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The novel weblog -- from the old board
Author: Bev Vincent
The weekend before last, I finally got down to it and started working on novel #2. Novel #1 is in a figurative trunk after having made the rounds of agents a couple of years ago and having been met with resoundingly underwhelming response. I'm happy that I finished that book but I now tend to agree that it wasn't marketable and has some deficiencies that could be fixed, but I'd rather move on to something new at this point.
So, novel #2 is now in progress. It's so far officially untitled. It has a working title, but that's mostly because Windows insists that files have names and I didn't want to just call it something generic like Novel 2.doc.
I'm not going to delve into the story at all here -- I dislike talking about projects of this size while they are still forming in my head. In part, that's because I don't have everything worked out yet and in part because to do so invites people to say, "Well, why don't you have him do that?" and it's hard to keep those suggestions, well meaning though they may be, out of my head.
However, I thought it might be interesting to just jot down some meandering progress reports as I work my way from beginning to end. Maybe I'll be motivated to keep on plugging away.
A novel is typically something on the order of 80,000 to 120,000 words. Anything outside those limits is a tough sell. Granted there are exceptions, especially for established writers. King has no trouble selling 200,000 word books. However, you do yourself a favor as a tyro if you stay within this range.
Seems like a lot, but I've found that I can easily produce 1000 words on a mediocre day and as much as 1500 words on a pretty good one. I've written as much as 3-4000 words when I'm really in the zone. But let's say 1000 words a day as a good average. That means that if I wrote like that every day I could finish a novel in three or four months.
[continued in next message]
Author: Bev Vincent
[continued from above]
Now, I don't want to fool anyone into thinking that I write every day. If I can manage four days a week, I consider myself lucky. I write early in the morning and some mornings I just don't want to get up. However, I usually work a lot on at least one weekend day, so that sometimes makes up for the lying-in days. I also get some work done in evenings if my wife is working or has homework. But 5000 words a week is a meetable goal. So, five months for a first draft -- that would be great. My first book took six months, but I had a motivational block for about a month in the middle of it.
So, anyway, back to the work in progress. I began it the weekend before last and as of this morning I have about 11,000 words done and completed what I am calling Part I. That comprises about seven or eight chapters. I had written two chapters when I decided to insert a new chapter two and make this a multiple viewpoint work. My first novel was first person and that was one of its limitations -- everything had to happen in the presence of the narrator and readers weren't privy to anything that happened outside his experience.
At present I'm using three viewpoint characters and I may introduce a fourth at some point in the future. One of the great things about this limited third person perspective is that you can present events from different points of view. You can have the main character see things in one chapter and then have him observed by someone else in another. It's not something you get to do in short stories very often and I'm enjoying the experience greatly. It's both liberating and inspiring.
[continued]
Author: Bev Vincent
[continued]
I'm using a fairly detached viewpoint at present. I only occasionally dip into the minds of the characters rather than immerse readers inside the characters' heads. It's an experiment and I'm not sure whether that will ultimately be how I choose to finish the work. I was intrigued by Ian McEwen's Atonement and the facile way he hopped from character to character and the way he was able to characterize from without rather than from within.
So far things are going very well. No blocks yet, but I don't know exactly where the story is going, which is a little worrying. Each night I come up with a rough idea of what I want to tackle next and each day I sit down and the words just come to me from this otherworldly channel where stories come from. Another beauty of multiple viewpoing books is that if I have problems somewhere, I can go off and work on another chapter somewhere else.
This morning I spent a little time with the Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book, so I only got about 750 words done. However, I have Friday off so I expect to make up for it then. The Trivia Book is going to take some work as at present what we have is this huge file with everyone's contributions. The first task is to go through and assign the questions to chapters, which is a pretty big job by itself. Then we'll have to edit the questions, validate them and then pad out the chapters that are under-represented.
Brian's also working on a novel, so we have some busy times ahead of us!
The weekend before last, I finally got down to it and started working on novel #2. Novel #1 is in a figurative trunk after having made the rounds of agents a couple of years ago and having been met with resoundingly underwhelming response. I'm happy that I finished that book but I now tend to agree that it wasn't marketable and has some deficiencies that could be fixed, but I'd rather move on to something new at this point.
So, novel #2 is now in progress. It's so far officially untitled. It has a working title, but that's mostly because Windows insists that files have names and I didn't want to just call it something generic like Novel 2.doc.
