Setting down a novel, picking it up again

on May 7 2007

I have a "completion problem," so I'm probably not the best person to offer ideas on this one. However, I have read lots of tips on this subject, and one of the strategies that seems to come up repeatedly is "discipline," as in: Sit your butt in the chair and write.

Lots of accomplished writers start their days writing for three or four hours straight, without fail. For example, like his work or not the prolific Stephan King runs his life on such a schedule.

I think it was the writer Annie Dillard who said something along the lines of, "A schedule is a net for catching days." I guess it can also serve to catch words.

If the word "discipline" bothers you, the original meaning of the word may help: To be a disciple is to be a follower of a vision. When we commit ourselves to our writing, we are followers of our own visions.

on May 8 2007

NaNoWriMo last year was the first time I'd ever completed something greater than 10,000 words, and I hit 50K for that one. For that, I needed the daily word count, and the motivation, but I think that kind of set everything in motion. NaNo this year I completed one 70K word novel, and got partway through another (which I've since finished).

I think, for me, it was the "you've done this before so of course you can do it again" type of reasoning. It's worked for me and I never thought I would be able to finish a long story-- in the past year, I've writen a 70K novel, which should finish at about 110K, a 120K novel, a 50K novella, and I've just started another one that should wind up in the 70-80K range.

If NaNo isnt your thing, I at least recommend setting  a daily goal for yourself, even if its just a few hundred words.

Working off an outline sometimes helps me too, since it gives me an idea of where the story actually has to go.

Okay-- going to stop blabbering now. This paper REALLY needs to get written so I can turn it in tomorrow morning

on May 27 2007

on April 19th of this year, I completed my first novel (go me!) which ended up being a 380 page tour-de-suck. There were massive periods of times when i didn't write squat, or only could do a few words at a time. How did I do it?

Find a place where you can't do anything else! absolute boredom. no internet. no movies, little music, no distractions. Zen is my muse.

I'm sure some people here remember my story, i had 27 chapters on poetrydmv, i finished it at 80+. now I got to figure out how to publish the damn thing...