This is actually really hard

[ncforcatquestion]

I've always wanted to try writing a novel. I can write an okay short story, but never attempted something like this till now. It flowed at first, but now about an eighth of the way through I'm kind of hitting a wall. Rather than my usual two hours a day, I'm spending days on a half page sometimes. I worry it's boring, as I feel like if I'm bored and frustrated then so be would the reader. I wonder if it's like with my short story practice, that it takes years to develop the skill, and if I'm expecting too much of myself. I just really want it to work

Stop what you’re doing, go back to the start and read as if you’re reading any other book. Your mind will start telling you what happens next/ should have happened.

Alternatively make a list of where you wanted to get to (so start at what you wanted to happen at the end) and work back to what needs to happen to get you there OR write a scene you’re excited about to get you back in the groove (eg a scene where romantic leads get together, or where something exciting happens etc)

Everyone goes through points where it seems like you’re forcing your way through mud, but you will come out again!!!

@stayathomer these are all really good ideas, thank you. I think I should try all of them

Best of luck and hope you get back to the enjoyable part soon!! By the way if you don’t print out you can send it as a word doc to e-reader or tablet, handy for reading!!!

Have you plotted it?

A spreadsheet detailing what is in or should be in each chapter is useful. Treat each chaoter like a short story.

I think my plot is a bit vague now thinking about it. I could add more detail, I think I was enjoying writing so much at first I just let it develop as I went along. It was so easy till now. That's a good idea, to work out what I want from each chapter. Thank you

This is your shitty first draft. No one, not Hemingway or Harlan Coben writes a good first draft. The first draft is just you getting your raw materials together from which you can begin to tell yourself the story. Then you have something to work with. And gradually you’ll tighten it up and have new ideas and it will become marvellous. Enjoy the process.

I don't plot.
But what I do when I'm stuck is don't try and write a chapter that advances the plot. Give a chapter to get to know your characters. So have them going to work, or having a quiet evening in, or going shopping, or talking on the phone to a friend, anything that just writes.
I normally find that after I've written that I get an idea, and it helps me know the character and how they react.
Then when I come to do the first edit, normally those chapters are the first to go. Occasionally one of them does turn out to be important, in which case it stays (although normally needs paring down a lot)

Thanks for the support. I've spontaneously started getting into a major part of my plot, so I'm glad for that. I'm going to implement all the advice I've had here, starting with reading the whole thing from the start

I mean, it is really hard 🤷🏻‍♀️ That's the reality of it, it's why there are so many unfinished novels out there, and why most of the finished ones remain unpublished. But this is only the beginning - plough on to the end of the first draft, no matter how bad it is, and then you've got something to work on. The rewrite is where the magic happens.

Agree that no one wrote a good first draft.
Also, I have realised something over the years ( I am a published novelist who took decades to get my first book deal). What is boring to you, and takes hours and days of Labour over, is consumed by readers in literally seconds. They do not know the blood sweat and tears that went into each sentence. It’s not boring to them. I don’t know why it took me so long to realise that!

@StellaOlivetti that is a good point. It is something I think about now when I'm reading, the sheer work that's went into what I read quickly

I am looking forward to this part. I've been feeling like my opening should be more exciting, and I haven't been sure whether to look at this now or when redrafting the whole thing

I've re-read my story so far as suggested, and I think the problem could be I was writing in 2nd person. I've tried writing my first page in 1st person, and it feels much more natural, and I feel really good and energised

I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that a good way to energise your writing is to change from third to first (or vice versa) and I think also it was suggested to try changing the sex of your protagonist! An agent once suggested to me that it’s hard to sustain first person for a whole novel’s length, but interestingly my one published novel is first person, and my (very few) short stories are all in third. Personally, I love writing in first person. I hope your good feeling continues.