I'm not going to delve into the story at all here -- I dislike talking about projects of this size while they are still forming in my head. In part, that's because I don't have everything worked out yet and in part because to do so invites people to say, "Well, why don't you have him do that?" and it's hard to keep those suggestions, well meaning though they may be, out of my head.
However, I thought it might be interesting to just jot down some meandering progress reports as I work my way from beginning to end. Maybe I'll be motivated to keep on plugging away.
A novel is typically something on the order of 80,000 to 120,000 words. Anything outside those limits is a tough sell. Granted there are exceptions, especially for established writers. King has no trouble selling 200,000 word books. However, you do yourself a favor as a tyro if you stay within this range.
Seems like a lot, but I've found that I can easily produce 1000 words on a mediocre day and as much as 1500 words on a pretty good one. I've written as much as 3-4000 words when I'm really in the zone. But let's say 1000 words a day as a good average. That means that if I wrote like that every day I could finish a novel in three or four months.
[continued in next message]
Author: Bev Vincent
[continued from above]
Now, I don't want to fool anyone into thinking that I write every day. If I can manage four days a week, I consider myself lucky. I write early in the morning and some mornings I just don't want to get up. However, I usually work a lot on at least one weekend day, so that sometimes makes up for the lying-in days. I also get some work done in evenings if my wife is working or has homework. But 5000 words a week is a meetable goal. So, five months for a first draft -- that would be great. My first book took six months, but I had a motivational block for about a month in the middle of it.
So, anyway, back to the work in progress. I began it the weekend before last and as of this morning I have about 11,000 words done and completed what I am calling Part I. That comprises about seven or eight chapters. I had written two chapters when I decided to insert a new chapter two and make this a multiple viewpoint work. My first novel was first person and that was one of its limitations -- everything had to happen in the presence of the narrator and readers weren't privy to anything that happened outside his experience.
At present I'm using three viewpoint characters and I may introduce a fourth at some point in the future. One of the great things about this limited third person perspective is that you can present events from different points of view. You can have the main character see things in one chapter and then have him observed by someone else in another. It's not something you get to do in short stories very often and I'm enjoying the experience greatly. It's both liberating and inspiring.
[continued]
Author: Bev Vincent
[continued]
I'm using a fairly detached viewpoint at present. I only occasionally dip into the minds of the characters rather than immerse readers inside the characters' heads. It's an experiment and I'm not sure whether that will ultimately be how I choose to finish the work. I was intrigued by Ian McEwen's Atonement and the facile way he hopped from character to character and the way he was able to characterize from without rather than from within.
So far things are going very well. No blocks yet, but I don't know exactly where the story is going, which is a little worrying. Each night I come up with a rough idea of what I want to tackle next and each day I sit down and the words just come to me from this otherworldly channel where stories come from. Another beauty of multiple viewpoing books is that if I have problems somewhere, I can go off and work on another chapter somewhere else.
This morning I spent a little time with the Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book, so I only got about 750 words done. However, I have Friday off so I expect to make up for it then. The Trivia Book is going to take some work as at present what we have is this huge file with everyone's contributions. The first task is to go through and assign the questions to chapters, which is a pretty big job by itself. Then we'll have to edit the questions, validate them and then pad out the chapters that are under-represented.
Brian's also working on a novel, so we have some busy times ahead of us!
Comments
Its great to hear your really delving into it. It'll be keen to hear from you as you work on it. I'm really hoping to get some serious work done this summer and work on a novel of my own. It'll be my first attempt at a long project, so it'll be interesting, so your project is timely too. Good luck!
Author: sedna
Thank you for having the guts to open this little window on your personal creative process. I imagine many of us will find it both inspiring and challenging.
I had to chuckle at your mention of how "the words just come to me from this otherworldly channel where stories come from". In the writing I've done, mostly poetry, I often joke about it being more akin to being possessed by a muse than any conscious effort. I once read an interview of James Michener where he said that he had no memory of writing any of his books - and gawd knows he wrote some danged long ones.
Will be looking forward to more of your shared insight. Sleep is optional but don't forget to eat.
