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?

Any update Cel? Where are you at now?

Can I join please?

Complete beginner, never written anything outside school or work, but have an idea that I want to explore.

I have really noticed that doing a little bit every day works much better than trying to lots at the weekend, but with young kids sometimes it's hard to find my mojo late at night. I can't do early morning writing as I have a 2 year old who finds his way into my bed every night and is a very light sleeper...

Am aiming for at least half an hour a day!

Currently wrestling an unwieldy and over-long first draft into a more manageable second draft. I've been trying and failing to get the balance in life 'right' for years in terms of 'time to write'. Inverted commas because I now realise no balance is ever 'just right' and time to write cannot always be consistent. So far this year (ok, we are barely halfway through March so early doors) I have become a lot better at just accepting that some days it won't work out I have any writing time, and other days I have to grab the time and use it. My subject matter is pretty weird I guess: Pagan-themed but not set in any alt' universe and not Fantasy-based. I can find a lot of Young Adult fiction with Pagan themes out there, but not much else (unless firmly in Fantasy genre). Would love to be corrected on this, and to hear from anyone else interested in the same themes. And in awe of those who have creative lives whilst juggling the demands of full time jobs and families.

Ooh def interested. Will read more tomorrow.

Second draft nearly complete, coming in at 76,000- 80,000 words, hoping I will not lose too much in ruthless third edit. I belong to a writing group and they've offered to critique my work, yikes! Meet ups held every 2-3 weeks so trying to prepare first chapter for next meet up - it gives me a target to aim for I suppose. I like my storyline, just not so keen on my writing but third draft of first chapter is big improvement I think. I am sahm one dc at school, the other at pre-school so limited time. I try to grab 20 mins here and there at weekends but when dc is at pre-school I normally manage about an hour and a half after which I feel tired and can't really continue. I really enjoy writing and never happier than when I'm out in a cafe enjoying a latte and writing. Bliss!

Wow it sounds totally amazing, have you always had an idea for a plot line etc, or is it something that just came to you as you were writing? Do you have a publisher, or are you going to start off with an ebook?

I know people who have paid to get hard copies, they handled the marketing side of things, I believe they've published 3 books, but the badgering from the book people was/is relentless, they had to pay a reasonable sum to get a print version.

I think if I ever got to the writing more than say 1000 words, I might consider self publishing via Amazon or ebooks.

Wondering if anyone is still checking this thread? Have read the full thing and recognise/embrace the phenomenon of pantsing - delighted I now have a word to describe it!

I am about 70,000 words into a rough first draft of a first novel. Have written other things before and had modest success (publications, won competitions, etc.) but didn't ever use the momentum this created. Now I think I'm ready to start taking myself seriously, but life is so much more busy. I'd love to hear about how any of you have or do manage with full time employment and a young family - any tips very gratefully received!

I'm onto the final draft of a novel, and it's the most passionate I've ever been about anything I've written! 70,000 words which I think is ok for YA/NA fiction (it reads like a YA novel but due to character age is more of an NA) and now I'm just tidying it up, spelling mistakes etc and getting it ready for submission! Trying to get it all done quickly as I start a shift-working job soon.

Hi everyone - sorry, I started this thread but have forgotten to check it recently I've been slowly submitting to agents but no news to report yet - one very early request for the full MS which was very exciting but ultimately ended in rejection; a few other rejections and a lot of radio silence. Have sent it to a few more in the last few days so hopefully might hear more soon. Am a few thousand words into my next project, anyway, so at least I've something to keep me busy. Great to hear of all the progress from everyone!

An early request for the full manuscript is really promising cel, hang in there - I don't know much about it as I'm not at that stage yet, but waiting for a response is always hard. Such a great idea to crack on with the next project too.

ovaries your manuscript length sounds about right for YA to me, maybe even on the long side? But someone else with more industry experience might be able to correct this. Btw what is NA? Not a term I'm familiar with.

Hello,

May I hop in?

I've been fancying around 'writing' for a year or two, just trying to see if I have any ideas worthy of development. After cobbling something together during Nanowrimo I have been a bit more disciplined and have about 14k words of my actual novel but lots more in note form.

My biggest issue is that I forget the details all the time - basic info about my characters and the plot and often what tense I'm writing in!

I keep thinking that what I've produced so far is a load of bobbins but I don't have to get it right yet, just written.

Fancying around! That sounds fun. I did of course mean fannying.

Hester NA is "new adult", it's quite an emerging genre (YA is protagonist up to 18, NA is protagonist 18-23ish) and sometimes gets lumped in with YA so I'm not confident about submitting until the genre is more established in the UK. From what I've seen it's on the longer side for YA but about right for NA :)

Welcome crap! When I start a story I write down notes, character profiles etc and keep them in a folder so I can refer to them when necessary, would this help?

Hi Ovaries, thanks - I do have something like that but still manage to cock things up. I just don't think I've spent enough time with my book and the characters yet to get to know them.

Interesting ovaries didn't know NA was a thing at all but it sounds like you're pretty clear about your audience. Good luck getting it ready for submission!

That's great advice from ovaries crap, but I also think you're right in saying that you just need to get it written for now, no need to stress about getting it right until the word count is up and you start to get into your flow (and to really get to know the characters and the world of the story) - sounds like you're on the right track!

Good to see that everyone is still writing. I did a first chapter for the Prima/Mills and Boon competition and decided to carry on with it so I can submit the full MS to them. A M&B is about 50-55,000 words I've done about 40,000 so far and it seems to be going ok.

Interesting to hear that you have done your first chapter for the M & B/Prima comp Diamond. I have also done a first chapter; I'm quite pleased with it overall, but not 100% sure if it's what they are looking for.
Do you mean that you are not going to submit the first chapter for the comp, and are going to wait to submit until you have the whole manuscript ready?

Hi Naice, I've submitted my first chapter and synopsis and I didn't want to waste them so I decided to write the rest of the book and try submitting it to M&B as they take submissions from the public. I am also a member of the Romantic Novelist Association New Writers Scheme so I can have my manuscript critiqued by a published author and then re-edit before I send it in. That's my plan anyway!

Oh - that's interesting!

Is it difficult to become a member of the scheme?

If you look on the RNA website I think there is a bit about the new writer's scheme. It isn't easy to join because they only have a few places each year and you have to email exactly when they open the books on 1st Jan (they tell you what time on the website) and it's first come, first served. But when you join you can have one manuscript per year critiqued by someone who is already published, they have conferences and meet ups etc and the networking is great. The authors are really helpful and kind to anyone trying to get published, it's definitely helping me.

Place marking!

Ooo this is so interesting diamond and naice. I would really like to write romance but get very skittish at the merest sniff of a sex scene - it's just so hard to do without being cringey. Have you been to many of the RNA events diamond?

Have always wanted to write for M&B but every time I start writing a romance I just can't stop myself from making it about a group of over-65s falling in love over their knitting/ while volunteering at the library - suspect that's not what they're looking for!

I have only been to one conference but it was really interesting, tons of seminars about writing etc and loads of authors to talk to.

If you want to write M&B I think you really need to read a lot in whatever line you are interested in. There is heaps of help on their website. Almost all the lines have sex scenes other than (I think) Cherish. But the hero needs to be a hunk that the readers will fancy! I don't know whether I will write anything they will want but I'm giving it my best shot....

Thanks Diamond - I've just had a look on their website. Very interesting - I might try to join next year.