We're halfway through NaNoWriMo now - the challenge to write 50,000 words of a novel during November. As of today, the 16th, I have 41,000 logged, so I've broken the back of it now. I had an advantage in that my story was already blocked out in detail, being the final volume of my Troy trilogy. I knew who was going where and what would happen when they arrived, so that part was easy.
Still, I've re-learned something I was taught in NaNo 2013 - it's easier to write when you have a really detailed plan.
Sounds obvious, doesn't it? The trouble is that while I prefer to write off the cuff, making the story up as I go (or discovering it), I think I write better with a plan. With the background taken care of I can immerse myself deeper into the story and write it faster, with few of the hics and bumps that normally come along. The result is a more complete piece. I wrote Risen King the same way, years ago, but somewhere along the road I've slipped away from it.
OK, then. Evidently I'm a bit of a dope, but that's all right. It's never too late to teach an old dog to suck eggs, or whatever it is they say. And if realising this makes me a better writer, well that's OK too.
It's a good thing I'm going fast, because I've been writing Troy for so long that it's become a bit tedious. I need a new challenge once this is done, and luckily I have just the thing - a whole range of unfinished or yet-to-be-started novels sitting in my filing cabinet. Some are halfway written, others just bones with a few notes hanging off them like scraps of flesh. Stories waiting to be told.
Isn't that exciting?
Seems we have different approaches Ben. I can't write to a detailed plan. When I start a novel I know how it begins, I have an idea how it will end and I usually know who did it (whatever it was that was did!) but how they characters get from A to Z is up to them and usually they take me in entirely unexpected directions. Still, if your method works for you then more power to you, go for it and best of luck with the competition.
ReplyDeleteI've usually done it your way too, Derek. Writing Troy has changed things though, because I've found I work faster (and tighter, I think) while still leaving space for the characters to do surprising things. When I started I though Diomedes would be a major character, but he never really did anything interesting and faded away - while a nothing soldier called Isander has become central. I get the best of both worlds.
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