The first one may likely take the longest because you've never done it before so it's all new to you. Consider doing a piece of middle grade fiction, which can run in the 10-20,000 word ballpark. If you're eager to get something finished, bang out a 15,000 word piece targeted toward kids in the 7-10 year old age range. You say you're interested in paranormal stuff? Perfect. Plenty of middle grade books about ghosts and witches, etc. Kids love reading about that stuff. Maybe a story about a kid who's visiting his grandmother and she lives in this very old and large and spooky home and the kid is forced to sleep in a loft upstairs for the weekend and he's convinced there's a ghost up there and he ...... (that was just off the top of my head). Something like that would satisfy both of your desires because it's paranormal and it would be short so you could finish it quickly. Good luck.
I don't completely agree with this advice. I believe you should only write MG if that's what you want to write. Don't write MG because it has a shorter word count. If you want to write something with a shorter word count, write a short story or even a novella. You have to write what you're passionate about. Jeff Kinney, who wrote the Wimpy Kid books loves those characters. He's all about those stories. He didn't write them because they had shorter word counts. He wrote them because that was the character in his heart and that's what he wanted to write. I don't think I could write a MG novel. It's just not my thing. But as the mother of a MG-aged child, I'm thrilled that there are people out there for whom that is their passion.
I hear ya. I was just thinking that if the OP is so eager to get something finished than a shorter word count is the obvious solution. And since they've never written a book before than they may not have really found their voice yet so maybe there's a MG writer in them and they just haven't discovered it yet. But you're right --- if you're worried about how long it will take than you're probably not writing for the right reasons. Write because your passionate about it and you enjoy doing it and not because you "just want to get something done." Have the patience and take the time to do it well, not just do it quickly.
First, as to jumping around: as others have said, it's fine to do if that's what you are comfortable with. As with most approaches to writing, there are few hard-and-fast rules. But there is an aspect to jumping ahead that you need to keep in mind: if you jump ahead to write a piece of your story, then go back and try to "write up" to it, when you get to the part you had previously written, you will likely find subtle changes in your characters and the part you wrote initially may require numerous changes. That's because your characters tend to grow and develop as you write about them. But I still do it on occasion if I feel I've become bogged down and need to break out of a funk. As for the time to write a novel, much will depend on your own approach to writing but it will also depend on your personal circumstances. Life tends to intrude, and I have found over the years that the most important thing is not necessarily to write at all costs, but to be flexible so that you have the emotional stability to deal with whatever comes your way while at the same time not losing your passion or commitment to writing. At times, I will go a couple of weeks or a month without writing a word, and I decided a long time ago that I'm okay with that because I never lose sight of what I ultimately want to do. There are those who insist on writing a certain number of words per day, no matter what. Joseph Wambaugh ("The Onion Field") does that, and apparently Stephen King does, too. If it works for them, good for them. I can't work that way. The worst thing you can do, IMHO, is adopt a writing approach simply because someone else does it. Good luck.
Thank you everyone for the replies. I could use any advice I could get. I am really wanting to focus my story on young adult fiction (my main character is 18). Right now my plot is about a fallen America. Not really apocalyptic, but close. I am not interested in finishing this book within the next few months, probably not even within the next year. I am going to college for Creative Writing (among other things) in 2014 so I have a feeling I am going to want to tweak the book a little after I have a few classes under my belt. I really don't have much time for writing at the moment with finals coming up. I think the word count at the moment is around 1500, but that's only from the last few days. I started writing and then completely changed my plot and started over. As I move along in the writing process I'm sure I will have many more questions to ask you all so bare with me. Thanks again!
If this is the wrong forum please move it to the appropriate one. I'm working on my first novel and I feel that it's moving too quickly. I also haven't done a lot of setting descriptions and am working on going through and re-writing the first section I finished. There is quite a bit of dialogue but I'm sure those need to be more developed as well. I think what I'm asking is what do you do when you feel your story is too thin?
