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humor, Jim Chaney, novel, outlining, The Wordslinger, writer's block, writing, writing a book, writing a novel
I am writing a book. No, check that. I am writing a novel. Yeah, that sounds better. When you tell people you’re writing a book, they think “So what, any idiot can write a book. I can write a book. Snooki wrote a book for crying out loud!” Fair enough; it’s hard to argue with such a statement. But change the word and you change the connotation.
“I’m writing a novel.”
“Really? Wow, that sounds great. You must be the best writer ever! I totally respect you now, am envious of your skill, and find you incredibly attractive and charming.”
Ok, I may have taken some liberties with the last sentence or two. The point is, if I want others to believe I’m serious about my writing, I need to start acting as such. One way I plan to do that is by sprinkling in a few more posts about my novel, the progress I’m making (or lack thereof), and the lessons I’m learning along the way. So if you haven’t already figured it out after the first 170 words, today is one of those posts.
About a month ago, I wrapped up what I thought was the “hard part” of this whole novel writing thing; the outline. After months of sporadic sessions with my novel-writing software, I took an idea from the “lightbulb-going-off-in-my-mind” stage, through the “little-red-notebook-full-of-incoherent-thoughts” stage, all the way to the “chapters-full-of-scenes-that-actually-seem-interesting” stage. Upon completion, I started with Chapter one and read through each chapter, scene, and plot line I had created and felt surprisingly good about the result. Finally, after all that tedious outlining, I could open up a blank page and let the creativity come spewing out like cheap beer after a long night of drinking.
But spew, it most definitely did not. In fact, I opened the computer and stared at that blank page on three separate occasions before I even landed one keystroke. You may be thinking writer’s block, I know I was at first. But this was different. I knew the words I wanted to write. I knew how I wanted to begin. I could even visualize the opening scene in my head, right down to the warmth of the sun and the smell of the air. My problem wasn’t that I couldn’t find the words, it was that I couldn’t find the right words.
I was approaching the blank slate as if it was literally a slate, unable to be changed or edited once chiseled. I felt like every word had to be perfect, every sentence golden, every scene worthy of a Pulitzer. I would sit for an hour at a time, painstakingly typing out 100 words at best. Hell, my soon-to-be 3-year-old could keep up a quicker pace. Over the course of my first week writing the manuscript, I had tallied a grand total of 656 words and felt like I had completed the mental equivalent of a triathlon. It was exhausting.
That’s when another lightbulb went off in my head. I paid attention since they don’t happen very often, and I realized that I needed to remind myself that this was the 1st draft. There is a reason why it takes the average novelist a year or more to produce a finished piece. You write, you edit, you re-write, you stick it in a drawer because you can’t stand to look at it any longer, then you probably edit some more.
It is said that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 3 days. That comes to about 20,000 words a day. Well, I’m not Robert Louis Stevenson and I don’t think you are either, so it’s important that we throw away the notion that we can write a perfectly polished manuscript right out of the gate. I had to remove the filter and just let the words flow freely, no matter how dirty they were (hmm…that metaphor didn’t really land did it?).
So I reminded myself that my ability to sling words is mediocre at best and that rather than agonize over every line of narrative or every quip in my dialogue, it was more important to get the words on paper. As of today, my word count now stands at 5,427 and I’m attempting to stick to a writing schedule in order to keep the momentum going. I am confident in both my progress and the certainty that what I have written will need to be thoroughly rewritten…but I’m ok with that. There will be plenty of time to critique my work, laugh at my complete inability to write well, cry a little, and then make it better once I’ve completed the 1st draft.
After all, that’s what us novelists do right?
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Okay, Jim, this is a great post! I once aspired to write fiction–now I’m focused on a memoir–and it is kicking my butt! Yikes! But I know about the blank–I know that blank so damn well it hurts!
At any rate, wanted to thank you for stopping by my blog last week and reading my FP post about Tori’s wedding. It was wonderful hearing from you. I see you around so many of the blogs I read, but it was fun to have you stop by my place. Sorry it has taken me almost a week to get here. DIdn’t know what I’d been missing. I’m going to subscribe.
Good luck with your novel.
Hugs,
Kathy
Kathy,
Never too late to stop by! Thanks for the comment, nice to hear you can relate. It’s always nice to hear from other writers. Thanks again and see you soon!
