Im now over 10K words. Thats 20% of a small novel. Wow.
After a brief hiatus, I went back to work tonight on the outline. I was able to further develop Elena's character, introducing her in a new chapter that takes place early on in the book. Short and sweet, but I now have a better idea of which direction to take with her. I learned something about her tonight that shocked me, but at the same time it made perfect sense and gels really well with what I'd already thought up for her. Its a great little twist that I think will melt some hearts. And faces.
Chapters Outlined: 10 (Includes Prologue)
Rough Word Count: 10,194
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
The Evil That Never Arrived
It amazes me how easily this can sometimes come together. What gets me even more is that it falls into place with perfect symbolism, even when I had no intention of writing it that way. Either I'm just lucky, or I've got destiny on my side.
I finally managed to bang out the outline of the first major plot twist, but had problems with the chapter as whole. Id been frustrated with the middle part, and this frustration caused me to dawdle around with the outline for a week before finally deciding to move on. I was trying to force some story to lengthen the chapter, but ultimately decided that I should let it be the length it needed to be, even if that meant short-changing a newly introduced character. I'm going to have to figure out somewhere else to grow her background. Either that, or on my second pass of the outline I hope to bring a fresh look and think up some stuff to put in the chapter to lengthen it naturally and solidify her as a character and not an archetype.
Speaking of archetypes, I realized that even though this is "the beginning" of the series, Im still going to have to think up some details of certain characters' pasts to make them a bit more three-dimensional. History. Why they are the way they are. Even if its just a few sentences, I need to provide something extra for readers to go on. The main characters wont be a problem because theyll be fleshed out over the course of the first novel, but the secondary characters are going to need some special loving until book two rolls around.
Anyway, now the book starts to get fun. The next chapter contains the first real action sequence, and from here on out it will be a wild roller coaster ride. Looking forward to it.
Chapters Outlined: 8 (Includes Prologue)
Rough Word Count: 8504
I finally managed to bang out the outline of the first major plot twist, but had problems with the chapter as whole. Id been frustrated with the middle part, and this frustration caused me to dawdle around with the outline for a week before finally deciding to move on. I was trying to force some story to lengthen the chapter, but ultimately decided that I should let it be the length it needed to be, even if that meant short-changing a newly introduced character. I'm going to have to figure out somewhere else to grow her background. Either that, or on my second pass of the outline I hope to bring a fresh look and think up some stuff to put in the chapter to lengthen it naturally and solidify her as a character and not an archetype.
Speaking of archetypes, I realized that even though this is "the beginning" of the series, Im still going to have to think up some details of certain characters' pasts to make them a bit more three-dimensional. History. Why they are the way they are. Even if its just a few sentences, I need to provide something extra for readers to go on. The main characters wont be a problem because theyll be fleshed out over the course of the first novel, but the secondary characters are going to need some special loving until book two rolls around.
Anyway, now the book starts to get fun. The next chapter contains the first real action sequence, and from here on out it will be a wild roller coaster ride. Looking forward to it.
Chapters Outlined: 8 (Includes Prologue)
Rough Word Count: 8504
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Quick thoughts
I didnt get much time to write tonight. Maybe fifteen minutes at most. But wow, I finally put to paper something that I have been curious about for such a long time. Its a topic I think many people will find interesting. I wish I could be more specific.
A few minutes ago this paragraph went into some slight detail, but after further thought I decided best not to go there. I'll hold all of my cards, even the small ones, until the novel is ready for publication.
I cannot wait. The ideas I have inside are just screaming to get out. I hope no one has already had them. As long as wizards and vampires continue to flood the story market I should be fine :)
A few minutes ago this paragraph went into some slight detail, but after further thought I decided best not to go there. I'll hold all of my cards, even the small ones, until the novel is ready for publication.
I cannot wait. The ideas I have inside are just screaming to get out. I hope no one has already had them. As long as wizards and vampires continue to flood the story market I should be fine :)
Saturday, July 10, 2010
An Afternoon Ahead
As I sit here outlining the chapter that ends in the first big plot twist, one that will surely make everyone go "WTF?!", possibly even to the point of quitting the book out of its insane randomness, my mind started wandering to things it shouldnt be. Things such as word count.
Ive never written a novel before, so I have no idea how long this will turn out to be. The goal for Nanowrimo is 50,000 words. I'd prefer at least 65,000 words. Average novel length I think gets up around 80,000 or more depending on the genre.
At the moment, though, Im not too worried about novel length. Rather, I was thinking more about the length of my outline. Again, having never written a novel, I have no idea if I can mathematically calculate an average length for my novel based on my outline. An amateur's guess is "double" the words, but it will likely be higher than that (I like to play it conservative). I just want to have an outline that is long enough to be transformed into a full novel.
