Still Blocking

Yay! I wrote 918 words today. Still filling in the hero's journey blocks and I'm almost at the middle of the book. I hope the pacing works out right.

I'm amazed at the way the hero's journey organises everything. I had all the story information but it was a mish-mash of unconnected paragraphs, some of them definitely in the wrong place. It makes more sense now the parts of the story are in the correct order.

I really hope the "ordinary world" section can be shorter than the rest because I don’t have a whole lot of stuff to put in there. Not unless I introduce a lot of the other characters, which seems like a bad idea (too many new people all at once is probably counter-productive).

It will only be a first draft, so I suppose I can come back to it any time and re-write.

Starting to Block

I decided to forget about trying to get the 'synopsis' to flow. I decided it would take too long and instead I'm putting it all into the blocks. These blocks are steps along the way of the hero's journey.

Today I've written 700 words and discovered some interesting things.

Firstly, I think I need a prologue. My story involves a murder that happened some time ago and begins to have a bearing on present-day events.

Secondly, I could so easily write the story of the characters from the time of that old murder, so I think I may well have enough for a prequel -- but I'm trying not to think of that in case it distracts me from my current novel.

I have also discovered that it isn't as easy as you'd think to fit your story into blocks, but once you do it, it suddenly begins to look like a cohesive story. I haven't finished blocking yet (that 700 words I mentioned above was actually writing out which of the backstory ought to go into the prologue).

The day is not over yet. I hope to write more before I sleep.

Progress Report 2

I'm delighted to say I've written another 2000 words (approximately 1000 words yesterday and another 1000 today). I've now finished the very rough 'synopsis' and need to decide what to put instead of the heap of backstory that I realise I've put in the beginning section. I'll take all that out (and put it in a separate file called backstory, probably) and see what's left.

Then I'll smooth it out so the story flows. After that comes the blocking. Everyone talks about this being the next step but I'm not completely sure what one does to "block" the story. I think it means going through the stages of the Hero's Journey. That should be interesting.

So first I make it flow. Then I block. Then I write.

Progress Report 1

I intended to write this yesterday but it was late when I finished my writing and I didn't have the energy. I wrote just over 500 words of the synopsis.

It isn't really a synopsis. That's my name for it. I'm taking the information from each character arc and weaving it together to make a whole. At the moment, I'm simply putting each piece of information where it should go, splitting it into 3 sections (beginning, middle and end). Next, I shall smooth it out so it reads coherently. Blocking will be easy after that. Then I start to write.

One advantage of doing things this way, I hope, is that when it comes to writing the real synopsis for a publisher I will already have something to work with.

I haven't done today's writing yet. I hope to write much more than I did yesterday.

Word Meter Success

I am stunned. Not only did I manage to do a search for a word meter but I even worked out how to add it to my blog!! This is an amazing advance for me. I still know next to nothing about blogs and even less about html.

Actually, the word meter lies. I have not written 10 words of my novel. I put that in because it felt bad putting a big, fat zero! I've written thousands of words for my character arcs and the synopsis (only part way through that) but nothing of the novel itself. Not only that, but I may not write as many as 75,000 words. I have the choice of between 60,000 and 75,000 words. I'm aiming for the longer one because I'd rather write more and have to cut words than write less and try to pad it out.

Today is a non-writing day. Back to normal tomorrow, though.

Update on Goals

I've written every day this week and I'm so excited that I managed my goals.

Yesterday I didn't blog, but I did write over 1,000 words of my novel outline, bringing together all the character arcs I've done.

Today I managed to do another assignment AND a further 1,000 words of novel outline.

I'm tired, but I feel good.

Writing and how it makes me feel

Why do I write? Passion. When I get excited about something, I want to pass it on and my most effective way to do that is to write.

I've been reading Dwight Swain's Techniques of a Selling Writer and I love that he says we write from our feelings. That's what happens to me. I don't simply want to pass on information (although I do). I want to share how I feel because I'd love you to feel that way too. If something moves me, I want you to catch that same emotion because there's something very liberating in truly feeling.

Don't misunderstand me. I don't wait for a feeling to strike me before I dash to the computer to write. Sometimes I start to write and the feeling gradually creeps up on me. Sometimes I don't write long enough for the feeling to reach me.

I also write because I love to entertain. I enjoy making people smile.

How does writing make me feel? A little like being in love. I get that tremulous, jittery feeling in my stomach.

If I get into "the zone" it's like being on an express train. I'm rushing ahead into the story, ready for the next scene, exhilarated by the speed and eager to move on. Being in "the zone" is a bit like dreaming. You know how you can be unaware of time when you're in the zone? It's the same when you dream. Time in real life passes more quickly than time in the dream or the zone. Then afterwards, you feel disorientated for a while as you tackle re-entry to the real world.

So there. That's me trying to earnestly analyse why I write and how it makes me feel. But if I'm truthful, life -- and writing -- is not like that for me at the moment.

I was shattered to read in Swain's book that there's a correlation between emotions and being able to write. Over the last year I've gradually come out of a depression that lasted for two years (connected to surgery I needed to have). Since the depression, I have been concerned that my emotions are mostly numbed. Occasionally something will make me cry or perhaps laugh. But other than that I don't feel much of anything.

