First draft finished this weekend, working on a quick once-over now, and then it'll go on the backburner while I work on something else. I'll come back to this in a few months, polish it up, and then, shazaam! Done!
I always seem to work backwards. I know and sometimes write the ending before the beginning. I have the title most of the time before I begin writing at all. I wonder why this is. I read a book and I loved how to title of the book was the last four words of the novel. I felt it made for a powerfully ending. The title was pretty simple but it was meaningful because of how matter of fact it was.
Two years ago I was nearly finished, and yet here I am. On the bright side, if I had "finished" then, I don't think it would be as good as it now is, which I take to mean that it will be complete when it needs to be. I'm sure it's still hiding a few secrets from me!
I am at about 30k but that is the completed rough draft. Now just the fifteen thousand drafts of editing to make it pretty. Though the word count does keep changing with said edits. I call it "The Order: Redemption" or Redemption for short. Because it is a spin off featuring one character from my main work which I called "The Order" Which I named that because the world went through a world war three at the end of which a league was formed. Like the united nations except it was the United World Order or The Order for short
So I THINK I finished a story. I don't know what else to write because the next book kind of takes care of it. So I'm kind of at a loss. The other issue is that it is only 13 and a half pages. :-( What do i do? I was thinking one option was to tack this story (as a separate book) on to the beginning of book 2. Thoughts?
If it's thirteen and a half pages, I'm sure it can be tacked onto book two. Or instead of tacking on, how about merging?
I recently read The Pearl by John Steinbeck. It is only about 80 pages long and the story can be broken down to (no spoilers). They wake up. They find something. They try to get rid of it. They flee. They go back. It took me five lines to summarize this very simple story, and yet he managed to write 80 pages about it. I suspect you have made the error of writing the story, but not the book - I imagine there is a lot more to write than you have written.
Well I have managed to get it to about 15 pages and 7189 words so I dunno. The end just seems so final...
The only problem is that the stories have different MC's and take place in different time periods. (they do have overlapping characters) but they are not the main ones. So would that still be possible?
It sounds more to me like your "Book 1" is really Book 2's first chapter. Possibly a prologue, considering the different POV and time period (though that doesn't always mean "prologue"--see the first Harry Potter book).
I would say you don't have to add anything onto the end, but I would be willing to bet there may be some details or subplots in the middle that could be re-evaluated and enhanced. What I would recommend would be to find some good critique partners and have them read through it and tell you what they feel is missing. At least I know when I write I often have a million thoughts in my head that I thought I put on paper, only to realize when someone comes in with fresh eyes that I didn't really include any of that (or enough of it) in the actual story. For example, I felt like my first novel manuscript initially ended up a bit short, but after I had my critique partners take a look and point out all of the thin areas, missed opportunities for character development, etc. I ended up adding nearly another 15,000 words. Fresh eyes can never hurt
Just make it a 'separated' series in one big book, like the Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov did. Can easily squeeze a few books into one big one if you want to. Just an idea.
I have a slight dilemma. I am a mature student about to start studying Mathematics at University but I also enjoy writing fiction. I have written a few childrens stories, a novella and have completed the first draft of a ~60,000 word novel. The first draft took six weeks of solid writing and it was an insanely intense, crazy period of my life but I tend not to do things by half... I read a lot about how important it was to leave your first draft alone for a while so I have given it to a select few to read and provide me with feedback (I worked in a way that I wrote everything on paper one day and then typed it up the next, making edits as I went, while all of the background information had been put in place so I had a really solid structure to adhere to). I find myself now at a crossroads. I wanted to leave the first book 'Blackout' until I finished my first year at university and then I could spend the best part of four months finishing it but that would mean eight months of no writing. In the meantime I have had a few ideas for new stories which I have written down in the Notes section of my phone (hate the thought of forgetting an idea) and one of them is nudging me asking to be written. Do I wait for the feedback for Blackout and finish that first or shall I leave it alone for a while so that I can come back to it with a fresh mind (I finished writing it a month ago) next May and in the meantime go through my process of creating the structure and first draft of the next story? Thanks for reading. Sam
The responses you get here will quite likely be split. In the end, you have to go with what you most want to do. There is no right or wrong answer. Good luck.
I can't see any advantages to waiting, unless you feel you need a break--and it doesn't sound like you do. In fact, starting a new project is a great way of gaining distance from an old one.
The only hesitation I have is your all-or-nothing approach... If you can work away on writing when you have time this year, I can't see a reason to not do it. But if you're going to become obsessed with the writing and do nothing but write for six weeks straight, neglecting your classes, etc.... then you should probably hold off. If you can manage the moderation, why not?
I have this pattern of starting stories and then not finishing them. So far I have four -- two fantasy stories, a science fiction story, and a legal thriller. My pattern is I start in the evening and then write straight on through the night. Last time I started at 6:00 p.m. and wrote until noon the next day -- a straight 18 hours of writing without a break. And then, I'll go weeks on end without writing at all. Now, I have a book that I purchased at some other writers' recommendation called "Save the Cat Writes a Novel' which explains plot structure so now I know what I'm doing. I'm writing Act I -- the Set up, for each of my books, and then stalling out after that, unable to continue. Does anyone else have a similar problem?
Treat it like work if you want to finish it. It's not always going to be enjoyable to write that story, and you're not going to be able to write through the night in frenzied passion daily. Maybe that blitzkrieg style suits you, so you just need to prioritize where you spend those 18 hours. Maybe you need to accept that 2 of those hours are going to be a painful experience of looking at a blank page and that blinking cursor trying to figure out where the story is going to go. Also, I got a lot more writing done when I stopped pretending that I could write perfection. My writing is going to be shit most of the time, but sometimes when I write through that shit I find great moments and characters that will from that point onward, be in my toolbox. That said, I tend to cheat a little....any time I don't want to work on a story any more, I write up an abrupt end. I finished it...it's just not that good ;D
I'm going to ask an obvious question: if you don't have a story to tell, why are you writing? Different writers use different techniques. Many outline their stories, they know where it's going and how it's going to get there. Some of us don't work that way. Personally I liken my method to a child playing with his or her toys. I'll start with one and over time take more and more toys out of the box. At some point in time I'll look up and realise there are toys everywhere and my room is s mess. This usually happens around 5:00pm. (page 250). My mum will be home in 45 minutes and if I can't get all these toys squared up, put away neatly before she gets here - my ass will suffer. Save the Cat, anything to do with Blake Snyder - I'm totally against. It's a formula based on cheap, made for TV movies. I can tell what happens, when it happens without reading the book.
I know a guy who has thirteen first drafts that have never been edited, or developed... you have to wonder what the point was. really the only answer is to force yourself to finish - we all have days when we don't feel it, or when we think our work isn't very good... you just have to break on through to the otherside
