How I Write {It Doesn't Have to be a Masterpiece}
Here is the third installment on the How I Write series. Enjoy. {Psst...if you want here are 1 - 2 if you want to catch up.}
It Doesn't Have to be a Masterpiece.
When you begin your first draft, just write. Sounds simple enough, right? As if!
There are plenty of times I sit in front of the screen for minutes, maybe hours trying to find the best way to start a new novel. Don't get me wrong, I love starting a new WIP, but that doesn't mean you won't have some challenges along the way. It is difficult reminding myself each new project that it doesn't have to be a masterpiece. You don't have to write a bestseller. Sure that is what the publishers and agents want. Heck, that's what you want your book to be. But we're not all Harper Lee's with a diamond in the rough that will become the next great American {or enter your current homeland} novel. It just isn't realistic.
I'd like to say that worrying over that opening sentence goes away with time, but it doesn't. That first sentence is supposed to grab the reader, right? Well, then it has to be perfect, right? No, it doesn't. And it won't be.
Depending which narrative you are writing in {I personally prefer first person narrative the best, but do like the third person narrative for specific novels that first person just doesn't fit well with it} it depends on how I open the novel. Like I said in the previous post, prologues are a lot of fun and to be frank easier than a first chapter. I long for and dread the first chapter at the same time. I've ready countless books where I just want to roll my eyes at the ridiculousness that I am reading. If I feel that way, I have to watch myself ten times more to try and not only capture the readers, but those agents who you need to hook fast or else you get those lovely form rejections where its an: it's not you, it's me, kind of line.
Don't want to worry about a first chapter, don't. Act like it isn't one by adding that prologue. You can pick any kind of setting. Using a present setting, then having a flashback. Have it set months or years before then picking up at the present by the end of the prologue. Or even, one of my favorites, start with someone telling you the story and then slowly fade into the novel and by the epilogue have the narrator wrap up the story nicely making sure to tie the bows.
Sounds easy enough, I only wish that were the truth.
I do my best to not think about all the things I want to add in later drafts/revisions and just keep writing. Whether you prefer to write a chapter a day or maybe your more concerned with how many words you will write in a day, it doesn't matter, just write the first draft and worry about all the other stuff later. That is what revisions are for. And believe me, expect 15 to 20 revisions at the least. The only thing you need to think about is getting down the story and worry later.
Believe it or not, but writing out the first draft is the easiest part of the writing process. Anyone can whip up a novel in a couple of months. Will it be any good, probably not. And most definitely not agent/editor ready. Wanna know how long it takes me to write a first draft...around three to four months depending how long I want it. How long does it take a total to finish at least a year, maybe a year and a half. Then it takes at least a year to go through the publication process, that is if you have already landed an agent.
When Does This End?
Can you picture yourself lying on your back in the middle of the bed, staring at the ceiling with a blank expression? Then you pretty much have my reaction after a year of revising and revising, oh yes, and revising some more. I edit the crap out of my manuscript that I wonder if it even resembles what the first draft looked like. Though it is probably for the best. My first drafts are awful. I don't even show them to the public, except for my sister.
I can't say how many times I've been there that the countless revisions have left you drained and rather annoyed with your own manuscript. Characters you once adored, you now feel like no one will love them like you do.
When does it end? When it is in print and on the shelves, then your hoping that the editors caught all the little grammatical and or punctuation errors in the process of formatting and printing said novel. I can't tell you how many books and novels I've read where there are countless, and I mean COUNTLESS, errors of historical, grammatical, punctuation, etc... and they didn't notice it?? Really?? I'm seriously in the wrong line of work.
Writing in the period, or at least only using period correct words for my novel, not just in the dialog, but in description as well the character's thoughts is very important to me. Dictionary.com is very helpful with this and I even have an app on my phone for those words I'm not so sure about and need to look them up asap.
The End.
I've revised all I can and I have nothing left to do than write those epic last words...the end. It really is a bittersweet feeling. As much as I was tiring of working on those beloved characters, I will have to say good-bye. {At least till the editor rips it apart.} I can no more and just let it go. To me that is second to the hardest part of writing.
