Where do I start?

[AllTalkAndNoAction]

Hi all,

I'm a well-known regular but I've created a new identity for the CW topics because I'm shy about my writing and I prefer to keep my MN persona and my writing persona separate.

I have had the bare bones of a novel (I suppose you'd call it chicklit) on the back-burner of my brain for years. I still believe completely in the plot, and think it has legs, but I can't seem to just start writing.

I have notebooks full of characters, timelines and most of the plot outline, (some of it in great detail) but it loses direction and purpose two-thirds of the way through and I don't know where to take it or how it ends.

The trouble is, because I'm a ridulous perfectionist, and an obsessive planner, I can't move forward and actually start writing the flipping thing until I know where it is going.

I know, I know, I just need to bash out some writing and hope it comes together as I go -but I feel paralysed, and clueless.

I can write on here for England, with nary a pause for breath, but as soon as I sit in front of the screen to write my book I become frozen with fear and my head empties! Help!

I don't have any useful advice, but it sounds like you've got a lot further than I have.
I sense your fear with moving your novel forward - perhaps you've been avoiding actual writing by spending so much time on planning it? I'm just talking off the top of my head, but I think the purpose of planning is to help you write better - in your case it seems as if it's helping you to avoid actually writing.

I did an online creative writing course a few months ago that was really useful. My problem basically was that I feared that anything I wrote was utter and total shite and that anyone would be able to see that in a second. But, I did the course and submitted a few things and the response was really positive, so now I know at least that I'm not total crap, and that there are no excuses.

Two things really came out of the course for me - the first, most heartbreaking thing was that most writing is actually rewriting. Novelists often write whole chapters they love, only to have to do away with it later. If you're a perfectionist, you're never going to get any words down because they will never be good enough. On that one, I'd say just write it, no matter how crap it is, and then you can always rewrite it later, when you've got something to work with.

I'm not quite a perfectionist myself, but can't bear the thought of producing substandard stuff, so in consequence don't produce anything at all. I think you've got to let go and allow yourself to write a little bit of crap in order to get to the good bits.

The second useful bit of the course was that they recommended that writers get a workshopping group together. This can only be a few people, other writers preferably, who get together every once in a while to read and critique each other's work. The point of this is that you NEED to have someone else read your work, who is not your friend or family, who can give you an honest opinion of your writing. Because they know about writing, they will also be able to suggest ways to improve what you've already done.

I'm sure there must be forums or online communities for this sort of thing in the UK. I think the important thing now is just to start writing, no matter how good or crap it is, just write, write, write. Then at least you have something. And don't be afraid to ditch your plan if your novel takes on a life of its own either.

But, what do I know? Good luck, I am sure you can do it.

Ooh you are the exact opposite of me! I just sit and write myself into nowhere!

I have not published a novel but my short fiction and also comedy setches and plays have been published and performed. The best advice I can give you is to turn on your comp, open a new document and put your fingers on the keyboard...and write.

Don't stop to judge or nit-pick...you might find that your plot goes in a different direction and that's ok...you might find holes in characters which you never knew were there, or characters who won't behave as you expected them to...but that's how it is and your inability to write is more than likely due to fear of failure.

Once you have written 5 pages...stop. Dont look again until the next day and then carry on...try not to go back and re-write too much during the first draft as you can easily find yourself working on the first page for a year!