Tag Archives: rewrite

Back in the Saddle…

My life motto has always been I THRIVE ON MONOTONY.  After my life was turned upside-down for a little over a week, I am back to my mundane schedule and, believe me, it feels good. It feels right. It feels “write” to be back in the saddle.

And I have been writing, though I will admit I found it next to impossible to write in airports and on planes. There is too much noise. And it’s too crowded. But, I tried. Unfortunately that progress was almost nill.

However, FINDING VERITY made a huge leap even though I couldn’t write and that’s because I thought about the story. And, while I was thinking, I solved a problem. And after that problem was solved, FINDING VERITY grew. It grew to almost 88,000 words. And I’m feeling good about it. Damn good!

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done but I plod along knowing I can do it. This is my third novel. The first one didn’t get published. Last year I self-published WINDFALL. I think I might approach publishers with FINDING VERITY. However, if I do and there’s no interest, I’ll self-publish that one, too.

So, what is FINDING VERITY? Here is a hint. It’s a “coming of age” story about a boy who, after being abandoned by his mother, finds the strength to persevere. He survives a brutal experience in a foster family, befriends a homeless man, gets adopted into a loving family, and becomes a best-selling novelist though no one knows that because he writes under a “pen name.”  But then he meets an old woman who changes his life…

Book Mobile in the 1920s

On Becoming a Novelist

Writing a novel doesn’t happen overnight. Novels just don’t flow out of a writer’s psyche. The writer’s life is a constant battle, a continual struggle. Writer’s should make every effort to never lose sight of their end goal.

To be successful, novelists must read a lot. And while we read, we need to avoid temptation. We must resist the temptation to change our own writing. When we read other writer’s work, we might consider changing our style, or our characters, or our voice. But novelists need to be true to themselves. No one wants to be a copycat writer.

To be successful, novelists must be persistent. Novels take time. Some writers get first drafts finished in a couple of months. Others might take years. But, the first draft is never the final draft. After the first draft, there is the second draft, and a third. Sometimes the real trick is knowing when a novel is done.

Story ideas are cheap. Starting projects is easy. The trick to becoming a novelist is learning how to finish a project. No writer wants to end up with a dozen half-finished novels. What writers want are completed works they can hold up and say, “I did this.”

The best advice I can give anyone who thinks they might want to write a novel is this: Set up a realistic writing schedule and stick to it. If you think you can realistically write two hours a day, then figure out which two hours you will write and, every day, write during those two hours. If you are working on a novel, then work on that novel for two hours. It’ll never get done any other way.

Lots of people talk about writing a novel. There are fewer people who actually sit down and do it.

Which one are you?

Prehistoric Writing

How to Write a Novel

The best way to write a novel is ONE WORD AT A TIME.

Easy enough. Right?

Writers have debated over time whether an outline is needed. In truth, this is a matter of personal preference. I use a block outline (sometimes referred to as a beat sheet), others write “by the seat of their pants.” Neither way is right or wrong. Use the way that works for you.

But, truth be told, there is only one way to write a novel. And that is ONE WORD AT A TIME. Let me demonstrate with a novel that begins…

1) He entered the room.  [Good start. But, WHO entered the room and WHAT KIND of room?]

2) Pat entered the living room. [Is Pat a male or female?]

3) Pat entered the living room and smiled at his wife who sat in a chair by the window. [So?]

4) Pat entered the living room and smiled at his wife who sat in a chair by the window.  She had asked him to be home by five, and he could tell she wasn’t happy. He glanced at his watch, only forty-five minutes late… [Okay, he's late.  Big deal...]

5) Pat entered the living room and smiled at his wife who sat in a chair by the window.  She had asked him to be home by five, and he could tell she wasn’t happy. He glanced at his watch, only forty-five minutes late… She should by happy. He’d almost made it home on time.  [Better. We've got some conflict but...]

6) Pat entered the living room and smiled at his wife who sat in the chair by the window. She had asked him to be home by five, and he could tell she wasn’t happy. He glanced at his watch, only forty-five minutes late… She should by happy. He’d almost made it home on time.  He wondered why Father Benedict was sitting in the rocking chair. And why were his parents huddled in the corner? And his twin brother Paul was sitting on the sofa with their sister Angela. Why were they there? [Much better. So, what kind of a story is this?]

Well that depends. Are they going to burst out singing Happy Birthday or is this an intervention?

So, this is how a novel is written.

One word at a time.

The above paragraph is 92 words long. Novels are a minimum of 50,000 words, so we only have to come up with 49,902 more words…

When you’re done, you can take a nap!