No, I haven't worked on my novel. Not on paper. I sketched a little more in my head (but I don't think I get any points for that). If I'm serious about novel work, I think I need to set some sub-goals for myself. (To work on it on certain days of the week, to accomplish certain amounts by certain times, etc.)
I've started reading some of the other ROWers blogs. Neat, interesting folks out there! Sounds like a lot of people are writing to the paranormal genre. Several people have already self-published at least one story. That makes me feel spectacularly out of place. And small.
Is it too early to confess that I'm not sure if I'm ever going to "make it"? (What the heck does that mean, anyway?) I sure wish one of my friends had taken on the ROW with me so we could be buddies. Dear mom, your novel is great, why not write it while I write mine? Neither of us has time. Let's do it anyway!
Then again, I'm sitting at the end of a long day, knowing that a long night and another long day are ahead of me. So I'm tired and easily discouraged. At least the weekend is within sight. (Sleeping in Saturday? Hope so!)
Deep breaths. Almost there.
A certain amount of doubt is natural, but you met your writing goals -- what better assurance that you'll "make it" is there? Good job with ROW80 so far, and good luck in the future. :)
ReplyDeleteYou do get points for working through things in your head. Absolutely! It's hard work to put together the plot for a whole novel. You have to give yourself more credit.
ReplyDeleteOkay Brooke, I will write 10 minutes each day.
ReplyDeleteAs for my NIP (Novel In Progress), you see that I started with an outline. I really needed to pace the plot because I've heard so many times that writers often don't know when to STOP.
So the raw writing to date fades in and out of outline form.
What you haven't seen is behind the scenes are other documents:
* Character developments which I put into a table - just our analytical nature! Physical description, full name, birthdate, and maybe other factoids as I wanted to put more meat on their bones: education, family, unusual characteristics.
* Facts about the town where the story is set. The weather is x-y-z at season. Geography, population, main buildings, is there a full hospital, parks, rivers, just any sort of trivia that I may or may not draw on for the story.
* Separate docs on little crime stories Mike has told us over the years. And now I have some other people I can go to for more stories.
* Notes on research I need to do for technical accuracy in the story (details about affidavits and search warrants, for example).
So if I get stuck in one place, I can work on the background details some more - like rocking the car to get it out of the mud instead of spinning the tires!
Love ya! (Does this count as my ten minutes today)