Anyone up for a novel writing support thread?

[Cel982]

Just thought it might be nice to have a place we could give each other a kick up the bum cheer each other along as we try to get our novels written.

I'm currently on the eleventy-hundredth draft of my first novel - hoping to have it ready for submission in the next month or two. Have been stuck on a niggly plot point for the last few weeks but had a bit of a breakthrough the other night so now the words are flowing again. Am a SAHM with a toddler at the moment so all my writing is done in the evenings when I can tear myself away from the TV. I know, I'm inspiring

So... you?

Ooh well done Soo

I have done nothing for a few days as life keeps getting in the way in the form of a bad cold + burst water pipe + huge translation to do + DS jabs.

I did however find time to read HP and the cursed child this afternoon
As I'm writing fantasy I've decided it counts as homework.

Strawberry, hope your cold is gone.

I am sick of myself going round in a circle with this - as I said upthread, I told my nearest and dearest I had given up for good.

once again I've found, the whole week, I just don't want to. I realise a whole novel is never going to get written if I only do it when I feel like it but equally I don't know if it makes any sense to sit and do the slog when there's other stuff I want to do. I admit freely some of that is TV, some MN, some just being out walking in the sun. But once again I find myself asking - why I am doing this?

In other more cheerful news - I was reading an interview with Steve Pemberton and he was saying, don't spend a couple of years just slogging away at the one thing, sit down and explore all the ideas you have so you are being more productive and whatever is most appealing and more fun will take off.

Then I look at the amazing work that some people have produced and I think, wow, why am I trying?

(gave up on Hilary Mantel's Beyond Black though, was surprised how dull it was. Too many books to get through to keep on with one I find that dull!)

Thanks for the advice Cel982 and Ishallconquerthat. I've made a start on editing (just taking it a page at a time) and I am actually really getting into it. I think it was a case of just biting the bullet (as it was with the hard slog of writing the Zero Draft)!

Lorelei76 - try not to get disheartened. It is a tough thing to do but as others have said, once you write even a sentence or two you will probably feel like writing more.

The things that helped me through the draft were firstly to tell myself it just doesn't matter what I wrote, I just needed to write whatever came into my head as quickly as I could and it wouldn't matter because no one will ever see it in this state.

Secondly, writing whichever bit I felt like on any particular day. As someone who likes structure this was tough but it was much easier to get the stuff I wanted to write out of the way and it kind of made me want to write the other bits!

Lastly, and it's something you've probably heard before, breaking the word count down into small managable chunks is the only I could stop myself getting overwhelmed.

Anyway, this is what worked for me, might not work for everyone but maybe worth a try.

Good luck!

Oh and I like this quote about just getting in front of the computer every day and writing from Isabelle Allende:

'Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too.'

Love that quote, Kai! And I've heard versions of the same piece of advice from many other published authors. 'Just do it', essentially.

I've cleared three full days to get back to it this week, and am part-excited, part-apprehensive, because work commitments (also writing) have meant it's been six weeks since I've done any work on it, and I'm worried I won't get back in the zone...

How is it going pauper?

I have 3 potential projects fighting away in my brain and I want to start them (anything not to work on my thesis!)... I'm excited about them, but my natural anxiety kicks in and I start to worry it won't be any good/won't go anywhere then it'll have been a waste of time.

I've already written 3 and had copies printed off CreateSpace (not submitting them to agents though, it's mortifying reading them now!)

Just struggled up to 30,000 words but it's been a slog.

I'm just finding it so hard to keep everything in my head as I'm writing, without constantly going back and rereading. How does everyone else manage? (I have done a synopsis, but it's fairly basic).

Naice, keep at it. I read that 30,000 is often a slump point (I had a few of those throughout my 70,000 though)!

How about adding a few notes to the synopsis as new things come out in your writing? That may stop you going back over the main writing and keep you focussed on pushing foward?

I'm on holiday - finally caught up on sleep so able to concentrate a bit better, up to 67000 words (aiming for 80000ish)
I've solved a few plot holes... and discovered others! I can't imagine what it feels like to actually finish, and sit looking at your novel that makes sense
Well done to everyone who's making progress, and hugs to those struggling a bit.
We can do this guys!

