Boarders Writing a Novel Thread 3

[Alaerien]

Just got an interview request from my dream university, University College London, for their masters in publishing course. I've been living in fear of their response - hugely relieved and excited. :)

[Starkess]

Just trying to keep writing. I'm dying to re-write, but I've got to complete the first draft first! I think once I get the first draft down, the re-writing will go pretty quickly. Possibly wishful thinking, eh?

My goal is to be re-writing by the end of the summer (I don't have a ton of writing time), but if it's sooner, I'll be stoked!

[SerNotAppearingOnThisBoard]

So, what's everyone got planned for the upcoming Spring/Summer writing season?

Plowing through a middle-section rewrite at the moment. Got three more sections marked for rewriting before I go on. Hopefully I can get these done by June and finish this whole thing by November or so.

[The Evil Hat]

I'm still developing the novel idea I mentioned a few pages back, but now I have a deadline to start: Friday. AP reviews will be all but done, and I've got the whole day (and weekend) to do nothing but write. Should hopefully get quite a bit done. The whole project's in a kind of bulbous, gargantuan state at the moment, but every time I touch it it seems to grow no limbs, so I'm just going to start writing and work more on every other aspect once I've at least got some prose on the page.

[Ebenstone]

Just got an interview request from my dream university, University College London, for their masters in publishing course. I've been living in fear of their response - hugely relieved and excited. :)

Congrats! Good luck.

Here's the link to my rambling post on the evolution of the world that is "Winter's Discord."

My link

[The Evil Hat]

I started a day late (or is it two days, now?), but I did eventually do it. I'm only seven hundred words in, but it still feels good to finally accomplish something. To my surprise, the (first) viewpoint's voice came through incredibly easily. The only problem is that the scene otherwise feels very bare bones, but I guess that's far less important for now and can always be fixed when revising.

[SerNotAppearingOnThisBoard]

Here's the link to my rambling post on the evolution of the world that is "Winter's Discord."

My link

Interesting what you said about "Wiki-worlds." One of the thing's I've done for my WIP/associated universe is install MediaWiki software to a private subdomain of my website (otherwise not writing related) and set up a Wikipedia type thing for all my characters, settings, etc. Every so often, I have to tear sections down and rebuild as things change in the writing, but it's a good organizational tool.

In other news, this rewriting jaunt is a real chore, but I'm almost at the end of the first section I marked up. I'm greatly enjoying the secondary POV I engaged in doing so (a drunk who's feeling rather dismayed to find that he actually cares about the fate of his companions).

The good news? There was a slight theme of faith vs. reason and the intersections thereof that was beginning to emerge in earlier chapters, and that's been distinctly cemented during the rewrite. :)

[Rumarumo]

Hi all, would be writer here, been reading this thread a while but have never posted - 'til now. Been reading some of your posts with interest, thought I'd introduce myself and have a good old moan. I have plenty of ideas for novels, but nothing fully formed yet so I keep scribbling away. Doing a creative writing distance course to keep me entertained until the return to university in the fall. I'm at the point where I've planned a story and am expected to turn in a 4000 word first draft in roughly two weeks. I won't bore you with the details of the story, but I was hoping for some advice on the writing of it in general.

I've fallen into the most depressing pattern when it comes to writing. This idea will hit me (character, scene, whatever) and I'll take it down, expanding on it over a number of days, sometimes weeks, getting really really excited until it's clear what I want to do. Problem is, I spend so much time thinking about it that, while I might write as much as half of it, invariably I get to a point where the inspiration/drive is gone. I'll sit down to write and I'll dawdle, looking up cursewords in Chinese (damn you, firefly) or fecking off somewhere. Anytime I come back to the computer I still just can't make myself sit down, suck it up and write it. I've tried striking while the iron is hot, busting out as many words as I can while the excitement is still on me, but inevitably this honeymoon period ends all too soon, and the manhood of my creativity is left flaccid and....nevermind. Point is, I always find problems. The character will have lost their definition, the once meticulously planned plot will seem senseless to me, or the mood of a scene which seemed perfect only a few days ago will be all wrong. I know it sounds like I'm just bitching (mainly because I am) but I was wondering if this cycle of shitting-on-your-own soul is familiar to anyone else, and if so, how to overcome it? Haircut, perhaps?