Stay tuned for next week's post: When to Walk Away and how agents play a huge factor as to whether you book matters.
When you begin your first draft, just write. Sounds simple enough, right? As if!
There are plenty of times I sit in front of the screen for minutes, maybe hours trying to find the best way to start a new novel. Don't get me wrong, I love starting a new WIP, but that doesn't mean you won't have some challenges along the way. It is difficult reminding myself each new project that it doesn't have to be a masterpiece. You don't have to write a bestseller. Sure that is what the publishers and agents want. Heck, that's what you want your book to be. But we're not all Harper Lee's with a diamond in the rough that will become the next great American {or enter your current homeland} novel. It just isn't realistic.
I'd like to say that worrying over that opening sentence goes away with time, but it doesn't. That first sentence is supposed to grab the reader, right? Well, then it has to be perfect, right? No, it doesn't. And it won't be.
Depending which narrative you are writing in {I personally prefer first person narrative the best, but do like the third person narrative for specific novels that first person just doesn't fit well with it} it depends on how I open the novel. Like I said in the previous post, prologues are a lot of fun and to be frank easier than a first chapter. I long for and dread the first chapter at the same time. I've ready countless books where I just want to roll my eyes at the ridiculousness that I am reading. If I feel that way, I have to watch myself ten times more to try and not only capture the readers, but those agents who you need to hook fast or else you get those lovely form rejections where its an: it's not you, it's me, kind of line.
Don't want to worry about a first chapter, don't. Act like it isn't one by adding that prologue. You can pick any kind of setting. Using a present setting, then having a flashback. Have it set months or years before then picking up at the present by the end of the prologue. Or even, one of my favorites, start with someone telling you the story and then slowly fade into the novel and by the epilogue have the narrator wrap up the story nicely making sure to tie the bows.
Sounds easy enough, I only wish that were the truth.
I do my best to not think about all the things I want to add in later drafts/revisions and just keep writing. Whether you prefer to write a chapter a day or maybe your more concerned with how many words you will write in a day, it doesn't matter, just write the first draft and worry about all the other stuff later. That is what revisions are for. And believe me, expect 15 to 20 revisions at the least. The only thing you need to think about is getting down the story and worry later.
Believe it or not, but writing out the first draft is the easiest part of the writing process. Anyone can whip up a novel in a couple of months. Will it be any good, probably not. And most definitely not agent/editor ready. Wanna know how long it takes me to write a first draft...around three to four months depending how long I want it. How long does it take a total to finish at least a year, maybe a year and a half. Then it takes at least a year to go through the publication process, that is if you have already landed an agent.
When Does This End?
Can you picture yourself lying on your back in the middle of the bed, staring at the ceiling with a blank expression? Then you pretty much have my reaction after a year of revising and revising, oh yes, and revising some more. I edit the crap out of my manuscript that I wonder if it even resembles what the first draft looked like. Though it is probably for the best. My first drafts are awful. I don't even show them to the public, except for my sister.
I can't say how many times I've been there that the countless revisions have left you drained and rather annoyed with your own manuscript. Characters you once adored, you now feel like no one will love them like you do.
When does it end? When it is in print and on the shelves, then your hoping that the editors caught all the little grammatical and or punctuation errors in the process of formatting and printing said novel. I can't tell you how many books and novels I've read where there are countless, and I mean COUNTLESS, errors of historical, grammatical, punctuation, etc... and they didn't notice it?? Really?? I'm seriously in the wrong line of work.
Writing in the period, or at least only using period correct words for my novel, not just in the dialog, but in description as well the character's thoughts is very important to me. Dictionary.com is very helpful with this and I even have an app on my phone for those words I'm not so sure about and need to look them up asap.
The End.
I've revised all I can and I have nothing left to do than write those epic last words...the end. It really is a bittersweet feeling. As much as I was tiring of working on those beloved characters, I will have to say good-bye. {At least till the editor rips it apart.} I can no more and just let it go. To me that is second to the hardest part of writing.
Stay tuned for next week's post: When to Walk Away and how agents play a huge factor as to whether you book matters.
More posts from