Well, I think you already know the two things you seemed to have mentioned: properly describe the setting and locations (if you've been avoiding it), and polish dialog. I usually don't feel like doing these kinds of things until "after the first draft". If you're saving those for later and you still feel your story is thin... As Johann mentioned, maybe you could work in more obstacles/inconveniences to overcome? Maybe add a new character that deepens the conflict and adds obstacles? Or you could add an extension to the plot that doesn't come up until right when it seems like the plot is over?
Yeah I've been avoiding more descriptions of places and one of my main character only has at most two things they've got to deal with. I might just go ahead and finish the first draft and let it sit for a week or so then go back to it and add more when I can think about it. I think my main taboo about this particular story is that I haven't outlined it right or made notes when I think of something. Aside from dialogue and grammar that's one of the things I'm really going to have to work at. Thanks.
If you add description, don't overdo it in action scenes. Description slows pace. Add description primarily in resting scenes where slowing the pace is beneficial to the story. Mostly you should be adding content, not just adding words.
My first drafts are often very small. I'm worried about getting the story out, so often conversations are as minimal as possible or just summarized, places aren't described at all, and in the case of my current work, I've changed names and point of view a few times. I leave that all for later because I know that I'm going to write it more than once. In my next draft, chapters will probably be in a different order and most won't exist at all. Some new characters will be introduced and I'm beginning to think (10,000 words in) that my main character probably won't be my main character anymore and might not even make the cut. So, I would say just keep chugging along for now and worry about editing later. However, some people can't stand to work like that and what I just described seems horrific.
Eh we all have different methods. Since I write short stories, what I do is outline the plot of the story first inside my marble notebook. Then, I write it out inside the notebook if a computer isn't nearby. Afterwards, I type what i wrote and I add more to it. In this stage of the first draft, my dialogue and actions are complete for the most part. I can establish setting well by making I use "strong" nouns(for example diner, tables, counter, swing doors,) I want my reader to know and picture what I'm talking about. Hell sometimes, when i finish the first draft i might remove a flashback, certain parts of dialogue, or change certain words. We all have a method to our madness
What you can do to slow the pace is add more descriptions of the setting, have something happen that impedes the character's path in a non cliche way, or make it something natural that happens (i.e. the character can't live town because of a bad storm so he/she has to stay the night and something happens or maybe nothing happens and the character just enjoys their time.)
I do hate leaving it like that and want it to be as complete as possible. But I also know that I need to get to a finishing point so I can go back and fill in the details. Add things here and whatnot. This is the first time I've tried to write novel length story and trying to complete it. A lot of the banter is just between the two main characters and I might need to introduce a third one somewhere. Right now I'm just letting the story play out and see where it leads. This is a lot of information for me to absorb. Thanks
I keep having trouble staying on on one story. I keep coming up with different ideas and jumping from one project to another. How can I stay on track with a story? Does anyone else have this problem?
Collecting ideas is the most success I've had in my writing journey. I'm never at a loss for plots or characters or anything else. Unfortunately, I've never actually finished anything aside from short stories. Like you, I can't keep myself focused on one and am constantly making another new document on my computer, which will eventually be lumped into the group of other unfinished manuscripts. I'd love to see what advice people have as well.
I think the only solution to this is discipline. Write down your other ideas, but don't work on them until you're finished with your current project.
I have this issue, and it usually happens when I come to a "lull" in my stories. When the plot slows its pace, it is hard for me to keep interest, so I always try to work on something during that time that will add intrigue for me to the storyline. Storylines must speed up and slow down. So when it slows down, I force myself to write the parts that seem boring to me, and then I go back and try to "spice them up." If I am bored with them, so will the reader.
Agreed. If you have any dreams/hopes of being published, finishing is the only way you'll achieve it.
With respect, TheDarkWriter, what you're describing might be avoidance of the harder work of writing a story. I use my iphone voice memo feature to record other ideas that pop in my head while writing a story. This usually happens as my feet are pressing the floor and my rear is rising off the chair...a sign I'm about to bolt. I recognize that ideas flooding in and my desire to leave are signs I'm at a tough part of the piece. What it really needs is for me to knuckle down and find my way through whatever is stopping me. Usually for me it is a decision point in the plot. I have to choose where to go next storywise. I force myself to sit there and write short sentences of possible ways to move ahead. Most of the time one of the sentences appeals to me and spurs me to forge ahead with the story. I agree with the other writers here. Make a pact with yourself to complete what you start. Check out your other ideas later.