[TheEvilKing]

I've fallen into the most depressing pattern when it comes to writing. This idea will hit me (character, scene, whatever) and I'll take it down, expanding on it over a number of days, sometimes weeks, getting really really excited until it's clear what I want to do. Problem is, I spend so much time thinking about it that, while I might write as much as half of it, invariably I get to a point where the inspiration/drive is gone. I'll sit down to write and I'll dawdle, looking up cursewords in Chinese (damn you, firefly) or fecking off somewhere. Anytime I come back to the computer I still just can't make myself sit down, suck it up and write it. I've tried striking while the iron is hot, busting out as many words as I can while the excitement is still on me, but inevitably this honeymoon period ends all too soon, and the manhood of my creativity is left flaccid and....nevermind. Point is, I always find problems. The character will have lost their definition, the once meticulously planned plot will seem senseless to me, or the mood of a scene which seemed perfect only a few days ago will be all wrong. I know it sounds like I'm just bitching (mainly because I am) but I was wondering if this cycle of shitting-on-your-own soul is familiar to anyone else, and if so, how to overcome it? Haircut, perhaps?

Hi, welcome to the thread. All that sounds exactly like myself, and no, a haircut doesn't help.

[Myrddin]

Welcome to the insanity, I mean, the club. :)

What you describe, Yerman, is more common than you know. With me anyway. Thus me being here instead of in my open Word doc...

The only advice I can give is something that is easier to write than do. Put your ass in the chair and apply finger tips to keyboard. It's the only way you'll move past the odd scene here and there and finish.

For years I only wrote when inspiration stuck, like lightning at odd moments. Those times were like a high and so good feeling in fact that I thought that's what writing was.

Then I started reading more interviews with authors or later their blogs. If there's one commmon thread, it's that writing is hard. Now, I equate writing as bleeding over the keyboard most days. Sometimes I get lucky and that high comes through the words. Sometimes that comes while writing, but now it's usually when I pick up something I wrote weeks or months earlier and get sucked in.

That said, you need to learn what works best for you and your schedule. Making yourself sit and stare at a blank screen for an hour a day is only good if it becomes a habit that leads to words on the page, and not create a paralyzing block. For some people this works. For others, it makes them hang up the keyboard.

I've heard writers say they love the act of writing. Others, like GRRM I believe, like to have written. I fall somewhere in between. Mostly, I love dreaming up stories. That's the easy fun part.

Well, browsing time is over. I need to finish rewriting chapter 51, then do an edit pass of chapters 52 and 53, and then my second draft is complete. That's about 3 more pages of writing. With luck, and ass in chair (off the Internet), I can do finish the draft today.

[Starkess]

Don't worry, Yerman, that sounds exactly like me and most other people I've talked to!

[SerNotAppearingOnThisBoard]

Hi all, would be writer here, been reading this thread a while but have never posted - 'til now. Been reading some of your posts with interest, thought I'd introduce myself and have a good old moan. I have plenty of ideas for novels, but nothing fully formed yet so I keep scribbling away. Doing a creative writing distance course to keep me entertained until the return to university in the fall. I'm at the point where I've planned a story and am expected to turn in a 4000 word first draft in roughly two weeks. I won't bore you with the details of the story, but I was hoping for some advice on the writing of it in general.

I've fallen into the most depressing pattern when it comes to writing. This idea will hit me (character, scene, whatever) and I'll take it down, expanding on it over a number of days, sometimes weeks, getting really really excited until it's clear what I want to do. Problem is, I spend so much time thinking about it that, while I might write as much as half of it, invariably I get to a point where the inspiration/drive is gone. I'll sit down to write and I'll dawdle, looking up cursewords in Chinese (damn you, firefly) or fecking off somewhere. Anytime I come back to the computer I still just can't make myself sit down, suck it up and write it. I've tried striking while the iron is hot, busting out as many words as I can while the excitement is still on me, but inevitably this honeymoon period ends all too soon, and the manhood of my creativity is left flaccid and....nevermind. Point is, I always find problems. The character will have lost their definition, the once meticulously planned plot will seem senseless to me, or the mood of a scene which seemed perfect only a few days ago will be all wrong. I know it sounds like I'm just bitching (mainly because I am) but I was wondering if this cycle of shitting-on-your-own soul is familiar to anyone else, and if so, how to overcome it? Haircut, perhaps?

Hi!

Yeah, I agree with the others. Just keep pressing on and cherish those moments when inspiration does strike. If you notice patterns starting to emerge in your habits, accommodate them. For example, around this time of day (10 AM for me), I'm more self-critical, so I use this time for review and revision. My inner critic seems to go to bed before I do, so I do most of my new writing between 10 PM and 1 AM. I also take one day off a week to allow my word bank to recharge.

Best of luck!

[Rumarumo]

Huh, thanks for all the responses, good to know other people have worked through this kind of thing before. I took the "sit down and suck it up" approach at about midnight last night, and while I wasn't feeling all that inspired for the first half hour or so I kept on writing until I got caught up in it. Ended up knocking out about 1000 words which, compared to your novel-writing exploits probably seems a bit shite, but it's 1000 words that I'm pretty happy with, and that I feel set up the story quite nicely. Apparently all it takes is about 4 cups of tea and no internet!