Author: endymion
Hey Bev, as a fairly new guy, I don't know if making suggestion is a bit of a bad idea, an overstepping of boundaries, but I was wondering something. I've been reading a lot of the posts, and we have some pretty damn literary types on this site, aspiring authors, poets, artists, you name it. I myself do some dabbling in writing (and it is dabbling, like a first-grade child with finger paints), and I thought the other day, I'd love to get some honest feedback from people who read the market I'd try to sell to. Have you ever considered having a section in the forum where people could post original material? I think if they do the little copyright thing with the date and their name on it, it should be safe, but I'm not sure of the legalities. I just love the idea of like-minded people evaluating my work, and I'm hoping there would be others here thinking the same thing. What do you think?
Author: Bev Vincent
Endymion:
There are a fair number of places already on the 'net for posting material already. The other complication is that once you post a piece of work like that in a public forum, which this is, you have in effect "published it" already. A lot of markets will consider the material to be a reprint if you try to sell it to them and they will either refuse it or offer only a fraction of what you might get if it hadn't been published previously.
One of the best places I know where you can register for free and have your work critiqued by others is www.zoetrope.com, which is vaguely affiliated with Francis Ford Coppolla.
Author: Bev Vincent
Got off to an early start this morning when I woke up before the alarm. I spent the first hour doing fairly mindless things, primarily moving around Trivia questions within our 200+ page Word file. It's a big task and I think it'll probably be at least another week or two before I just get the questions sorted into categories and the contributors' contact information sorted into a table.
I told myself I'd stop at 6 a.m. and switch over to the novel, and I was only about five minutes late getting there. Worked for the better part of an hour and got a little over 900 words down to finish chapter 9, which is the first chapter of Part II. Left myself with a good hook ending to the chapter and will switch point of view for chapter 10 to leave things hanging for the reader for a while.
I had a general idea of what today's scene was going to be about -- a confrontation between the protagonist and a third party -- but I didn't have much of an idea how it was going to play out. It turned out to be much more subtle and invasive than I'd originally planned, which is great. Rather than coming right out and stating something, the third party insinuated something that is now working in the main character's mind. A seed of doubt rather than a bald accusation. This works even better than I'd planned, I think, because the protagonist now has to scrutinize part of his life more carefully.
All in all, a very productive morning. Wrote to the sounds of a Mike Oldfield live performance from 1999 in Paris: Now and Then.
sedna: I can understand the otherworldly channel; and more akin to being possessed by a muse than any conscious effort. Ever since I opened myself to spiritualism and learned to listen to the universal energy, this energy has helped me in everything I partake in, whether it be every day things or helping me to see something that I might be struggling to say in a poem. Most of the poems I write are incredibly fast and the best ones are the ones that don't require a single rewrite but seem to just flow from me in an image form or a form of feeling also and the words seem to know exactly where they want to go. Alot of my work I can barely remember after writing it out and storing it electronically (copyrighted of course) but when I return to what I have written it just makes me really pleased when I recieve emails or comments from people knowing exactly what a poem means to them and how it has affected them or made them see something from another angle. I like to think of this as poetic empathy. And to help someone in any capacity or make them feel good about a situation or themselves is more meaningful to me than any cheque would be. Not that I'd be stupid to turn the cheques down mind you if they were offered...lol I'm not insane
Have read Michener's "Space" (I think he wrote it, and it was a fantastically long novel and a great read) to think he barely remembers writing them is along similar lines as all creative people I believe.
Author: sedna
DTUK: Thanks for that response - I was hoping no one would take the possession thing wrong or as a negative. Your experiences certainly flesh out the process as the beautiful thing it is. What a gift, eh?
It never ceases to amaze me how, as you stated, an image, form, or feeling can just send you off. The Wordsworthian concept of emotion recollected in tranquility just doesn't apply here... and the same thing happens with my artwork, too.
Ah, spiritualism and universal energy. Have been around Native American spiritual tradition since my youth and the bottom line in that way is that we share this earth with lots of natural spirit beings that are trying to help us out all the time (animals, plants, even wind & weather) but that we've just forgotten how to pay attention. Maybe we creative folk are just good listeners - it sounds like you are.
It's also a good thing that we don't just do it for the money, har har. You're not insane? Damn, I always feel so at home in the company of loonies.
Oh yeah, my Dad taught me that another important part of the creative process is to not take yourself too seriously - life is too short to walk around with a stick up your arse!
I haven't read "Space", but maybe it would help fill up some time waiting for The SoS.
