Finishing the novel

[butterfly133]

Okay lovely MNers
I have a novel that's about 1/3 complete - it's been hanging around for years. I have now made a plan to finish it! I have 3 sessions per week where I can really get stuck in - one of them being now....it will be different each week due to rota and family but there are def 3 session per week of 3 hours. Then there's any extra time. (I'm beginning to think I need to use my commute to do something as well, though that seems a bit overwhelming).

the structure is all there so I do know where it's heading, I just need to put bum on chair and do it. I hope some other "finishers" might want to join this thread and update?

My hope is to have it finished by end of September. Yikes! I really must sit down for the 3 sessions per week because I have previously done it in chunks and then I've had to reacquaint myself and ended up wondering "why" I made certain storyline decisions, only to go through the process again and make the same one!

so fingers crossed for more continuity and focus.

now I must tear myself away from browsing MN.....

of course! Welcome, hello, pull up a chair

I did a script course as well once. Honestly, if I could add up the focus I had had over last 20 years it would be quite a lot. It just happened in such a bitty way, round the rest of life, it's almost as if I keep forgetting what I learned....

Thanks. I'm in a similar situation to several on here.

I did a couple of creative writing modules as part of my degree, and my work involves a lot of copywriting. But the last 2-3 years have been so manic with one thing or another (including finishing the other bits of my degree) that I really couldn't put any energy into writing anything.

I'm primarily interested in scripts and managed to get one through to stage 2 at the BBC but since then, not written a word.

I'm aiming at producing something for the BAFTA script scheme with a deadline of end of July. If nothing else, just to get me back into the habit of writing regularly again.

good stuff, I sent a radio play to the BBC once and got nowhere. My boss at the time said to me "keep your rejection letter - in a few years we will laugh and frame it!"

She'd be sad if she knew I still hadn't finished one blinking novel.

Right - train home about 6.30, should be a quieter journey, so will get some done. Working at home tomorrow so can use whole lunch hour + journey time.

lovereading I have sold a few radio plays and a couple have been produced.

I'm concurrently writing the screen play of the YA novel I'm writing at the mo .

Greenstone If you want to keep trying to find time for writing, it's probably best not to go and investigate fanfic - it drags you in (reading and writing). Some of the stuff is a bit weird - there's usually warnings on that so try to find out what the codes mean or you might read something you can never un-see. AO3 is probably the best site, covers everything and used to be higher quality than other sites, although the quality is not so good these days (as more people post).

Hello lovereading. Is it very different, technique-wise, to do scripts instead of novels? What things do you have to consider?

Endless tinkering is absolutely my downfall word I edit for a living so it's become a bit ingrained. If I catch myself tinkering tomorrow I will kick myself up the arse.

I think I'm really bad at structuring and planning in general. I tend to get writing fever on me and then go with it, it's like this unrelenting tide sometimes. I then have to go back and edit all the needless crap out of course, but I'm no good at the pre planning. I love some of the ideas here - the chapter plan one sounds good with the bits of paper etc - but it just doesn't seem to be how my brain works. Can it be possible do you think to do all the writing on a plot bare bones then edit after/as you go along rather than having all the detail already? I may be doing it all wrong...

Hale I've just sort of completed my first YA novel which has been read by dd (14) who has loved it. 11 yo ds has picked it up and won't put it down either so it seems a good start, bit I need to get it beta read by a Proper Adult who will be blunt at me.

green tinkering has its place. I spent yesterday afternoon tinkering.

But the ratio between tinkering and finishing must always favour the later IMVHO. No one will buy half a book, however well polished.

mad everyone has their own methodology.
There is no one way to write a book.

If your methodology is working, then there is no need to change. However, if it's not resulting in finished product then you may need to change.

When I first started out, I planned in detail. A page of A4 (sometimes more) for each scene, let alone chapter. That way I could physically see that the book would work as a whole.

Now I don't do that. I sketch out my ideas for the whole book on a piece of paper and plan as I'm going along. But I think this is because I now have narrative arc and story in my DNA . I know without having to consciously plan, what shape things should take and when IYSWIM.

I think this happens to a lot of long standing practitioners (especially when we're reading the work of others, which can be a pain).

I have been total pants today
I rang my mum at lunchtime, watched some tennis, posted on MN and have just rearranged something due to the tube strike so will be busy this evening.

Someone please tell me off. Also working at home tomorrow so in theory can write through travel time and lunchtime....

May I join in? I'm currently re-editing my first novel, and slightly freaked out by the fact that one narrative seems to be taking off in a wholly unexpected direction. Surely this kind of thing should have happened several drafts ago? I knew that a particular relationship needed intensifying, but this I didn't see coming, and it's changing the voice of one narrator, and other relationships around it, too! Go with it? Is it a sign of life in my characters,mor just an indication that previous drafts has real problems...?

swiss that sounds like a rewrite rather than an edit.

I suppose the first question is do you think think the changes are an improvement?

And if so, what will the changes mean to the book as a whole entity? Will they leave things out if balance for example, is a sub plot now stronger than the main one?

Hope you're getting some done today, butterfly - I find some days really hard to get motivated, but then feel rubbish at the end if I haven't done any writing - I find that even 500 words helps on a day like that, just keeping in there.

Thanks Word - that is helpful for me. I think I'm more like you - plan out the whole thing but not in minute detail. I do plan scenes but often play them through in my head the night before until they feel right. I've sat and planned out my second book in more detail this morning and it feels like it is taking off now.