Naice "I'm just finding it so hard to keep everything in my head as I'm writing, without constantly going back and rereading."

yes, that's a big part of my problem and I thought it would be solved by doing the writing more frequently but - I haven't been!!!

if you are writing often and you still have that problem, I would stick notes on the wall. I don't have enough space in my flat to do that but if I had a space, I'd probably do one wall in whiteboard paint and try to put all the stuff I was likely to forget on that.

if it makes you feel any better, I know one published author who literally can't remember anything from her first book. I think she spent so much time on it, her brain rebelled and threw it out. Also another published author told me she's just gone through her current one - she rushed it tbh - and found a massive plot hole which affects everything else - she thought it was nearly the last draft.

Sorry, not sure if that makes you feel better or worse! I do have a terrible memory generally and my own feeling is that impacts hugely on my trying to write.

I will probably not sit down with it again till the Bank Holiday weekend. I think if I don't feel more engaged and interested at the end of the year, then it might be time to seek a new hobby frankly.

My first draft is now with 3 beta readers and there's nothing I can do in the meantime! I'm thinking about the second book and trying not to think what my beta readers may be thinking!

To everyone who is struggling to write, KOKO!

Naice what works for me is just keep on writing, and only re-read from time to time. For example, you write 500 words a day (or try to) and don't worry if there are gaps in the story or if you can't remember some detail. Just go ahead. Then, by the end of the week re-read the 3500 words and fix what needs fixing. It's just a suggestion, of course.

Thanks very much for all those helpful comments. Sometimes I think that my brain just freezes up and I can't think of even the most obvious solutions! I've started to edit my synopsis as I go and I think that's helping.
Well done ishall. It must be a great feeling to have that first draft finished.
Lorelei - would it help at all to attack it from a slightly different angle? I am writing from three main POV and I was writing them all concurrently iyswim; when I started to run out of energy and enthusiasm I changed my approach and am now concentrating on one POV at a time. I will have to go back and bring them all together at some point, but the change has given me back a lot of impetus. Good luck, and don't give up!

NiaceHam, I have a seperate document where I have outlines of character profiles, important dates and events in the timeline and anything I add that I have to scroll back through for.

I started it after one character's hair went from being blonde to brunette and a two small characters in the same story ended up being called Gus. Luckily I caught the mistakes on a read through and corrected them.

I'm still plodding on. Sales on the erotica series have slowed, but I started it, so I shall finish it. The third installment should be done by Monday.

My main work is at about 23,000 words now. I've managed to write about 2000 words a day these last few days, so I'm feeling a bit more on target atm.

I have an enforced upaid holiday for the rest of the month (oh the joys of zero hours contracts) so am hoping to have it finished by the time I go back to work. I've been aiming for 2,500 words a day but haven't quite hit target because of one thing or another. 2000 words a day should still get me finished in time.

Hello, I have been stalking your thread for a while in a slightly creepy fashion. Do you mind if I join?

I've just started my first novel. I have only written short pieces before. I am really just doing it for fun, I hope that is OK for this thread? I am a complete, down to the bones, pantser. I just can't do planning even a little bit. My novel is, I suspect, completely unsellable. It is a strange mix of near future SF a bit of detective stuff, a bit of psychological angst. As I said, I am winging it so it could turn into anything really.

I found the discussion earlier about what you write with interesting. I use evernote right now. I tried scrivener after you guys mentioned it, but do a lot of work on my tablet or phone so the lack of android app makes it unusable for me at the moment.

I'm starting an OU course in October, but have a day a week and evenings free until then so hoping to get a good chunk of it done in the next month or so.

ravenia - have namechanged since I last posted! I have literally done nothing else apart from sleep and write and throw the occasional meal at my son since Monday, despite wobbles with less childcare than I thought we had and a small loud person trying to sit on my lap whenever possible, but DH stepped up manfully.

As for how it's going, I'm now too close to it to have the faintest idea, tbh. When I sat down on Monday, I hadn't touched it since mid-June, where I had to break off shortly before the ending (well, say nine-tenths of the way though) but I decided I needed to go back to the beginning and rewrite heavily as I went through, in order to put me in the right place to write the ending. Whereupon I've discovered lots of things that need work, and that's what I've been doing.

My big issues as always, are structural. It's a first person narrator who is remembering episodes from her own past as well as involved in drama in the present, until the two come together when a significant person from her past shows up - but I'm worried about pace and how much time I'm devoting to the past, compared to the present, and whether the reader always has a firm grasp on where exactly we are in time when there's a transition.