Gonna do the same thing today, and hopefully establish some kind of routine over the next few weeks so that I can start improving on that word count. Gonna get that haircut, too. So, thanks, thread :thumbsup:

[Tes'thesula]

Just got an interview request from my dream university, University College London, for their masters in publishing course. I've been living in fear of their response - hugely relieved and excited. :)

Heh, I'm actually finishing up that exact course this year.

[Starkess]

Huh, thanks for all the responses, good to know other people have worked through this kind of thing before. I took the "sit down and suck it up" approach at about midnight last night, and while I wasn't feeling all that inspired for the first half hour or so I kept on writing until I got caught up in it. Ended up knocking out about 1000 words which, compared to your novel-writing exploits probably seems a bit shite, but it's 1000 words that I'm pretty happy with, and that I feel set up the story quite nicely. Apparently all it takes is about 4 cups of tea and no internet!

Gonna do the same thing today, and hopefully establish some kind of routine over the next few weeks so that I can start improving on that word count. Gonna get that haircut, too. So, thanks, thread :thumbsup:

1000 words is a good day for me lately...congrats! Keep it going!

[Migey]

Hey all :)

Im a rather young guy, so i havn't started writing yet, but i have plans for quite a few books laid out - one massive world which il write 2 series on, and possibly more, and another very long stand alone. I have the basic layout of the large world... picture it as a very large upside down U with a large ocean in the middle, and habitable land all around it, with a barren, desolate wasteland (once full of life) to the east, a desert to the west, and a gaping chasm far to the north, across which are other lands. Both lands on each side of the chasm know of the other one, but due to the difficulty of getting past the chasm, they have very little to do with each other, and trade is impossible.

I have alot of the basic plot fleshed out, but it feels so stupid whenever i try to write it :) and of course, alot of it is still in its early stages. Im making the magic system so that its part of every day life, as in, its not rare. Its not common, but if you bump into someone in the street with it, its not strange - there are also lots of different kinds of magic, all you are born with, which have their own limitations. Gods also exist, but they walk the earth and arnt that 'god' like - as in, they are not all powerful. The world actually was not created by the gods, but by a cruel diety who created the gods, and makes worlds at a whim. The main bad guy is a god whom was turned mad by a sadistic joke from the aforementioned diety, and the efforts of several protagonists to stop him. Several gods have sided with him, and the others are waging war on him. I plan the series to be split into two trilogies. One of which will be narrated by one set of protagonists, and the other 3 by another set. I also plan to kill off the main character at the end of book 1, have him brought back to life at the end of book 2, and then killed again at the end of book 3.

It sounds quite stupid when i write it down :(. Its still in its early stages, but i hope to write it one day...

[Alaerien]

Heh, I'm actually finishing up that exact course this year.

Really? How is it going? :)

[Darkostar]

Well, I think I'm gonna try something. It started off as a character backstory for some RP, but it's...evolving into something. Dunno what.

EDIT: Little explanation of the story as I have it thusfar.

It can take place on Earth or on some kinda Earth-analogue (if I want to get really deep into fantasy), present day. It revolves around Jean-Marie Simard, the ghost of a French jewel thief who prowled around during the 1920s in France, and later in America during Prohibition. Present day, the ghost of Jean-Marie cannot find rest, so it's floating around some major US city, whereupon it finds Marcus Lyons, an ex Blackwater Merc who got his arm blown off by an IED in Iraq. Marc is homeless and drunnk off his ass when Jean-Marie finds him, and proceeds to possess his body against his will, in order to steal Marc's fate from him. The remaining story is still anomalous at this point, but from the bits of dialogue I have, it's got a heavy "Buddy Cop" feel to it, except they're in the same body. I like the chemistry that Marc and Jean-Marie have so far, and I think I'm gonna explore it.

[Tes'thesula]

Really? How is it going? :)

Well, exam coming up in a couple days that I really should do some more preparation for, but otherwise good. Recently just wrapped up the placement that the course gets for you, which is definitely a massive thing going for it. Met loads of really great people on the course and certainly opened my eyes to the shape of the industry.

[Alaerien]

Well, exam coming up in a couple days that I really should do some more preparation for, but otherwise good. Recently just wrapped up the placement that the course gets for you, which is definitely a massive thing going for it. Met loads of really great people on the course and certainly opened my eyes to the shape of the industry.

That's very exciting! I'm really looking forward to the work experience part of the course. I have an offer to do a publishing masters at another university, but I have my fingers crossed for UCL. :)