So... the only thing I have to go by is my full outline for book five. I'd written it up in college, and from what I'd remembered of it, it was massive. Sitting here working on book one, I decided against better judgement to go back to the other outline to see how many words it was.
To my shock and amazement, the full outline was a paltry 10.5K words. Im less than 4K away from that mark and I still dont feel I've reached Act 2 yet. Im still in the beginning of the story. Granted, after the next couple chapters I'll be in the middle. But I just cant believe that the outline I'm working on now is going to trounce the other one a few times over.
Im not sure what that says about these outlines. Either Im getting way too detailed with my current one, or the other outline was garbage. Personally I'd like to think the other outline was very amateurish. That story needed a lot of molding, and thats why I ultimately jumped back in time four books to help flesh out the characters and story behind it all.
It will be years before I ever get back to book five, so for now I'm going to keep it out of my head. But I certainly am very excited to get in there and spruce it back up.
And that was what I was trying to articulate to myself by writing this. My excitement for rewriting the book five outline doesnt have to go unquenched. Once I finish the outline for book one, its going to get a rewrite. And then the book itself will get its first draft in November. There is nothing but exciting times ahead, and it starts with this afternoon.
Stop worrying about word count. Start worrying about what Elena/Aidan are going to do after their meeting gets cancelled. Then worry even more about their conversation after the plot twist occurs.
Ive never written a novel before, so I have no idea how long this will turn out to be. The goal for Nanowrimo is 50,000 words. I'd prefer at least 65,000 words. Average novel length I think gets up around 80,000 or more depending on the genre.
At the moment, though, Im not too worried about novel length. Rather, I was thinking more about the length of my outline. Again, having never written a novel, I have no idea if I can mathematically calculate an average length for my novel based on my outline. An amateur's guess is "double" the words, but it will likely be higher than that (I like to play it conservative). I just want to have an outline that is long enough to be transformed into a full novel.
So... the only thing I have to go by is my full outline for book five. I'd written it up in college, and from what I'd remembered of it, it was massive. Sitting here working on book one, I decided against better judgement to go back to the other outline to see how many words it was.
To my shock and amazement, the full outline was a paltry 10.5K words. Im less than 4K away from that mark and I still dont feel I've reached Act 2 yet. Im still in the beginning of the story. Granted, after the next couple chapters I'll be in the middle. But I just cant believe that the outline I'm working on now is going to trounce the other one a few times over.
Im not sure what that says about these outlines. Either Im getting way too detailed with my current one, or the other outline was garbage. Personally I'd like to think the other outline was very amateurish. That story needed a lot of molding, and thats why I ultimately jumped back in time four books to help flesh out the characters and story behind it all.
It will be years before I ever get back to book five, so for now I'm going to keep it out of my head. But I certainly am very excited to get in there and spruce it back up.
And that was what I was trying to articulate to myself by writing this. My excitement for rewriting the book five outline doesnt have to go unquenched. Once I finish the outline for book one, its going to get a rewrite. And then the book itself will get its first draft in November. There is nothing but exciting times ahead, and it starts with this afternoon.
Stop worrying about word count. Start worrying about what Elena/Aidan are going to do after their meeting gets cancelled. Then worry even more about their conversation after the plot twist occurs.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Clouds Cover the Stars
Finally got through a side chapter I'd been thinking about for the past few days. Id been running headlong through the main plot thread and decided to do a one-off chapter to introduce some characters coming later down the line. What I didnt expect was how hard that was going to be.
I think the main reason I had a problem with it was because its based on an idea I had less than a week ago. I didnt have very many details thought up, so I was kinda making it up as I went. The initial end product was not very satisfying at all.
I left it for a couple days, then came back and made it better, but it still wasnt what I wanted. I finally took a step back and realized I was spreading a small conflict across too many characters. I ended up axing one of the characters, deciding he served no purpose and lessened the impact of another character. It helped a lot. Im glad to see deleting things doesnt necessarily mean having to start over, and that it can actually make things better.
I was also able to make the conflict more sensible and not confined to a small area. I expanded it a bit, and now I feel the chapter is do-able. It'll probably be short, but thats how exposition should be. At least, thats how I'd prefer it, as long as it gets the point across and gives the reader enough time to get a feel for the characters.