I've been guilty of multi-projecting to procrastinate and still am to a degree. Currently I'm trying to focus on just one project. The trick is to say that if you were forced to burn every draft you were currently working on except one, which would it be? Start with the ones you're bored of and work your way up. The odds are, there's one that really means more to you than any of the others. Get to work.
Oh, very familiar indeed! The things that pop into my head fall into two categories: little, random snippets and actual advancements for other projects, usually in the form of a scene. I write both down, otherwise I might forget a perfectly good idea. The first are easy: one big document with all those random little things. I look at them from time to time to see if I could fit something in my story. The second are evil. They are begging for you to write them down. Completely. Easily stealing an hour of your time. Evil. I deal with those evil ones by having multiple projects in the software I use to write. It gives you the opportunity to add a description/summary to a scene. There I write the idea down in as little words as possible to be able to remember the whole idea in the future. I also confess to working on more than one project. I have one main story, that eats up the brunt of my allotted writing time. Then there is the related, possible sequel. I don't really write that, but I work on the story and - most importantly - the setting. I need to, otherwise the setting in my main story isn't finished either. I also have a few completely unrelated projects that I like to open when I've hit a wall in my main one. I find it helps to shift my focus every now and then to keep myself interested in the arduous process that is putting words to paper. Also, when I hit that proverbial wall, I may need a few days to figure out how to tear it down. Not writing would be one option, but I like the other one better: write something else. This process takes discipline. I used to write whatever struck my fancy on that day, but that was not very successful. Considering I was still growing up at the time, I think it was very understandable. Now, 'all grown up', I know I need to do the hard part too, if I actually want to finish the whole story. And since I want that very much, I tell myself to practice discipline. I still slip, but I'm only human, right?
I actually see nothing wrong with working on multiple projects simultaneously, but I see where this could become a problem. I don't have that many different ideas (at least not formed enough to begin writing), so the most I'll do is write in a large Scrivener document where I can bounce around from story to story if I'm blocked on one. Sometimes this helps me to figure out what's holding me up on another of the stories. Of course, this isn't always the best method for everyone. Basic discipline perhaps. Or maybe you don't love your story as much as you want to--brainstorm and see if there isn't a better plot or a more intriguing twist or character that you can implement to help you love your story even more. But then I'm the person who's had a story in the works for 7 years, so I'm not necessarily the best to listen to when it comes to focus.
I have no way I stay on track. If my story truly interests me to the point where I can't stop thinking about it, I stick with it.
Hi everyone, I just finished writing the first draft of my first book, a mistery/sci-fi/romance short novel around 36,000 words. There's a thing that's been bugging me and I'd like some guidance as I'm really new to *serious* writing. The whole story takes place in a very linear way, in a span of about a month and a half. There is no prologue, it starts with the main character having a dream in present time, that leads him into a misterious journey. The thing is, right after what would be the end of the story, I have to insert a flashback that gives explanation to a couple of loose ends, because if I don't do that, the reader might not actually figure out what has actually happened, and why. I keep the reader in the shades the whole time, trying to figure out why some stuff is happening, and I only tell them right at the last minute, by using a flashback that goes back to one year before the start of the first chapter. This is the approach that I like the most and I think it works well. The point is, the book is seven chapters long, which all take place in a sequential order in the present time, plus this flashback. In the begining I just called this flashback 'epilogue', but then I figured that an epilogue shouldn't be talking about things that happened in the past, and it could misled the reader into thinking those things are happening after the seventh chapter. But I wouldn't say that this flashback is the eighth chapter. So I'm having a hard time thinking of a way to insert this flashback bit after the seventh chapter, right at the end of the book. How do I call this? Is it a new chapter? I need to make sure that people understand that the time frame has shifted to the past. I've seen this done in movies and I like how it works, but I don't have any available book references that use this technique. Can I get some insight?
