Becoming the writer I want to be

Thanks, man! I am trying my hardest to be consistent every day this week and it has been a fairly good job so far.

 

Last Week: 1537 words

Monday: 530 words
Tuesday: 634 words
Wednesday: 533 words
Today: 559 words

A bit of a struggle to write this morning as I kept deleting what I wrote, but I eventually found a groove that I was able to work with it and it makes me very happy. I aim to try and complete the chapter tomorrow, but it may be possible that it could be early next week because Saturday is my scheduled revision day and since I want to wait and start revising after I complete the chapter, I may revise some haikus instead.

 

Last Week: 1537 words

Monday: 530 words
Tuesday: 634 words
Wednesday: 533 words
Thursday: 559 words
Today: 615 words

Wrote a bit more than what I was expecting, but that is good. I have maintained good consistency this week by meeting my daily word quota or surpassing it. I have decided to complete the chapter tomorrow and then spend the weekend taking a break from writing. I may wait until next weekend to edit it or spend next week polishing it up for just basic grammar touches and spelling mistakes.

I have a question for you guys: Do you go back and edit and fix things like characterization and plot points when you complete the chapter or complete the entire novel?

 

For me it depends on what it is that actually needs to be fixed. If its something that I feel like I can handwave away to some extent, I'll go back in and add in some dialogue somewhere that does that. I know the idea is to have as few moments like that as possible but at the same time, sometimes you have to choose between adding in a paragraph that halfway rationalises something, and rewriting an entire section from the top down to explain away something that doesnt really matter in the grand scheme of the narrative.

To use an example from my own book, there is a section early on where two characters are covertly discussing things at a party being held by characters who seemingly have less than benevolent motivations. Later on in the book I had to go back and add in a bit of dialogue where one character confirms to the other that the party wasn't bugged, and they were not overheard. I'll openly admit, when writing I didn't think of bugging the party being a thing that would happen, and I really didn't want to go back and rewrite a massive chunk just to explain this for a few reasons, the main one being the scene where the characters are talking is already very exposition heavy, and having even more would be too much. Secondly, this whole thing actually isnt a plot hole at all, for a reason I wont spoil, but the reader wont know this until much, much later on.

To be honest, there are a lot of moments like that in the story, where something seems like its a contrivance or a plot error and its actually not, that being one of the minor ones. There are others that seem a lot more egregious but its done that way on purpose because its actually setting stuff up later.

 

This makes sense. I usually fix dialogue or rewrite something as I am going if I find that it does not make sense and I do not want that to distract me from what I am writing on hand. I have not had trouble with the moments until this morning, but I am going to just make minor edits myself and maybe have a friend take a good look at it and see if it all matches and flows together. I know what you mean and I have done both before. Whoops.

Thank you, though, for providing me with a good example to show how you deal with that. I see where you are coming from and I will have to make sure to look back at this in case any plot holes come up on my end.

 

Last Week: 1537 words

Monday: 530 words
Tuesday: 634 words
Wednesday: 533 words
Thursday: 559 words
Friday: 615 words
Today: 603 words

I thought that I was going to not end up meeting the word quota because it was the end of the chapter and I could tell that I was ready to end it because I wrote out all of the major plot points, but to my surprise, I had enough of an ending to not only meet the word quote but even surpass it! So the first chapter is completed and it is 5011 words, which is not bad. When you add up all of the words I wrote from Monday up until today, you get a total of:

This Week: 3474 words.

So I wrote around 1900 words more this week than last week, doubling the weekly quota and showcasing that my word quota per day can work in writing a chapter. Now, the next step would be to edit the chapter and work on that and that will be next week, but I also discovered that I also have the third chapter entirely planned out in my head too and I am seriously contemplating going on ahead and focusing on that next week so that after I get that complete, I can stop, plan out Chapters 2 & 4, write them out, edit, and then write the remaining 8 or so chapters in sequential order. I am not sure if you think I should go on ahead and tackle Chapter 3 while I remember everything about it and then edit both chapters or if I should edit Chapter 1, then write Chapter 3. Let me know what you all think.

 

I feel like at this point you should do what you think works best for your own workflow, but I would still advise on making some quick notes as soon as you can for the info in your head just to make sure you dont forget any of it. I often store a lot of info in my head and some of it I know I will never forget, other bits fall in and out of my brain, so I have to write stuff down to trigger me to remember the specifics if I dont have time to write in detail. I have pieces of paper scattered around my bedroom with random words written on them for that exact purpose.

 

Thank you so much for the advice! I will make sure to follow it. I think I am going to go with the former option because if I remember the chapter as strongly as I do, I want to write to down before it fades and those two chapters are really the only ones I have thought out completely so after that, I will have to jot down my notes for how I want the story to go and for the chapters in between to go so that then, I can focus on the next two parts flowing together nicely. I am usually the same way, but I know that if I do not write it down at some point, it will leave me. I already have written down a few lines for a chapter I want to do toward the end of the book so your advice has already be done, to an extent. I have pieces of paper like that all in my desk drawers, but they are for the Welsh mythology novel I want to write after I complete this project. I am using this project to get some sense of an idea of what writing a full-length novel is going to be like.

 

That last week seemed like it was much longer. Finally back to working on my own novel. I plan on reading through chapters slowly, line by line, to ensure they are as good as I think I can make them. After that I can send the book out to early readers. As such, I wont be marking my progress with word count anymore, instead I will mark it with chapters read through. I aim to get at least one chapter done a day, maybe 2, depending on the length of the chapter in question.