Bev: Whenever I listen to Mike Oldfield it always reminds me of the first time I saw "The Exorcist". It amazes me that you can be so productive in the morning. My own feeble brain wakes hours after my body starts shuffling around, and the creative part of that brain usually wakes up when I'm trying to get to sleep at night. I suppose that could be a big reason why you have so many books in the works... and an agent... and a contract...
Author: Bev Vincent
Some people are morning writers, some are evening writers. I can do both, but I feel at my most creative first thing in the morning. I can go from zero to fully awake in an instant and I'm rarin' to go even as the computer is booting up.
Last night I worked exclusively on the Trivia book and spent about three hours moving questions around. I'd say I'm closing in on the 3/4 point of this part of the task and I hope to get it done over the weekend. Then we can move on to the editing phase, where we'll tidy up some of the questions, identify the duplicates and then decide where we need to beef up the content.
This morning, I spent about 30 minutes on the Trivia book and then started Chapter 10 of my novel. I didn't think I was going to get very much done -- I would have been happy with a page, which is about 300 words. Then that old groove came along and I ended up writing about 900 words that I hadn't anticipated at all. I would have worked longer, but I had to stop to go to my day job, but while I was in the shower I kept working on the chapter in my mind and when I got out I jotted down about six or seven reminders for things that I want to address in the rest of this chapter, so I really got a lot done.
Today's musical accompanyment: Mike Oldfield, assorted rare B sides and live cuts
sedna: I rarely take myself or life too seriously if it can be helped because we find ourselves as often as not within a real world that can affect how we are from any second of the waking day that we stay make some form of contribution to this world.
Life is serious enough on it's own and has its place. I rarely if ever take anything seriously, and like to laugh alot and help others to laugh also.
Author: Bev Vincent
One of my governing principles in life has been the notion of synchronicity -- the almost fateful happenstance, the odd collusion of coincidence that makes things seem more significant than they really are.
I've been listening to a new Rick Springfield album in my car stereo for about the past week or two, but haven't really been giving it my full attention. While I was at a stoplight this morning I heard a phrase that caught my attention, so I backed up to the start of the song and listened to it carefully. Damn if the song didn't have something that relates to the novel that I'm working on, and the title of the song is going into my book somehow, perhaps as the name of one of the sections.
Author: DTUK
Funny how synchronicty works, eh, Bev?
I too believe in synchronicity.
I've just this minute written a poem inspired by some music from Braveheart. It was the music that spoke to me and showed me what to say from the image I saw.
Author: Bev Vincent
So far a productive weekend, though I've done my fair share of goofing off, too. Last night I worked on the Trivia book and finally got through the question sorting process. I'm going to do another pass to do a little reordering within the sections then hand it off to Brian for a while.
Today I got nearly 2000 words done. I finished Chapter 9 and am working hard on Chapter 10. I'm currently taking a brief break from it while I decide whether I'm finished it or not. Ending chapters is sometimes a little difficult as I like to wrap up the business of the chapter but also end it on a footing that makes it difficult for the reader to put the book down at that point. But I also don't want to throw in too many artificial cliffhangers -- the ending must be true to the story at the same time.
Ending a chapter means I also have to think about the next one -- whose point of view will I attack next?
I'm closing in on 15,000 words, which should be about 1/6 of the way through.
Author: rpesa
I started a novel last February with the modest intention of finishing in one year. My goal, also modest, was 2000 words per week. I've averaged that despite one premature baby and two other small children, which impacted my sleep and many of my 4:30 AM starts. Also had a major change in my work schedule as we sold our company and I have now added an hour and a half to my daily commute. I dedicate my evenings to the family (when I can get out of work in time) so my only time is early morning. I get up at 4:30 every day (sometimes 4) even on the weekends.
But I refuse to be beaten and I'm up to 130,000 words. Hoping to finish within 140,000, then maybe edit down to Bev's 120 max. Missed my one year deadline but met my goal of not giving up.
It's a detective novel written in first person. I like the limitation of first person on this first novel because there are no decisions to make; all sensual input and narrative observations are from the single point of view. Also I can be a little more casual with the language.
Bev, I was figuring about 400 words per page, or 120K for a 300 page novel. Do you have another word count baseline?
As for the otherworldly channel, I have none of that. I work out story problems on the treadmill or when I'm driving, then flesh them out in the morning session. Like some of the other comments I am wide awake and ready to write within minutes of getting up.
