First novel

Posted: February 6th, 2010 under writing.
Tags: book, novel, write, writer, writing

I have become like ocean waves to a pebble; I write and rewrite and rewrite to try and make my story as smooth as possible.

This requires the patience of a wave.

Maybe three or four novels later I’ll be able to do this quick.

Maybe a first novel should have a clean, simple story structure. Perhaps writing a self-contained novel or a few more short stories would’ve saved me from writing so many worthless scenes and entire chapters that weren’t needed.

Sometimes I regret the difficulty of this project. There are too many layered events and abstract ideas for anyone as ill-experienced as me to tackle without stumbling. A lot.

I’m bleeding for this book. They say all writers do. Which makes me wonder how there are so many books.

Just like my son, day by day, my book’s growing and developing. I guess that’s all that matters.

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7 Comments »

It’s all a learning experience. Keep going!

[Reply]

Comment by Merrilee Faber — February 6, 2010 @ 11:09 pm
okay!
Thanks :)

[Reply]

Comment by Nick Enlowe — February 7, 2010 @ 8:24 am
It’s a big thing to tackle a complex project when you’re still learning, so kudos to you for sticking with it and continuing to work on it rather than putting it to the side.
I definitely found that my first novel was a LOT simpler than any of the ones that came after, but at the time, that’s all that came to mind. Just shows you are a big thinker – keep at it :-)

[Reply]

Comment by Cassie — February 7, 2010 @ 11:21 pm
You’re scaring me ;)

I’ve taken a good couple of weeks off from my manuscript and am going to start going over the editing process soon, but I concede it’s a somewhat daunting/apprehension-inducing notion to go over an entire book and pick it apart, before gluing it all back together again.

You can do it!

[Reply]

Comment by Ryan G. Sanders — February 9, 2010 @ 5:58 pm
@RG: Well … I’m overdramatic sometimes ;P
You can do it too.

@Cassie: Nice to meecha. Love your site, Grats again on the recent publication!

Anyway, the going is still slow, but thanks for the motivation. I really appreciate it.

[Reply]

Comment by Nick Enlowe — February 11, 2010 @ 6:51 pm
No first novel in the history of the universe has ever been clean and simple. There are always all the things you’ve been coming up with for years fighting for a place.

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Comment by stu — February 13, 2010 @ 5:32 am
So true. I’ve had to abandon many of them and say, “Sorry, maybe next novel.”
BTW I really like your ‘Looking at the Workings’ series of posts.

[Reply]

Comment by Nick Enlowe — February 13, 2010 @ 7:57 am