yesterday i decided to skip blogging because i successfully added over 1300 words (or about 5 pages double spaced 12p tmn) to the creative piece i am currently writing. on the one hand that doesn't sound like a lot (one of my prouder moments in college was successfully cranking out a 15 page, 4500 word, A- paper on Cosmology in under 10 hours) but writing fiction goes a lot more slowly for me than academic writing.
on the whole i feel a lot more secure with this piece of fiction than i have with others before it. i finally googled, "how to write a novel," only to determine that the path to doing it is both a lot harder and a lot easier than i had ever given it credit for being. i definitely excel at writing characters, but, quite frankly, i always really sucked at developing a story arch. i had it in my mind that if i fell in love with my characters hard enough, (which is a challenge since i really prefer to write about rather despicable, flawed people) they would eventually lead me to some grand adventure on their own.
but, at least at this point, i know where these characters are going and it's been a huge step forward for me. and for just shy of 2200 words total there are already a lot of characters: andrea, grace, ruby, dylan, olivia, craig, steve, patrick, sam, "blondie."
i'm toying with the idea of signing off my future blog posts with the current word count of my, what-i-eventually-hope-makes-it-to-be-a-novel-someday. to try and keep myself motivated and productive.
have any of you guys tried to write a piece of fiction over 50,000 words (who am i kidding, what about 20,000)? how do you stay motivated / productive with the same creative piece?
word count: 2,154
That is dedication in this weather Becky!
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so much love your blog design!
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www.thefashionfraction.com
I love to write histories. I have many in my family that were good, honest, forthright citizens in the Pioneer era and on. I can't think up a story to save my life, but give a historical time line and I'm there. Thank you for loving my new SCARF! :D
ReplyDeleteI have not done this. But I have often wondered what people do when they write a novel how do the ideas come? Do they have an outline and then fill it in or does it just sort morph? You SHOULD sign off with the word count!
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Dressing Ken
That is so cool! Sounds VERY tedious though. I'm excited to hear how it turns out!
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Making Life's Lemons
Go girl go!! The journey of a novel begins with a 2,000 word count ;)
ReplyDeleteI've never tried something so ambitious, and I admire those people who can do
!!
I've never tried- way to go girl!
ReplyDeleteWow! You can do it- I believe you can do this. My sister and I used to trade short stories and she always said to me Erika- a story is only a 10 page paper. So why can't you string 10 page papers together? and make a book.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear more about what your working on- stay creative this weekend :)
OH and PS I LOVE the typewriter!
ReplyDeleteYeah a novel isn't a easy thing to write. When I understood that a schoolmate is publishing a science fiction novel, my jaw dropped - I was that impressed. Good luck to you.
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That is really awesome Becky , can't wait to hear how it turns out .
ReplyDeleteI always recommend a lotta breaks. It's a tough balance because than you lose motivation, too!
ReplyDeleteI think I would find it very hard to not think of other stories when writing my own, I just don't think it's for me. I can just about manage 500!
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