Great post – something all of us ‘wanna-be’ novelists (I like that term so much better than ‘writers’ – which basically covers everyone from about the age of 3 1/2 up) can relate to. I like what Stephen King says (in “On Writing”; and I’m paraphrasing here) – your first draft is the story you have to write for yourself; the second draft is the story you need to write for your readers. His equation of Draft 2 = Draft 1 – 10% works to remind me that I can always cut the extra stuff (which I know is superfluous when I write it, but I just can’t help myself) when I do my rewrites. I have two novels complete (not published yet, but I’m hopeful) so I know the frustration you’re facing. However, it’s important to remember that every ‘famous’ (and not-so-famous) novelist was, at one time, unpublished!!! Don’t give up on your dreams!
Margo
Margo,
Thanks so much for your encouragement. This is why blogging so great, because I get to hear from people who are going through, have been through, or aspire to go through what I’m going through and share their stories and feedback with the rest of us. Great comment! And don’t worry, I’m not giving up this dream!
If you skip down to the “moment of magic” in this post, I talk about pretty much the same thing you’re getting at here… the lightbulb moment. It’s nice when you recognize the first draft can be full of holes, ugly, etc, cause the you can just write whatever. Just get it out. And then like you say, going back we make things pretty. I’m in this step now…http://kickingcorners.blogspot.com/2012/02/300-words-or-less-dog-eat-dog.html
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This post was really encouraging! As a fiction writer, sometimes I feel like banging my head on my keyboard when I either (a). can’t think of a story to write or (b). can’t get the story to come out right. (My poor keyboard!) Sometimes it’s better to just let go; write; and know that as bad as it might sound, it can be fixed later. By the way, I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award: http://beautyandbrainsblogger.wordpress.com/ 🙂
Thanks for the award! And thanks just as much for stopping by and lending your opinion and experience to the conversation. Appreciate it!
You’re welcomed. I enjoy reading your posts. It’s great to know writers do not suffer alone! 😀
Awesome! Very inspiring! I want to write a ‘novel’ one day…. It’s not really possible in the near future for me, due to time constraints. So in the mean time, I will live vicariously through you! lol
I know what you mean about time constraints. I have two toddlers at home and a baby on the way. The way I see it, if I don’t do as much as I can right now, I’ll certainly not get it done when the new little one comes along. The key is finding whatever time you have in a day, and using it to the fullest.
I’ve realized the only time I have for writing is in the morning when everyone is still asleep, so I wake up at 5:00am and write for about an hour before getting ready for work. So far so good. Thanks for commenting and look forward to seeing you around!
I like using iA Writer on my Mac because it has a focus mode that goes fullscreen, and dims all text but the current sentence. It dissuades me from reading back what I’ve written and does a good job of keeping me moving forward. Otherwise, I find my self-discipline can be lacking ಠ_ಠ
Still, when I’m starting out, I always manage to get a few paragraphs in before deciding that they aren’t the *right* paragraphs and starting again. I’ll do this until out of sheer exasperation I start to cut myself some slack and remember that it’s a first draft after all. It’s nice to know that other people have the same problem.
That sounds like a cool feature, the ability to make everything else sort of disappear so you’re not bogged down with what came before and what’s coming next. Just able to be in the moment with what you’re writing. Thanks for sharing, and believe me, there are plenty of us out there with this problem!
You’re absolutely right. Turn your inner editor off and just write 😀
I’m working on it Layla, believe me! Thanks for stopping by!
I admire your ambitions and will be along for the ride! Someday I am going to write a book – no novel – too. Just gotta come up with an story, some characters, and a plot!
Good luck!
Well, at least you know the ingredients and you’re not just throwing a bunch of stuff into a bowl hoping they’ll magically become edible. Thanks for commenting and for coming along with us on the journey!
It’s always easier to edit something than it is to create it from scratch. For business writing, I’ll often slap something down on the page for the purpose of it being a discussion starter and work from there. I think the key is not to get too attached to what you’ve lovingly crafted. By all means try to do your best first up, but be prepared to look back and at think “what was I thinking?” The other really good piece of advice I got was from someone who has read and sold a lot of books. She said “You’ll probably find, especially with your first novel, that you can scrap the first three chapters.” And do you know what? When I looked at my first three chapters dispassionately, she was quite right. It made my first chapter (previously my fourth!) much more engaging and hook-filled. Great job on reaching the 5K mark, and excellent post!
Thanks for the insight. I’ve already made this first chapter more wordy than I anticipated, but that’s what the editing phase is for. Glad you stopped by and commented!
I know exactly how you feel…I’ve been writing on and off for ten years now, and sometimes I still feel like every sentence has to be exactly the way it will appear in the finished book. It’s a difficult mindset to oust, at least in my experience.
