It’s often said that
writing a novel is akin to running a marathon, not a sprint. For me, it’s felt
more like the long, painful, drawn-out process of training
for a marathon.
writing a novel is akin to running a marathon, not a sprint. For me, it’s felt
more like the long, painful, drawn-out process of training
for a marathon.
I am two and a half
years into the process of writing my fantasy novel, and even though I write for
about an hour every day, I’m only starting to see the light at the end of the
tunnel. Along the way, I’ve learned a lot of lessons about how I could have made
this easier on myself … and become an expert in the many ways to make this
process take as long as possible.
years into the process of writing my fantasy novel, and even though I write for
about an hour every day, I’m only starting to see the light at the end of the
tunnel. Along the way, I’ve learned a lot of lessons about how I could have made
this easier on myself … and become an expert in the many ways to make this
process take as long as possible.
Make your introduction perfect before moving forward.
Since this was my
first novel, I wasn’t sure what my voice was yet. I didn’t even have much
confidence that I could write anything worthwhile. So instead of ripping
through the first draft and getting my ideas on the page, I obsessed over my
opening. I reworked it over and over and over until it was perfect. THEN I
moved forward. I wasted a few months doing this. Months.
first novel, I wasn’t sure what my voice was yet. I didn’t even have much
confidence that I could write anything worthwhile. So instead of ripping
through the first draft and getting my ideas on the page, I obsessed over my
opening. I reworked it over and over and over until it was perfect. THEN I
moved forward. I wasted a few months doing this. Months.
Don’t worry about worldbuilding.
I knew my main
character when I started writing, and the general trajectory the plot would go
in. And … that’s it. So as my character moved through each scene,
I had to figure out where he was, what the rules were there, and why. What was
the world’s history? Myths and beliefs? Social structure? This meant a lot of
stopping and thinking during my precious one hour in the morning. Time that
could have been spent writing. This is more intense for a fantasy novel, but
every story has a setting that the writer must know intimately.
character when I started writing, and the general trajectory the plot would go
in. And … that’s it. So as my character moved through each scene,
I had to figure out where he was, what the rules were there, and why. What was
the world’s history? Myths and beliefs? Social structure? This meant a lot of
stopping and thinking during my precious one hour in the morning. Time that
could have been spent writing. This is more intense for a fantasy novel, but
every story has a setting that the writer must know intimately.
Plot threads what?
As stated, when I
started writing I had only a general sense of my main plot line. My first draft
helped me find the path and conclusion for that trajectory. But when my first
draft’s word count hit only 45,000 words, I realized I hadn’t thought a dot about
any other plot threads—I’d been too consumed with coming up with my primary
arc. My last eight months of writing
have been dedicated to creating and untangling these supporting plot threads.
started writing I had only a general sense of my main plot line. My first draft
helped me find the path and conclusion for that trajectory. But when my first
draft’s word count hit only 45,000 words, I realized I hadn’t thought a dot about
any other plot threads—I’d been too consumed with coming up with my primary
arc. My last eight months of writing
have been dedicated to creating and untangling these supporting plot threads.
Update changes as you go.
Because I made such
a mess of my plotting, there’s been many significant changes to my story’s
details as it has developed. At first, I wanted to keep everything nice and
clean, and went back and corrected inconsistencies right away. Then I realized
it didn’t matter how much cleaning I did in the rough draft phase, because soon
as I cleaned up one mess, I was sure to find another. Much better to finish the
draft, then go back and address all the changes together.
a mess of my plotting, there’s been many significant changes to my story’s
details as it has developed. At first, I wanted to keep everything nice and
clean, and went back and corrected inconsistencies right away. Then I realized
it didn’t matter how much cleaning I did in the rough draft phase, because soon
as I cleaned up one mess, I was sure to find another. Much better to finish the
draft, then go back and address all the changes together.
Spread yourself thin and overcommit.
I like to tell
myself that my novel is my top priority. But if I’m really honest, I’ve spread
myself too thin. My family is a priority, and my full-time career has to be a
priority too. On top of that, I run my own blog, with posts three times a week.
And just because I’m a special brand of crazy, I also launched a short story
zine last January. I have my reasons for holding on to these other pet
projects. But let’s get real—they’re getting in the way of finishing my novel.
myself that my novel is my top priority. But if I’m really honest, I’ve spread
myself too thin. My family is a priority, and my full-time career has to be a
priority too. On top of that, I run my own blog, with posts three times a week.
And just because I’m a special brand of crazy, I also launched a short story
zine last January. I have my reasons for holding on to these other pet
projects. But let’s get real—they’re getting in the way of finishing my novel.
How much does it
really matter how quickly you finish your manuscript? Well, that depends on you
and your goals. We all write at our own pace. Taking your time is not
necessarily a bad thing—after all, it took J.K. Rowling six years to write the
first Harry Potter book, and literary history is littered with other greats who
take their time with their works. I’ve learned invaluable lessons from my
sluggish process.
really matter how quickly you finish your manuscript? Well, that depends on you
and your goals. We all write at our own pace. Taking your time is not
necessarily a bad thing—after all, it took J.K. Rowling six years to write the
first Harry Potter book, and literary history is littered with other greats who
take their time with their works. I’ve learned invaluable lessons from my
sluggish process.