Overall I'm happy with the result so far and I think the novel has pretty much gone where I had hoped. Hopefully an agent will feel the same way when the time comes but I hold no false expectations. I've learned a lot through the experience and that's the minimum I expected. The max I expect is that the novel will reach #1 on the NYT list and I'll be an overnight sensation. No one will notice at that point however because there will be too many distractions, what with pigs flying, the moon turning to green cheese, etc.
Robert -- there's no easy formula, I think. I look at a book by Robert B. Parker and one by, oh, say Harlan Coben and they're completely different beasts. Parker's Spenser novels are rarely more than novellas, really, puffed up to look longer by big fonts, generous spacing and thick paper. I read his newest one in a few hours.
My Road to the Dark Tower will come in at 416 pages and it's 130,000 words. The layout team can pretty much create whatever they want. Wizard and Glass's page count varies by over 100 between the Donald M. Grant edition and the recent Viking hardcover.
Hey -- maybe we can share the bestseller lists. You can have the fiction and I'll take the trade paperback nonfiction list and we can tip a glass in the green light of the moon!
Author: rpesa
Hopefully this isn't too far off topic but we haven't spoken in a while. I had a couple of short stories published during the writing of the novel.
http://www.amarillobay.org/contents/pesa-robert/love-triangle.htm
and
http://www.mysterical.bizland.com/storyframe.html
Talking to you has energized me for some reason. Got my alarm set for 4 tomorrow!
Did you write this AM?
Author: Bev Vincent
I'll check your stories out this week. I had a great writing day yesterday. My wife was working on some of her papers so we spent the morning and part of the afternoon in the office. My accomplishments for yesterday: 3500 words!
Author: DTUK
Robert: I hope you don't mind me reading your stories but I've just finished the first one and love it. I could really see the trash man and it was very vivid imagery, and a really good story.
Am off to read the second one...
Hm, nothing came up on the second link, Robert, except a homepage for the website you listed as a link.
Author: Bev Vincent
All in all a far more productive weekend than I could have hoped for. Even yesterday, when I wasn't feeling very encouraged about what I was going to write, I managed 3500 words. They came in fits and starts among many games of Spider solitaire, but they got me to the end of the second section of the book. I have lots of ideas about where part III is going, so I guess I'm in good shape. Current status: nearly 23000 words, which should be at least 1/4 of the way through.
Author: Bev Vincent
I took a break this morning -- got up at the usual time but couldn't get up the energy to even open the document. After three marathon days, it is probably time to recharge the creative batteries a little. I might tackle it again this evening but at the very least I'll be back at it again tomorrow to dive into Part III.
Author: rpesa
Thanks DTUK. Sorry, the actual link is http://www.mysterical.bizland.com/BLUE_LIGHT_SPECIAL.html.
Had a pretty productive weekend but nowhere near Bev's total. Maybe 1200 words, but did a little revising to the opening of the novel with some ideas I had. I'm one of those people who likes to revise on the fly.
Author: Bev Vincent
For my shorter works I sometimes revise on the fly, but with something this long, I find I can't allow myself to get too bogged down. I do sometimes go back and inject things that I know I need in past-written scenes, but I'm confident that the whole thing's going to need severe revision when I'm done anyway so I'm saying Damn the Torpedoes, full speed ahead!
Author: Bev Vincent
All I got written last night was the opening paragraph to section three, but it helped set the location and got me thinking about it. After I went to bed, I saw the next few paragraphs, so I got up, found a scrap of paper and jotted them down. It was a sudden revelation about one of my secondary characters that is fraught with possibility. Got up this morning and picked up right where I'd left off and got another 1000 words done, pushing me just over 24K.
This is a difficult scene to write as it is a faculty party with a dozen people, only three of whom we've met before. Most of the ancillary characters aren't important, but I need to make their presence felt because one of the characters hasn't been in a social setting for a while. This may take a while.
Last night I worked on the Trivia book, editing and validating questions, sorting them into an order that suits the section and contributing a few follow-up questions inspired by the ones already in place. I'm about half-way through the Short Story section -- Brian and I have divided the file in half and he's working on the first batch and I'm working on the second. Some point in the future (i.e. "shortly") we will have a grand reunification and then swap sections to tinker with and proof each other's work.