 

Three chapters done, 33/441 pages to a finished standard.

 

Chapter 1 (8/3/20 to 8/15/20): 5011 words

Today: 506 words

I was not sure how I was going to put together the tracker to keep up with my writing progress and so I decided that each time I complete a chapter, I will put it above to show when I started work on it and when it was finished so that I have a visual representation of how I am growing at a writer. I think that is a nice way to go and a fresh start to keeping up my word count in an easier way than the other idea I had. That being said, I wrote over 500 words this morning and it is only 7:35, a nice start to the day. It didn't even feel like I had written 500 words in no time so maybe that is a sign of progress. What do you all think?

 

I knew this would happen from the moment you joined the thread. Start off with 500 ish and gradually ramp up to the point that you can write much more without it feeling like its more. Definitely a sign of good progress being made.

Also, on another note, while I have the chance to ask; what is your profile picture from? I have been meaning to ask for a while and I keep forgetting to.

 

You did? o: Thanks man, that means a lot. I know it was about 20 minutes I spent writing, but those 20 minutes flew by. I did not even look at the clock and saved the document only three times so that I did not look at the word count. It may sound a bit crazy, but I intend to continue the 500-ish trend for the first four chapters and see how that is like. Then I may try to double the word count to around 1000 words and go from there. It is working so far and it starts my day off so well that I have become more productive and focused on my writing in a lot of different ways. I appreciate it. Having you guys to talk to also helps with the progress. Also, as a side note, how's The Two Towers so far?

Oh, well thank you for asking. It is an abstract picture of Clarissa Dalloway that I found online and liked so much that I decided to use it, though someone thought it was a nose. I know you may ask who Clarissa Dalloway is and so I will go on ahead and tell you. She is the main character in Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel, Mrs. Dalloway. This novel has a special place in my heart as it is the book that helped me decide to become a writer and it even helped me get through a nervous breakdown as it was the only book I read from around March 2016 to about July 2016. I had no interest in reading because I was so unhappy, but I remember that this book was on my shelf and I was just drawn to it for some unknown reason. It transformed my life as I fell in love with the stream of consciousness method of writing and plus, I felt a deep connection with the themes of mental illness found throughout the novel. I developed a deep fond of Woolf and not only is she my favorite writer, but she is also my muse and source of inspiration for my own writing as well. I hope this helps to answer your question.

 

Its like I said before, writing quickly and well can be learned, all one needs to do is actually do it, and with enough time and effort, it falls into place. I knew that when you started writing you would end up getting into a rhythm because in my eyes it was inevitable. The actual writing is the easier part of it for me, its actually getting started that is much harder.

As for the Two Towers, I am very nearly done with the first half of it, and am liking it a lot. I ordered the extended editions of the movies to watch when I am done with the book, which I am looking forward to. It has been many years since I watched the theatrical cuts and I have never watched the extended versions.

It very much does, thank you.

 

It does and your advice has worked so well for me. Now I get up every morning and as soon as I go upstairs (my bedroom is in the basement), I get my coffee, sit down, open the document, and write. I do not do anything else until I have fulfilled the word quota for the day and it allows me to start the day off right. It has motivated me to be more active and productive in a lot of ways that I was not before so I can not thank you enough for that. Getting started is a bit tricky, but once when the first few sentences occur, my mind can let go and I write from there. I do not format the chapter as I write, rather, I just type as I go because I can always go back and format later on. I find this easier to do instead of formatting as I go and it allows me to write more quickly and with relative ease since the idea is still fresh in my mind. I have done more in the past three weeks since joining this thread than in the past six months so something is working very well!

I am glad to hear that! I adore the books and I hope you read Tolkien's extra material once when you have finished it all. I have never seen the movies. Whoopsies. I would like to see them someday, but it a matter of just sitting down and being able to actually take the time to watch them.

 

Its nice to hear I have been of help to someone. Its a shame to say but a lot of people have commented on this thread and then quickly faded away, which is a shame. Castielle even deleted her account! (although not because of this thread or anything, just a shame)

I am definitely going to buy the Silmarillion at some point once I finish LOTR, probably closer to the end of the year. One I finish Return of the King I have like 10 other books sitting on my shelf I want to get done first.

 

You have! You have been a tremendous help to me and I will never forget that. It is a shame that so many others have done so but I am not going to be one of those people. As long as I am fighting this battle and having something to write, I will always comment on this thread.

Oh really? Like what? o:

 

I currently have to read: Lunar Park, Old Mans War, The Devil all the Time, Requiem for a Dream, Silence, Augustus, A Wild Sheep Chase, Songs of a Dead Dreamer, The Body Snatchers and Cities of the Plain. I want to read them all before I consider getting more.

 

6/30 chapters finalised, 69/441 pages.

 

Chapter 1 (8/3/20 to 8/15/20): 5011 words

Monday: 506 words
Today: 510 words

I almost wrote the same amount of words today as I did yesterday so that is a funny coincidence. I am not sure if that will ever happen again, but I am excited about the writing I am doing tomorrow as it is going to be all dialogue. The new chapter is up to 1016 words already, so it is nice getting to see my progress in person and being able to remind myself that two weeks ago, I only wrote 1500 words, but now, I have almost surpassed that entire week's word count in the span of two-three days. I can only keep on growing to the point that I can write 1000-1500 words per day and it will not phase me any.

Oh, nice! Those all sound like good titles.