A to Z of Things Writers Should Know About Writing: New

See? I told you I'd actually write about things not related to the two books I'm about to release into the wild. Can't help it, honestly. I know posting only about my books makes me a bore. Heck, it bores me to be so boring.

BUT! This is my shameless marketing plug for those of you who've missed recent events. Firstly, I'm still looking for people who'll spread the word, so if you'd like to help, please click here. Then, The Vanished Knight is back on Goodreads and available for pre-order. Click here for more info. 

Right. Now that's done. Time for the proper post.

New

If you're still new to the writing gig, you're probably approaching the whole thing with stars in your eyes. It's a wonderful feeling, that liberal sense of endless possibility mixed with the delusion that your muse is actually your friend.

In this time, you're going to find that you're very productive. You'll be able to churn out hundreds or thousands of words every day while you're exploring the characters, world and story.

If you're a veteran to the fiction writing gig, you'll be writing like a madman-or woman, trying to get as many words down as possible while the going is good.

Why? Because for most of us, the feeling of "newness" wears off around the time we hit the middle of the story. (The exception to this being those writers who can write 10k words per day, every day, for a week. I know exactly one such writer.)

The sucky thing about the newness wearing off at this particular point is that usually, the middles are the hardest parts to get right. Because the middle will usually be where you discover plot holes. The middle is where you'll find that your goal is too weak to sustain a story. Where you'll find that the stakes aren't what they should be. Where other characters start clamoring for the title of "Main Character".

So exactly when the newness fades (and perhaps because of it), we're faced with the harsh realities of our story. Mainly, those realities circle around the fact that the story really isn't as good as we thought. (More on this later.)

Either way, the middle is arguably the place where most people lose steam and give up.

Don't. Be. That. Person. 

Remember when I said that you need discipline more than inspiration? This is where the change happens. Once the newness is gone, you need to find it within yourself to keep going.

But while the story is new, get as much writing done as possible. The more you get done, the more momentum you have. Which in plain English means that the more you've written, the less intimidating the rest of the required word count will look.

So whatever you do, don't procrastinate while your story's new.

Because newness has a fixed expiry date. And your time's ticking.

Anyone here capable of huge word counts in a day? Do you also have your writing slump when the newness wears off? By how much? 

So it happened again...

It happened again. I'm stopping NaNoWriMo short of winning.

BUT

Not because it isn't working right. It's just that...

Well... even when I take years to write drafts, I finish my rough drafts.... unfinished.

There are many reasons for this. Mainly, it's because of the way I write. My process looks like this:

Step 1: Rough draft. Mess around. Meet characters. Find the ones you like. Get a feel for the story. Keep going until the whole idea solidifies in my head.

Step 2: Rewrite. On computer. Creating a plan based on what I learnt during the rough draft. What did I like about the plot? What deserved more attention? Etc. All that gets taken into account. Then I write the whole thing again, remembering the main aspects, but only referring to the story every now and then. Point being to write a better version of the same story.

Step 3: Revisions and edits. Improving the story without markedly changing the plot. Some emphasis shifting can be done.

Step 4: Finishing up. The final polishes before seeing the story as finished.

Of course, these steps are usually subdivided further, but you get the gist.

Point is, I've now reached the point in my rough draft where I've learnt what I can learn. I'm still 18k away from my NaNoWriMo win, but after futilely trying for three days to churn out words, I realized that anything past the point I'd finished on then would be a waste of my time.

Thus, the title refers to me once again having missed the completion of my rough draft, exactly the same way I did with Doorways. 

Oh well.

Anyone else leave their rough drafts unfinished and focus on rewrites, edits and so on?

And just so you know, I finished a rough draft in 16 days. Which is a tiny fraction of time compared to what it took me to finish the same amount of words for Doorways. Excuse me while I go dance. ;-)

What happened to me this week-end...

Firstly, sorry that I didn't post on Friday, as I was supposed to. Went to visit friends earlier than scheduled over the whole weekend.


And... it worked out great for me. Why? Because I got to visit friends I don't see all that often. I got out of the house a bit...


And... sorted out the story idea that I'll be working on for the foreseeable future.


It's actually an idea that floated around for about two years, with me not sure about how I'd apply it. I know the sort. Those "wouldn't it be cool if..." ideas. The scenario is attractive, but the story, characters, premise and end are lacking.


I decided to try my hand at this story in the beginning of the month, but couldn't even finish the first chapter. I just didn't have enough to go on.


So... I spent most of Friday afternoon playing a computer game and visiting with my friends. Nothing seemed to pop up until I was about to close my eyes in slumber. The idea again took the form of... "Wouldn't it be cool if...", but as I was about to put the useless thought away and sleep, I realized that my this idea fit beautifully into the story I mentioned above.


The rest still lacked, leaving me with a pretty much sleepless night. When I woke up the next morning, I talked  to my friend about the idea and we started to bounce ideas around while making breakfast. It took until 5 minutes into the meal for me to get a flash of inspiration.


I now have a pretty good idea where I'm going, and wow, am I excited about it! I haven't worked on a new idea for so long that this one is giving me that old buzz.


Can't wait to get to work!


How was your weekend? When was the last time inspiration hit you? How did it hit?