This morning I only wrote about 500 words of the first chapter of section three, the aforementioned party scene. It's slow going as I'm having to stop and make sure I have things properly staged once everyone is seated and also trying to work out how everyone will interact. The host is my POV character and so I have to filter everything through his limited knowledge of the characters' backgrounds. I think I see what I want to happen next, but I won't know until I sit at the computer tonight!
Author: rpesa
Still chipping away over here, did 500 this morning, which is a good day for me. Cruising into the climax of the story now, after that I have a short denoument, then done!
Bev at this rate you'll be done before me though...
Author: Bev Vincent
Another night on the trivia book and morning on the novel. Didn't have as much time as usual this morning due to little things that needed my attention, but I did manage 600 words or so. I didn't think I got much accomplished but when I did the word count it was not as bad as I'd thought. Word count is everything, after all, but it's the only barometer I know of to measure how productive I've been on a particular session. I visualized the part of the scene I'd be writing about last night, so mostly it was a matter of turning it into prose, which isn't always as easy or as satisfying as one might hope.
Author: Bev Vincent
This morning's session was cut a little short by paternal duties, but I did manage to finish the first chapter of section three, which is a great relief. Nearly 700 words, which is more than I thought I'd get done. I also had a flash of insight into something that has to happen eventually and the perfect literary influence to draw on for it -- the Maltese Falcon, one of my favorite books and movies. I'd love to write that part now, but I think it's too soon in the book for it to happen. Nonetheless, all sorts of interesting things are afoot, with more to follow.
Decided to change the name of one of my secondary characters when I realized how similar it was to the first name of another secondary character and might lead to confusion.
Author: rpesa
Sam Spade! Just read that recently...
Author: Bev Vincent
The Flitcraft parable is the piece of inspiration that I want to make reference to from Maltese Falcon. It's a neat little existential anecdote that probably still works today.
My wife ended up working late tonight so I got a bunch more writing done, and a huge chunk of the new chapter. 1200 more words, bringing my total to almost 26,000. About 1/3 of the way done. I'm really happy with the way it's going, but I haven't reread a word of it yet so it might be terrible!
Author: rpesa
Hope you don't mind my posts here Bev, not sure if you mean this only to be progress of your novel.
I had a banner morning, 2-1/2 hours of pure writing with no interruptions. Saturday is a great time to get a 4:30 start because I get some extra time not having to get ready for work. If the kids stay asleep I'm in heaven!
Did 1,100 words, a huge day for me. I've reached a point in the novel where all the threads and relationships I've woven are coming together. It's a lot of fun to tap into the possibilities of everything I've set up to this point. The story is just flowing along at its own pace now and I'm kind of hanging on.
Certainly wasn't always that way as I wrote it but now I'm reaping the benefits.
I took Saturday off to spend time with my wife -- we try to set one day each weekend aside where we don't do any work at all. Yesterday I worked for several hours on the trivia book and got the Dark Tower section mostly sorted out, though I now have to write some questions about DT6 and DT7 to finish off the chapter.
Late in the afternoon I turned back to the novel and wrote about 750 words to finish off a chapter and wrote the opening paragraph and some notes for the next chapter. This morning I wrote another thousand words or so after doing some quick research online so I had a vague idea of what I was talking about. I'll do more research later to flesh out the details. I'm closing in on 30,000 words -- should get there tonight.
Author: Bev Vincent
Last night, I ignored the trivia book (sorry, Brian) and worked on the novel, and again this morning. I'm into chapter 17 now, and am introducing a new point of view character. I hope that's okay--it's pretty far into things. She's not going to be a major, major character, but her perspective on what she's up to is important, even though her scenes are all going to be with the major characters. She's a fun character and I like writing about her. I hope I don't like it so much that she starts to become too big for her britches!
I hit 31,000 this morning. I need to do a little bit of research today before I carry on with the scene, though.
Author: Bev Vincent
I got no work done on the novel in the last twenty-four hours. I went to a Writers Guild meeting last night and only had a brief time this morning at the computer so I worked on the trivia book instead. I'm still doing my research, too, for the next section I'm going to write, so I hope to have time to finish that up tonight and get back to work at it tomorrow morning. I could "fake it" for now and just keep on going, but I think that if I get it right now it will feed what is going to happen next in unexpected ways, so I think it's worth the short break to learn some symbolism.
Author: The Drawing of the 7
I'm enjoying this writing journal, Bev. It's inspiring.