Can I ask your advice about approaching agents? My family think I should go for it, and assure me they love the book, and others are reading it now. I know I should write a synopsis - how long should that be? And in how much detail? And what should be on the 'covering letter'? It all feels new to me. Also, any advice about finding agents to approach - and can you ever just approach publishers, or is that a complete no?

Sorry to bombard you!

madhairday - now on lunch. Cannot be arsed. Awful isn't it? Though Williams vs Sharapova starting isn't great either.

I think what I'm going to do is shelve it now till we get back from our break next week. I have lots of boring house stuff I want to sort before leaving and I just am not in the frame of mind.

If I get back and still can't be arsed, it might be time to shelve the whole thing or go back to "write when you feel like it" and see if it results in a novel. I am using the commute time a bit though so that's good.

I do think I will feel like it after a change of scene, country walks and what not.

if nothing else, I might have motivated others which is all to the good

It does, doesn't it. Word? The problem is, it's hard to know whether the changes are an improvement until I've done the rewrite and compared it with the previous version. Structurally, I think it's definitely an improvement, because it pulls together two different aspects of my protagonist's life which are juxtaposed but not really related in the current version.... Also, feedback I've had on my protagonist suggests readers feel that they are held at too much psychic distance from her, and this change of voice brings us much closer inside her head...

Don't mind me, I'm thinking aloud...

Mad, I know you were asking Word, but a lot of agents now put information on their websites about exactly what kind and length of synopsis they want, and how many thousand words/chapters they want to see as an initial submission, covering letter etc. The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook remains the standard way of getting a list of agents, and then go on a specific agency's website to see who is accepting submissions. Or look at who represents an author you think your work resembles. YA may be a whole different world (I'm literary fiction) but it's also useful to look at what agents are participating in judging competitions, as they're often building a list and will consider debut novelists. Or you could enter a competition yourself - agents often judge the shortlist and winners/shortlistees get representation.

But listen to Word over me, obviously.

Ooh it's so many years since I subbed to my agent, you really do need to check out individual websites.

Different agents want different things. But a synopsis ( if any length) needs to be simply a run through of what happens and when. No cliff hangers or lengthy explanation of theme etc.

They always seem a little dull when I write them!

Thanks both :) I am busy reading through various agents sites and advice on Writers' Workshop etc - I'm half way through a covering letter now, which actually seems more difficult than the synopsis, as it has to grab attention. It all feels a little bit scary.

I'm making a list of agents who seem to be looking for YA dystopian novels in the UK. There seem to be loads around. How many would you submit to at once?

Thanks so much for the advice.

First, don't overthink your letter .

Include it's title, word count, genre and very short pitch. A line or two.

All subs go to the slush pile. All get read ( at some point). Little hangs on the letter unless it includes something astonishing eg I have 500 000 followers on Twitter, I have sold a million copies of a self published novel, I a feature writer for The Times ...

As for how many at a time? As many as you can keep a track of IMVHO.

So start with your top 5. And as rejections come in, send out a replacement.

Thanks, Word - I've been sweating over it! There is lots of conflicting advice out there - some say include an entire blurb, some one or two lines, some say you must use some kind of 'hook' line to get them interested. I think I have too much in it, now, so will shave it right back and see what I can do with it. :)

Everyone seems to be incredibly productive on here at the moment, except me. Apart from working (mad) and watching the tennis (ahem) I don't seem to be able to get on with anything!

mad I may be wrong, but I really don't think much rides on the covering letter.

Providing it includes confirmation that the book has a genre and word count in line with industry standards (impossible to market otherwise), that it is somethinghe agent actually reps, that it is finished, it shouldn't get an instant rejection.

Agents do read their slush piles. By nature they are optimists and hope to find the next Harry Potter in there .

Pasta, I'm not doing anything either!!

Although oddly, I have woken up with a feeling that I would like to do some writing, which is fairly typical after saying "I'm not in the mood".

I agree tennis is a big distraction

Please may I join? Loving this thread! I'm currently working on a revise and resubmit for an agent for my first novel, YA mystery, and hoping I might somehow be able to manage it well enough that they might rep me. Still can't quite believe an agent has really taken me seriously but I was given lots of notes and it's involving some fairly in depth work. Luckily I agree with the suggestions and really felt I needed the direction so fingers crossed. It's hard fitting it in round work and little ones though isn't it!

That sounds brilliant Skylar - I'm well impressed!
Actually got down to doing a bit of writing myself today, although it's all moving incredibly slowly....

Hope it's okay to join in too.

I've posted in this forum before, but not for a while.

I completed the first draft of a fantasy novel at the beginning of the year, and have just stalled when it's come to revision. I think I know what the problem is. The book is divided into two POVs and one is reasonably well done and the other (half the book) is a bit dull. Oh. Revision notes like 'make it not suck' are quite tricky to put into practise. So instead of buckling down I've been making excuses for the last couple of months.

I do have lots of notes. It's mostly the even-numbered chapters that need lots of work. So I skim-read ch1 last night and am doing some heavier work on ch2 today. I can do it... just very very slowly.

I am unpublished. I've completed a couple of books before and sometimes get agents asking for a full, so I assume I can write in full sentences okay, it's mostly the whole 'write a compelling story' thing I struggle with :D

It's fine, just a very big work in progress!