I can still write and I don't think it's THAT bad, but if Swain's theory is correct, then it probably has no real heart to it.

Yet at the same time, writing is what helps release my emotions again. Sometimes I become so focused on my writing that nothing else matters. The excited thrill returns and I know that part of me is set free.

A Promise Kept

I kept my promise! Yesterday I said I was going to write some of my novel, and I did. I finished two more character arcs. That's another 1,000 words to add to yesterday's count.

Today I've written a further 600 words and have finished all my character arcs.

Now it is time to organise the story into blocks (that's the only way I could think of to say it without it sounding like I'm planning to have writer's block).

I've achieved so much in the last two days and feel such a satisfaction. I can do it!

I need to set writing goals. I want to continue to write every day (and get faster) but I'm not completely sure of my capabilities so I will start small and build up.

I want to write for a minimum of an hour a day on at least 4 days a week.

This is my minimum. I'm sure I can do more than that, but I don't want to commit myself and then feel miserable if it becomes clear I've taken on too much. If I find it's too easy, then I can always decide on a new goal.

I'm aiming at a novel of 60,000 to 75,000 words.

So far I have been laying the foundation -- the character arcs -- which requires quite a lot of thinking and juggling. Once the blocking is complete I think the story will be quicker to write because the thinking will have already been done. That's my theory, anyway.

Than I shall start the word count of my actual novel.

Everything at once

When I saw the assignments for this week, I almost bottled out. Are all these women super-women? Am I the only dumb mortal on the planet?

I mean, I'm supposed to do all these assignments AND blog daily AND write daily???

I'll be honest and say I'm not sure I can keep this up, but I'd like to try. If I seriously want to be published, then I know I need to do this level of work. After all, that's why I joined the Group. I felt I needed that push to get me to take things seriously.

I feel totally new to all of this. Everyone else seems so well-read in their genre and I know I'm not. I know I need to start researching the market properly and reading more current books in my genre.

Talking of which…

I'm re-thinking which genre to write in. Not for this current novel because I've procrastinated on it for too long and it's about time I finished it. I need to know I can finish a book-length novel.

My favourite genre for reading is suspense / romantic suspense. My second favourite is fantasy. I would be happy writing either genre.

For now, though, I'm about to embark on an adventure of writing and blogging every day. So far today I've spent three hours writing just over 1,000 words (one assignment and one blog) and haven't even touched my novel. I'd better do it now while I'm in the flow of writing!

Photos and Settings

This week I've been hunting down various photos to depict the settings for my novel. The town where it takes place is one close to where I live. Although I love my own town it isn't particularly picturesque, and I wanted somewhere pretty for my setting. Well, yes, and somewhere more romantic!

I still have a few photos to find -- other settings, as well as making up some floor plans for the various buildings and houses in which my characters will spend their time.

I already have photos of my main characters, but I'm still looking for just the right pics for some of the other major players.

And I wrote. So far I've written 122 words of another of the character arcs. Things are beginning to get exciting now, as I see how my characters' personalities react with one another.

Character arcs are not all I'm trying to work on. Some time ago I chose a birth date for each character, so now I need to work out which generation they belong to so that I can add further layers. This is such fun!

Previous attempts to write this novel have mainly backfired because I hadn't a clue what I was doing. My characters were badly formed, and I hardly knew them.

Knowing my characters is truly what makes the difference for me. I tried those long character sheets that ask you to describe what kind of toothpaste they use, or the colour of their favourite pair of shoes, but I couldn't motivate myself to ever answer all the questions. Heck, I didn't know those things about myself (well, the shoes, maybe!)

But now I know the characters' personalities, I find I can more easily answer the questions on the character sheets. Yay! Success at last.

Thinking Positive Thoughts

What a blessing to read the lovely comments you've left for me. After feeling discouraged at my pitiful word count on Tuesday, I felt uplifted by your support. Thank you.

As if to prove how important a positive mindset is, I can report that today I wrote 1,608 words! These are not exactly words of my novel. They are words in my character arcs. So far I've only touched on two out of my six major characters.

I decided to look at the plot from each character's individual perspective and it's working out SO well. I almost have a mini synopsis.

I can't believe how helpful it is to do this with my characters. Seeing it from each perspective has given me new insights into the story itself. Suddenly I'm discovering subplots and plot points that had never occurred to me before and yet fit so perfectly.

It's so true what they say: character is plot.

This is my first novel and it's an adventure. I'm learning so much.

First word count

Yay! I did some writing! Now, I'm not going to give a word count. Believe me, it wouldn't be impressive. I mean, we're looking at about 125 words. Approximately. :::::sob:::::: Now you probably think I'm a hopeless writer. See, I knew I should have stuck with my decision not to give a word count…

But I'm character mapping. That means I have to find character traits for each of my major characters. And I've done it!! For some reason it has taken me forever to come up with the right blend of traits for each person, and I've finally managed to get it right.

Now I have to start writing out the character arcs.