But if you dream of
supporting yourself from your writing, you can’t afford to take three years for
each book—even J.K. Rowling picked up her pace, releasing all seven books in
the Harry Potter series in 10 years. It’s a fast-paced world, and the more you
can organize your process for efficiency (without losing your creativity or
quality of writing, of course), the greater your career potential. More
finished works means more opportunities for success.
supporting yourself from your writing, you can’t afford to take three years for
each book—even J.K. Rowling picked up her pace, releasing all seven books in
the Harry Potter series in 10 years. It’s a fast-paced world, and the more you
can organize your process for efficiency (without losing your creativity or
quality of writing, of course), the greater your career potential. More
finished works means more opportunities for success.
Emily Wenstrom is the editor of wordhaus, a weekly short story ezine. She also blogs about
creativity for writers, artists and professionals at Creative
Juicer. Follow her on Twitter @emilywenstrom.
creativity for writers, artists and professionals at Creative
Juicer. Follow her on Twitter @emilywenstrom.
Elizabeth – Thanks for hosting Emily.
Emily – I can really relate to your comment about spreading oneself too thin. I think that’s a real challenge, especially for people who have ‘day jobs.’ I think it’s important to be jealous and protective of one’s writing time.
I laughed hard enough to scare the cat out of the library.
Ah, tragedy is most amusing when it is a mirror.
I hate being a planner – but if I don’t do the outline for the large work, I end up adding it to the “box of unfinished manuscripts, disappointments, and broken dreams.”
I generate one more unfinished novel and I’ll have to buy a new dishwasher. I’d need the box.
Lovely entry today. Thanks to both. Very timely for me.
Thanks – J.
Thanks for posting today, Emily! And you’re right–these can all be very time-consuming approaches. I write pretty quickly and I don’t spend more time on page 1 than I do on page 36 in the first draft. I won’t edit until I’m finished–I’ve tried *that* before and it took me ages (others do better with that…but I sure don’t!)
I can’t pause to clean up anything or I get stuck, first time through. Since I a clean freak, it’s difficult to keep writing and not edit.
I’ve found it helpful to keep track of how I’m spending my time. My to-do list has spots for how long I estimate something to take, plus how long it actually takes, plus a note section for me to mark down any pertinent details (like “cat kept yelling” or “fighting a migraine”)
For writing projects, I track the date, time spent (including the start and end time), words written…and I have another section that lets me put things like editing, proofreading, research, etc.
That recordkeeping has let me confirm what I’d always thought but couldn’t prove: Editing as I works better for me. I’ve tried the “barrel through and just put words on the paper” method, but it slows me down. When I do that, my rate of words produced per hour drops quite a bit.
(I use the Apple spreadsheet Numbers for this, but I’ve converted my template into Excel and Open Office formats. You can download a ZIP file containing all three versions here: http://bit.ly/Writing_Log.
However, I’m a writer and an editor, so I get to see how different we writers all are on a regular basis. Overall, I seem to work better with methods that don’t work so well for most. *grin*
Some other things that can help:
Write or Die – It’s like a timer/notepad hybrid, that keeps track of how many words you want to hit in how many minutes, and starts playing obnoxious sounds or even deleting text (if you turn that setting on) when you pause for too long. I find this particularly useful when I know
Stickk – It’s accountability that can hurt. You set a goal (in anything), then have the option to be charged actual $$ if you fail to meet that goal. I set the money to go to a friend. She’s gotten a few payments, but overall, I’ve hit my goals.
Wattpad (or some other place where the work is posted publicly) – It’s accountability. These days, I pick a project and commit to posting at least one scene every Friday until it’s done. I can’t do this for all projects, but it’s working nicely so far.
I like Wattpad because it has the ability to flag things to read later and a clean posting interface. Formatting’s limited, but other places (Fiction Press…) eat my posts. The commenting system is kind of bewildering at first, though. It functions comparable to Twitter.
That’s why I’m glad I outline and plan ahead or it would take me forever to write one story.
Thanks for hosting me today Elizabeth!
Margot-Agreed! I’ve even stooped to hiding in my closet to make sure I get my writing time each morning :)
Carradee-What awesome motivation tools! Stickk sounds a little scary, but I imagine it would really force me to take my self-imposed deadlines more seriously.
Thanks jwelling & Diane-I agree, outlining isn’t terribly fun … but boy have I learned my lesson about trying to go without one :)
Teresa, I’m with you–it’s been a painful process, learning to let go those early draft imperfections in the name of getting the draft done!
*giggles* OH first books… I am much more inclined to a thousand subplots and too difficult to tie it all together, but otherwise this all sounds very familiar… I’ve become a ‘speed first drafter’ or I end up on major tangents and repeating myself (I have such good ideas, see, that they end up making the novel three or four times and I forget in between)
Yeah, I can see where all of that would really slow down the writing process. I’m an over-planner and preparer and that gets me through the process rather quickly.
Emily – And I didn’t even mention that I use timers, and I’ll associate specific songs/artists/albums with specific books/characters/relationships. *grin*
Stickk is scary, I agree. My first time I tried it, I used a small monetary commitment and a short duration (It was $5 per week, 6 weeks.)
I lost the first one, as I expected. I’m the kind of person who, when told, “Don’t touch the pan!” will honestly forget that it’s bad to touch the pan until I do so and end up with a second-degree burn—regardless of how many slight burns I get in the interim.
My commitment after that was to finish drafting a title I’d been working on, which succeeded. And I’m currently on another commitment, to write at least X words in a particular project each week.
This is a timely post for me as I am about to start working on my novel AGAIN. Thanks for sharing!
Good luck getting back into your story, Sushiboofay!
Thanks Hart, Alex and Carradee–love to hear from different sides of the issue :)
I think every writer can relate to this post! Good to know we’re not alone :)
Wow, great article. Really hit home for me too. Thanks!