A few years back, I started a novel. Having only a idea of where things were going, I didn't bother with an outline. Amazingly, I ended up with nearly 500 pages before work consumed so much time that I was ripped from the novel. Since then, I haven't been able to get back into it, and I now realize that, in order to finish the novel, I need to start from page one, revising as I go -- it's changed a great deal in my mind, and really shouldn't be finished as it currently is.
However, a new idea is gestating, and your journal is reminding me of just how nicely those words add up, when you're laying down even 1000 words a day. 2500 word days are always satisfying...
This time, I think, I'll work from a basic outline...
Best wishes on this project, Bev. I hope to see it one day at my local bookstore...
And hey: this is my 19th post.
r
Author: Bev Vincent
Thanks -- this one is coming along shockingly fast. I haven't stopped to reread a bit of it yet, so I have great trepidation that when that day comes that I actually do sit down and review what I've done that it will suck. It's feeling pretty good, though!
Author: Bev Vincent
I got through my research book last night and ended up with about eight pages of hand-written notes and page references, so this morning I returned to work and got about 1400 words done. It was so much easier to do with the background information I'd gotten from my reading.
Here's an inside tidbit -- my research was into tarot readings. One of my characters is going to have a tarot reading and I wanted to make sure the cards made sense. I was able to find cards that perfectly suited the people I wanted them to represent and also other cards that hinted at things to come, but with enough ambiguity that it allows for some surprises in the future, too. It was sort of like working a puzzle backwards -- here are the answers, let's work backward to the question. When I finally saw it all coming together last night it was very satisfying. I didn't get as far as the actual tarot reading in my writing this morning, but I was able to set the scene, knowing how the reader would behave and what things she would consider important.
33,000 words as of this morning.
I didn't have any time to write last night but I got in a good session this morning, another 1100 words or so. I'm midway into the tarot reading scene and decided to end the chapter at that point and switch pov from the reader to the querent. We'll see how that goes. It might be an artificial break, I can't tell at this point. The chapter was getting too long, though, for comfort.
Author: Bev Vincent
The first half of today got taken up with social obligations. The local writers guild arranged a mass signing in an empty store at the outlet mall today and had over 30 authors sign up, which was great. I didn't have anything to promote, so I just went to lend moral support. There weren't many people coming by when I was there, but I hope things picked up for them once the rain stopped. It was pretty bad and there was an accident on the interstate nearby. It took me 30 minutes to get from one exit to the next, a distance of less than two miles.
This afternoon, though, I got a lot done. At the end of the session I was pleased to have finished the tarot chapter and decided on my hook and direction for the next one. Today's accomplishment: 3100 words, for a total of 36,600.
Tomorrow I might get some more done, but I have three other things that I have to work on that are due at the end of the week -- my Cemetery Dance column, which is about 3/4 done, my Mick Garris interview for CD #50, which is mostly done but could do with some sprucing up, and a summer reading preview for the local newspaper book section.
That should keep me busy tomorrow!
Author: Bev Vincent
Well, it's been a week since I worked on my novel, and I'm chomping at the bit to get back to it, but it'll probably be a day or two more before I can. I had a lot more work to do on my CD column than I expected and it was Thursday night before I was satisfied enough to turn it in on deadline Friday. I also did quite a bit of work on the Garris interview, pulling it apart and putting it back together again so the order of the questions and answers made more sense as an overall story.
I spent most of the weekend working on the Trivia book and I plan to do at least one more day on that before clearing it off my plate for a while and returning to the novel. I know where I'm going with it next, so I'm not afraid it will go stale on me during this brief hiatus, but I'm really looking forward to cranking out more story soon.
Author: Bev Vincent
I finally got back to my novel this morning after the better part of two weeks away from it. I awoke early this morning with words swimming in my head and I couldn't wait to get to the computer to set some of them down. Got 1100 words done as the beginning of chapter 17, I think. I'm up around the 37,000 word mark. It felt really good to be back at it again. I'm glad the story could wait for me.
Author: Old Darth
Good to hear Bev - glad it hasn't gotten stale for you yet!
Author: Bev Vincent
Two days in a row -- I'm on a roll. This morning I got about 900 words written. I didn't get as far as I thought I was going to in the chapter, but I managed to make myself hungry by writing about a dinner the main characters were cooking!
