…and one giant leap back.
Every time it feels like I’m making progress on my novel, something happens that forces me to reevaluate major plot points.
Like recently, I connected together the scenes I would need to bridge the middle of the book to the end, but a crucial question crept up: ‘Is it really necessary for my cities to be so far apart?’ …
That is something I’m going to have to seriously think about. Is what happens in each city something that could only happen in that respective city? Could the cities just as easily be villages? Could the continent also be shrunken down into just a few countries? Is it a NOOB writer mistake to include a journey just for the sake of having a journey, or because I need time to develop my characters before they get to the end? And I’m sure I still don’t know what it feels like to truly bleed words.
One thing I’m going to do is try out a few pieces of software to help with my outlining. My story’s becoming such a monstrous beast at this point, it’s hard to keep track of all the interweaving plot threads. Liquid Story Binder is one so many NaNoWriMo people rave about. SuperNotecard is another popular choice. They basically let you create ‘virtual note cards’. I haven’t tried them out yet, but they will probably be gobs easier on my eyes than the .txt files I’ve been employing.
Oh, and I have a lot of data on a lot of segregated files I desperately need to organise. The more I put it off, the more gargantuan the task becomes.
I signed up for a dialogue workshop (pretty much a class) over at fmwriters.com. For week one, I need to read Ernest Hemingway’s “The Three-Day Blow” and submit a dialogue scene to work on for the rest of the workshop (should last about a month).
I have an opportunity to join a critique circle. It’s for both scifi and fantasy writers, but I don’t know if the time I would need to invest in the group would be worth the payoff at this point or not. That reminds me: I also have a story from a friend I need to read and critique. Things have been busy lately.
Things have been frustrating, too. And I close on the house in t-minus 4 days… And college will be starting up again soon. *sigh* At any rate, I’m still trying to be proactive with my writing to get myself to the next level so I can write stories I can be proud of. Wish me luck!
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And let me just tell you, I know a whole bunch of writers and none of them bleed words consistently without finding major plot holes and questioning the entire concept of their novels. It’s normal. Not that that’s any comfort to you though. Just keep on chugging though.
One of the aforementioned writer friends gave me a good piece of advice once. He said, “Just write. Take the idea in your head and put all of your energy into putting down the worst first draft that anyone has (n)ever seen. Most of writing is rewriting anyways.”
Trouble is, it’s so hard to do that when you’re obsessing over ‘your baby’. I keep track of my inconsistencies on post-its though. I think that makes me even less organized that you. :P
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Comment by Steph — July 8, 2008 @ 1:09 am
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Comment by cirellio — July 8, 2008 @ 4:52 pm
Enjoyed your blog.
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Comment by teeveebee — July 10, 2008 @ 11:50 pm
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Comment by cirellio — July 11, 2008 @ 11:39 am
Best of luck in your process. Could you be overthinking it? I thought myself right out of a novel that I intended to produce about 10 years ago, and now when I look at the bones that I had constructed originally, I can see that I really was on the right track and it was far better than I had originally thought. Now it remains a pile of handwritten ideas that I hope one day will be the novel I had envisioned at the start.
Your ability in this area far exceeds mine. I admire your dedication and persistence and look forward to reading the completed piece ultimately.
As I read your deliberations about “cities”, I was reminded of Shakespeare and in particular, Romeo and Juliet. His use of locales is always spare. I know that this may be due to the work being a play, but I thought immediately of Romeo’s journey when he acquires the poison that ultimately brings both their deaths. This is, I think the only other locale besides “Fair Verona, where we lay our scene”. I guess my point is, even Shakespeare went by the rule “less is more” when it came to locations and sites of activity. Perhaps this is something you can consider. Does that make any sense, or am I just talking through my hat?
Kat
P.S. I now have a Podcast of some of my poetry on my blog. If you get the chance, stop in for a listen. Perhaps it will serve as a needed diversion in the throes of your t- countdown to home ownership. Again, best of luck!
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Comment by Poetikat — July 13, 2008 @ 7:31 pm
Maybe you can work along with me?
That podcast sounds like fun. I’ll definitely check it out after this comment.
Everybody > I pray for the wisdom to know when I’m adding too much and overthinking, but ‘to err is human’, right?
Getting lots of critiques is also helping me see where I’m being too expositional. Or when one of my ideas are too hackneyed and end up back-firing.
I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve learned just in this past week. My writing is rapidly transforming into something better. There’s just so many hard lessons to overcome when someone is ready to get serious about writing.
I often come across somebody who’s been writing their whole life, but they’ll be dead-set about some random thing that should have been a lesson learned. By being so stubborn, they’ve stunted their own growth as a writer. And then they kick and stomp when their stories get rejected. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out here in writer land, so we’ve got to be willing to grow and change to survive. None of us have all the answers.
Oh, by the way. I am going to be scarce in the next several days… I moved into the new house, but the internet won’t be hooked up until next week. *shriek!*
I’ve successfully gotten through week 1′s workshop activities for dialogue at fmwriters. Week 2 is looking like it will be a little easier on my schedule (and my brain).
The name of the critique circle I’m in is called ‘Halcyon Moon’. Sounds kind of cool, don’t you think? So far, it’s been a lot of fun and a great learning experience.
I’ve also finally gotten started writing about the fifth ring :)
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Comment by cirellio — July 15, 2008 @ 12:41 pm