
And that’s how to do it. Any questions? Just ask.
{ 8 comments }
Love this, Trish. Simple, practical, wise, a gentle kick in the tush.
For you and me both. More so for me.
Where can we pre-order? Hang in there girlie, you CAN do it!!!
Thanks, Jenzi! I have the best family support a writer could ask for! Love you all! Happy spring break! Thanks!
Go, go, go! I love what you’re doing.
All except the part about outlining. You’re absolutely right, though. Outlining is a necessary evil, and hating it with a purple passion won’t make the need for it go away. Rats!
Sorry, Meg. But just make sure outlining works for your own particular writing style. Every writer I know has to outline at some point, so I figured I’d better just add it to my list of must-do.
Onward!
Hi Trish,
Outlining is imperative to keeping your writing focused. I’ve learned this the hard way.
Glad to see you and others agree. I actually like outlining. It makes my writing go much faster.
Yep, much faster. How in the world do folks do the writing without it? They are amazing then. The entire story in their head and perfectly recorded on the page. Oh, how I wish that were me too!
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