Author: Old Darth
A sure sign that you created a descriptive mental image!
Author: Bev Vincent
I didn't have as much time as usual this morning to write, but I still managed about 600 words, and they were good words at that. A mini-scene that I've been looking forward to writing for a while because it reveals quite a bit about two primary characters.
I didn't write much this weekend. Saturday morning I woke up with an idea for a short story, so I worked on that for a while and wrote the first three pages. I didn't get back to the computer again until this morning and wrote about 7-800 pages on the novel and got across the 40,000 word barrier.
I came down with a nasty cold this weekend and didn't sleep well last night because it hurt to swallow. This morning I took some Day-Quil and now I think I know how jittery people get when they have too much caffeine because right now I feel like I'm vibrating! It's an interesting sensation.
Author: Old Darth
Could you have a Shining?
Author: CRinVA
7-800 pages - Man you are prolific! ~0
The -quil products affect people in differet ways. My wife takes either Day or Night versions and she zonks - works better'n a sleeping pill.
Author: Bev Vincent
Don't post on OTC pharmaceuticals!
I can't take any of the night-time meds. Benadryl winds me up like a swiss watch. I spend the whole night staring at the ceiling.
Author: DTUK
Hope you feel alot better soon, Bev
I have to take painkillers for a foot condition I got somehow (am not sure really why, and the doc isn't either) but it's called Bett's Heel and it comes from walking alot, which I do in my job, but have worked at walking around alot for two years previously and nothing till last year when I started feeling it niggling at my sole heel. The other month it nearly crippled me after a 6-day week straight through, and I was literally in agony, and the pain was such that it forced me to the doctor's which I usually avoid at all costs. Anyways I digress, but not by much
Heck, can you imagine me being a Super Dukky (Immune from all common human ailments???) - it sounds like something you would stick upside down in the toilet bowl... ~0
Author: Bev Vincent
I didn't get any work done on the novel this morning. My cold medication kept me awake most of last night and I think I mentally wrote some more sections of the book, but when I got up this morning I decided to work on something else instead, a more short-term project that you'll probably be hearing about in the not-too-distant future that is related to The Road to the Dark Tower.
Author: CRinVA
there he goes again - droppin hints!
Author: Bev Vincent
Just making sure people are paying attention!
Author: DTUK
Is a silent audience
Something else to look forward too...wow
Hope that cold is feeling better
Author: Old Darth
We are ever alert!
I finally got back to the novel this weekend after a longer-than-expected hiatus for other things. For the first time since I started, I sat down and read the 140 pages I've written so far, which took me most of Saturday and Sunday. I was really very happy with what I read and was somewhat surprised to discover that the timeline that I was just sort of making up as I went along--with a mind toward fixing it later--actually works out perfectly.
I edited as I went and applied the changes yesterday and today, then started back again with the incomplete chapter where I had left off. Tomorrow I get back to adding new material. As of now I have ~40,000 words, or half a book.
Author: Lin242
That's impressive Bev... continued success and less illness, those meds are too wonky, aren't they?
Lin
Author: Bev Vincent
Between the meds and the proof reading!
I've been going great guns since I got back to work. Up to nearly 43,000 words/150 pages as of this morning. I've started section IV and wrote the entire first chapter between last night and this morning. Zipping right along.
Author: Old Darth
#) - Keep on truckin'!
Author: Bev Vincent
I was in the groove this morning -- wrote 1200 words of a new chapter and could have kept on going if I had more time. I had no idea what I was going to do when I started, but my "to do" notes from yesterday pointed me in the right direction and now I know not only what this chapter is going to do, but also the form of the next one, too.
Then, I read an article in the newspaper this morning that helped me nail down one loose thread that I was unsure how to solve. I had one way of solving it in mind, but I wasn't set on it as the correct way to go--it didn't feel quite right. Now I know exactly what to do, though I now need to do a little bit of geography research to pull it off.
Author: Old Darth
It's great when things fall into place like that. Keep the momentum going Bev!
Author: Bev Vincent
I had a very productive weekend, writing about 3000-3500 words yesterday and another 1200 or so this morning. I think one of the chapters I wrote I will have to move at some point as it anticipates something that doesn't happen for a while and I think it's too soon in the action, but it's written, at least, and can just be cut-and-pasted once I figure out where it goes best. As of this morning, I'm at 48,500 words.