Basically, I'm an idiot, and am retrospectively doing things that any normal novelist would have done at the initial planning/synopsis stage.

To the people struggling to keep things in their heads (of whom I am one), Emma Darwin has a wonderful recent blogpost about the usefulness of synopsis writing:

emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2016/07/please-dont-hate-me-for-loving-synopses.html

I've just written a 1000 words of a scene that is completely out of order and I have no idea where it will fit. I'm sort of trusting that it will all go together when I get to the end.

I'm writing character profiles and sort of a synopsis as I go along. I title every scene I write with a description of what happens in that scene and tag it with the main characters, location and stuff. I am hoping this will help me keep track. I've also started a list of scenes I want to write as they pop into my head as well.

It's all a bit random, but I am maintaining my faith in the pantsing for now. I figure I'll see what happens with this one and then I will know how to improve my method for next time....assuming there is a next time...

I don't believe that pantsers really are pantsers. I think they describe themselves that way not realising that they have a plot and structure in their subconscious. Those of us who have trouble remembering our plot don't have it embedded in us that way.

Otherwise pantsers would be writing novels out of random shite which isn't really possible.

This is my first time in this section - but I could not resist this thread!

Have written short stories in the past (20-30,000) and am now working on my first novel. I decided - last night, 28,000 words into it - that it is going to be a 'howcatchem'.

What I have found my self doing is writing short synopses, around 100 words or so, for the couple of chapters ahead of the one I am writing. So last night I finished chapter 20, I already have 21 and 22 structured out, to help me with the flow - if that makes sense?

I just wanted to say good luck to everyone!

actually I'm going to take this thread off "watch" for now as I'm not writing but best of luck to all of you!

You are probably right Lorelei that there is some sort of vague plot or plan floating about in my subconscious somewhere for this novel, but if so I have no real picture of what it is right now. I think that is the case for every writer though. It is just we get it out in different ways. You either get it out by writing detailed plans and stuff and then going back and filling in the writing or you get it out by basically writing it off the bat. For me if I try and get my plot out in plan form I just fail. I sort of have to have all the words for it to work. I had completely written of being able to do any sort of fiction writing due to being told that planning and synopsis writing and all that stuff was the only way to do it. I tried and tried and failed and failed. It wasn't until I read a book called 'writing into the dark' that I gave it a go without any of that stuff and loved it.

I would also say that a lot of the time I do genuinely write blind. Particularly with short quick stuff, say a few thousand words. I often start with a sentence and have no idea what even the next word will be let alone what is going to happen by the end. For this novel I generally have a view on what each scene will be before I write it, but I haven't got a full plan of all the scenes set up. Currently I have 3 or 4 I know i want to write and others will come out of those.

I enjoy writing like that, I find it fun to read the story as I write it and be surprised by what happens next. I think if I planned I would be bored of it before I even got to properly writing it.

A lot of my stuff is 'random shit' though. I just don't show anyone that work. :o

I class myself as a panster, but I have my next three or four novels, plus one supernatural series fully to semi plotted in my head, including peieces of dialogue.

I don't have a strict plot, nothing is written down anywhere. It changes as the idea develops in my head (even while I am writing it, the chapter I wrote last night was written off the cuff. It started going one place and ended up in another)

This short erotica series was more pantsy than I've been before. I literally had no idea where it was going until I finished book three a few days ago. I normally at least have a begining, middle and end in mind. My MC had a dark secert he kept babbling about (this was to explain why he was a douchebag) and I had no idea what it was until a few days ago

I love that soo. It keeps you writing because you want to know what the dark secret is yourself.

Yes Jeepers - I am naturally in life and in writing a planner but I went on a writing course that encouraged morning pages and just writing what is on your head. It left me with some of my best writing although it was terrifying to do it at the time.

I also believe it is the one skill that has got me through a full zero draft. Through all the times I just didn't feel motivated I made myself write whatever and usually it led to some OK writing eventually.

Also, I planned out my whole novel at the start and quite a lot has changed. If I get to write another novel, I won't be so rigid about the planning and just let things flow naturally.

So I guess my point is, try different things and see what works, it may not be what you think it will be!

Hi all waves just relogged in and decided to stop lurking again

I am about 40000+ words in on my novel which is the furthest in I have got (third crack)