For Real, I’m Writing a Novel
Yes. For real this time.
While my last novel idea was exciting, it was half-formed and unoriginal. Less than half-formed. Like, a-quarter-formed. It’s never going to go anywhere until I develop the premise a lot further. That’s still in the back of my mind, of course, but something I’m saving for when I’m a more mature writer. More experienced.
This time, I’ve spent months researching, reading and rereading some of the best science fiction novels I could find, and giving my creative brain a chance to play around before getting into the nitty-gritty of the thing.
Now, I’ve got a first draft in progress, and a title. Let me know what you think:
Whispering Light, that’s what I’m calling it. For now.
Postcyberpunk with a dash of near-Earth space opera. And nanopunk. Hopefully a touch of mystery, adventure, and wonder, too. Guess we’ll see.
I’ve got about three or four chapters done, but I’m only at about 4% completion as of right now. Gotta get in at least 500 more words tonight. Should be a hell of a first draft if I can keep this slow but steady, regular pace going.
I’m finding that by writing a little bit every day, rather than being lazy during workdays and writing like mad one or two days a week — like I used to have to do — I’m getting a lot more done on a week-by-week basis. And I feel a lot better about the project as a result. I’m excited about my characters, and where I hope to take them. I’m writing the sort of thing I’d like to read. Something like The Apocalypse Ocean by Tobias S. Buckell or 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke.
Oh. And I sold another short story recently. Pretty exciting news, but I can’t share the details quite yet. Check back soon.
Awesome!
What’s neat about 500 words is that they pile up, and it’s enough to keep your head in the novel when other things are screaming at you, you know, like life-outside-of-writing.
Have a fun ride!
Nice! I agree with Dawn. 500 words a day is better than 2,000 words every fourth day, by far. Also, if you write more slowly, it gives you time to reach revelations in between. Whenever I’ve written really fast, the result is usually (though not always) dreck. So enjoy it!
Or write fast. I mean, hey. This isn’t a science.
My goal is essentially to write everyday, and just be aware of my word count, as opposed to obsessing about a particular daily target. I want to write an 80- or 90,000-word novel by mid-January or so. Easy.
My first drafts tend to be slow coming, but fairly solid . . . since my revision tends to only hurt the flow and/or structure of a story, more often than not, I avoid it whenever possible. In this case I’m just not sweating the small stuff but keeping my usual pace and mindset — and it’s working pretty well so far.
Definitely a different beast than the short story, but I think I’ve got a decent cast of characters — probably four or five of which (maximum) will get their own viewpoints from chapter to chapter — with some genuine beliefs, interpersonal conflicts, and desires. They key to this story’s believability will be balancing the worldbuilding with the attitudes and behavior of the characters . . .
Should be tough, but a blast to write.
Sounds like you have set a good goal to work toward, and at a good pace of 500 words a day (perhaps someday I will again find myself in a similar mindset). A novel is definitely a different beast than a short story – best of luck with your writing.
After stumbling across your blog today, I’m definitely interested in reading the science fiction short stories of a fellow Illinois writer. And I’m bookmarking your site so I Can read future blog posts.
Great to hear from you, Eric. Always nice when new folks come across the blog.
What part of Illinois are you from, if you don’t mind my asking?
I am from Crystal Lake, which is at the northern end of the state. But I graduated from WIU a few years ago, and so reading your bio immediately recognized Monmouth, as I drove through it countless times.
On a side note, I decided to link your blog to my site. I’m certain very few visit it (if any), but perhaps you’ll get more traffic from there in the future.
Hey, another Illinois writer checking in….
Best of luck on the novel, Alex. I like your approach. I also agree with Ben that 500 words a day is better than 2k every four days. 500 words a day goes a long way towards establishing the consistent writing habits required for *finishing* a novel.
All of us Illinois writers should throw a party sometime, lol.
Michael! Always a pleasure to hear from you.
I’m in Las Vegas at the moment, so I’m not exactly getting much writing done this week, but I got some early feedback on my first four chapters that I think will prove useful in picking up the pace and also tweaking my worldbuilding/characters a tad.
Instead of having four or five third-person viewpoint characters, as I originally planned, I’m probably going to change it to first-person present tense to increase narrative tension and up the pace a bit. To say nothing of focusing the plot, which is a must, and also keep my characterization straight, etc. But only if things grind to a halt–for now, I’ll keep the original plan and stick it out for a bit longer.
Good luck with the book, it’s quite a bit of a work. I’m working on a novel too, up to 30,000 words. I’d like to finish the first draft by the end of the year. I’m familiar with postcyberbunk, but non nano-punk.
I agree that it’s best to do a little writing every day. It’s a bad idea to leave it sitting for too long. I find that thinking about the plot when I go for a walk or exercise, and then writing afterwards works pretty well for me.