Thanks for sharing your insights. You’re right, it is difficult to change that behavior…but I don’t think it does us any good to fret over the first pass when you know you’re going to buzz the tower a few more times anyway.
I couldn’t agree more. I like the way you put that. 🙂 Happy Writing!
Good luck, Jim. Starting my second novel this week. No structure and characters taking over my brain is generally what gets it done for me.
Haha, well we all have our “plans” don’t we. Thanks Andra, and good luck to you as well!
I saw somewhere (yeah, because that sounds legit) that perfection is the worst thing ever. It prevents you from doing things because you have to do things right the first time around, and you can’t seem to move on.
I’m attempting to do the same, to just let the words flow and deal with them later. But, man, that’s the hardest thing ever. I’m still not over feeling embarrassed about my writing. It’s just the first draft, but we still want to do something good.
Good luck with your novel. Can’t wait to hear more about it.
Exactly the way I feel. It is very difficult to move through the story when you don’t feel great about what you’ve left in your wake. But I suppose that will come with more practice. Thanks for the comment!
Oh… don’t ask me, I have got three unfinished drafts. It is painful to see your ideas which once seemed great move to “Recycle Bin”… (sob) (sob)
Well, I hope you get to finish your novel in a very pleasant way and then, gift me a free copy because of my so heart-warming wishes. 🙂
If you can ensure that your friends and family will purchase said novel, then a gifted copy you shall receive. Signed even if you would like. And signed by whoever you want…even someone other than me!
“[L]et the creativity come spewing out like cheap beer after a long night of drinking.” Does that mean you didn’t remember writing what you wrote the next day but it gave you a headache reading it to the point that you regretted (allegedly) writing it?
Great post, sir 🙂
Haha, thanks for dragging out that metaphor to its absolute end. Nice comment!
Inspiring post, and please keep sharing. I’m also working away at something and would love to read about your experiences during the process. One thing I keep in mind is that talent and artistry come with practice, and even those who have an affinity for things still practice to become really good at them. Writing is no different, it takes a certain amount of practice and trial, and as long as you’re getting something down, you’re well on your way. Best of luck!
Great sentiment. Thanks for sharing, and keep following because there will be more to come from this Wordslinger!
Jim, terrific realization! The most important advice I ever got about drafting is: You can’t edit a blank page. I write scenes that stink. I use cliches. I use placeholders (literally words that will do in a pinch and convey some of what I want, but will be edited out later) Sometimes I resort to telling, knowing I will have to show it later. But it’s just a draft. Something no one else will ever see. Congrats on hitting the 5k mark–that’s awesome progress. Keep chugging along!
As always Kourtney, thanks for the words of support and for leaving a comment. I feel pretty good about the path I’m on. Though as I sit at 5K, knowing where I am in the story, I am wondering if I miscalculated the 80K total I approximated. Of course I’ll probably edit half the crap I’ve written so far so maybe I’ll be close after all! Haha.
It’s an estimate. 🙂 I started a book sure I could tell the story in 75K. My writing group told me all novels should be at least 80K. So I wrote the book and it reached 78K. I added more setting and a couple more scenes and voila 80k. And if you go over your estimate you can always cut back during revisions. 🙂
I agree that you should not agonize over every word. It does you no good and just slows you down. Besides its going to be rewritten or adjusted anyway during the next drafts. For my first published novel, I went through nine drafts. Six until I sent it in–then two rounds of editing, and a final copyedit.
And during that final copyedit, I caught a last minute character issue in a scene with a secondary character, so that had to be rewritten.
Just keep writing! Good Luck!
Guess I missed a couple of rounds of drafts then when I was describing the process, huh? Thanks for commenting and for the encouragement!
good luck with your book
Thanks, I’m gonna need it! Haha.
Jim, we go through this together. You have already come so far, so just keep going. Write what you want to write and fix it later.
Thanks for the encouragement Lisa. That’s the plan! Plenty of time to fix the mess later.
Great post, Jim. I felt everything you are feeling with my first novel, and now that I am starting my second, feeling some of it all over again! I have my own (patent pending) writing process I call word vomit. It got me over that need to have all the words ‘just so’ the first time around. They never are, so why dam up the creativity and stop the spew – let it fly and clean it up later. 🙂
Word vomit! Haha, that is hilarious. But very true. Thanks for the comment!
“…scene worthy of a Pulitzer.” Ya can’t get one for fiction novel. This is a journalism thing. This tip is free. My future editing services available at $500 a page.
Carl,
Actually they have giving away Pulitzers in the category of fiction novels since the 40s I believe. Am I wrong about this? I’ll double check the Pulitzer website…