Tomorrow I'm jumping back over into the main plot. Things are about to start heating up here. The first really big twist comes in the next chapter, so I'm certainly looking forward to outlining how I want it to unfold. Writing it in a draft will be another reward, but alas, I have to wait until November :(
I think the main reason I had a problem with it was because its based on an idea I had less than a week ago. I didnt have very many details thought up, so I was kinda making it up as I went. The initial end product was not very satisfying at all.
I left it for a couple days, then came back and made it better, but it still wasnt what I wanted. I finally took a step back and realized I was spreading a small conflict across too many characters. I ended up axing one of the characters, deciding he served no purpose and lessened the impact of another character. It helped a lot. Im glad to see deleting things doesnt necessarily mean having to start over, and that it can actually make things better.
I was also able to make the conflict more sensible and not confined to a small area. I expanded it a bit, and now I feel the chapter is do-able. It'll probably be short, but thats how exposition should be. At least, thats how I'd prefer it, as long as it gets the point across and gives the reader enough time to get a feel for the characters.
Tomorrow I'm jumping back over into the main plot. Things are about to start heating up here. The first really big twist comes in the next chapter, so I'm certainly looking forward to outlining how I want it to unfold. Writing it in a draft will be another reward, but alas, I have to wait until November :(
Saturday, July 3, 2010
At That Time of the Night...
The first big challenge of an upstart novel writer is finding the time to write and sliding it into the daily routine. Without it being routine, writing remains a chore. Its something "extra" to your day that often will end up being cut, thus the "writer" ends up quitting before they really begin.
This is something Ive had problems with in the past, but now Im starting to accept it as part of my day. I have a feeling Im going to become very antisocial over the next few months, because I know if I interrupt this routine too much I might lose it again.
My writing time seems to pop up around 9:00 PM and lasts until I go to bed. On nights before work this poses somewhat of a problem, as I only have about an hour to make progress. However, I think that for now this works to my advantage. I can work in small spurts, allowing me to reflect on the direction Im going and anticipate what will come next. In other words, I wont run out of story to write because I'll never have caught up to the story in my mind. Not until the epilogue rolls around, anyway.
***
I finished up Chapter 5 tonight and Im going to start Chapter 6 when Im done writing this post. Something that surprised me about Chapter 5 was that when I got to a certain point, I became very frustrated. Id just written about a scene that didnt sit well with me, and it was the first time I had encountered such a disappointment so far in the outline. The characters were acting in a way that, to me, didnt make sense, and yet for some reason I wrote them that way.
And then I had an epiphany. I was looking at this character (we'll call him B) through the eyes of the main character. And, as it turned out, the main character got pissed at character B for acting in a way that did not make sense to him. But it did make sense for character B to act that way. The main character had been betrayed.
In short, I felt the feelings of my main character and saw character B's actions as out of character. I became frustrated with myself that I'd just messed up, when really I hit the nail on the head. If even I, the author, got pissed at character B, then I know the readers will, too. And that makes me feel happy, because thats how I want them to feel.
I think Ive officially been bit by the story bug. All hope is lost for me.
Chapters Outlined: 6 (Includes Prologue)
Rough Word Count: 5104
This is something Ive had problems with in the past, but now Im starting to accept it as part of my day. I have a feeling Im going to become very antisocial over the next few months, because I know if I interrupt this routine too much I might lose it again.
My writing time seems to pop up around 9:00 PM and lasts until I go to bed. On nights before work this poses somewhat of a problem, as I only have about an hour to make progress. However, I think that for now this works to my advantage. I can work in small spurts, allowing me to reflect on the direction Im going and anticipate what will come next. In other words, I wont run out of story to write because I'll never have caught up to the story in my mind. Not until the epilogue rolls around, anyway.
***
I finished up Chapter 5 tonight and Im going to start Chapter 6 when Im done writing this post. Something that surprised me about Chapter 5 was that when I got to a certain point, I became very frustrated. Id just written about a scene that didnt sit well with me, and it was the first time I had encountered such a disappointment so far in the outline. The characters were acting in a way that, to me, didnt make sense, and yet for some reason I wrote them that way.
And then I had an epiphany. I was looking at this character (we'll call him B) through the eyes of the main character. And, as it turned out, the main character got pissed at character B for acting in a way that did not make sense to him. But it did make sense for character B to act that way. The main character had been betrayed.
In short, I felt the feelings of my main character and saw character B's actions as out of character. I became frustrated with myself that I'd just messed up, when really I hit the nail on the head. If even I, the author, got pissed at character B, then I know the readers will, too. And that makes me feel happy, because thats how I want them to feel.
I think Ive officially been bit by the story bug. All hope is lost for me.
Chapters Outlined: 6 (Includes Prologue)
Rough Word Count: 5104
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