As an update on how my book is going, I have now written just shy of 56,000 words. \u00a0If we take a book to be between 80k-90k words, I’m 70% of the way through at the lower end. \u00a0Of course, this is just the raw word count of the first draft and – as others have advised me – months of rewriting and editing will follow and then publishing, marketing, etc.<\/p>\n
Still, it’s progress. \u00a0I have structured the story using “scenes” or “conversations” which I want to take place, and outlined these in advance – although more get added as I think of them, or I want to split scenes up into smaller parts. \u00a0Probably 60-70% of the book consists of key scenes or conversations which I consider vital to the story, and these are the ones I have written first. \u00a0My plan is to finish these and then see how many words I have remaining to join them together and flesh out the characters in advance of anything interesting happening between them: one of the things I consider vital in any story is that the reader gets to know the characters well enough to take an interest, otherwise they won’t care what happens to them. \u00a0I’m not far off completing these “essential” scenes now, maybe three or four left to go. \u00a0Some of them are in rough draft, some I have gone back over and tidied up, a few I have fine-tuned.<\/p>\n
I’ve found my method of writing goes something like this. \u00a0I write the scene or conversation as fast as I can, getting down the pertinent points and not caring if words are repeated, using “I said” and “she said” a lot, not writing whether something was said loudly, simply, etc. and not describing any facial expressions, etc. \u00a0It is just the raw outline of what is happening or being said. \u00a0This part takes the most effort, because now I am up to 56k words I forget what points I have made elsewhere and what ground is still left to cover. \u00a0I find myself re-reading other sections to remind myself what I have already written. \u00a0Once this is done I go over it again, improving it as much as I can: removing repeated words, adding in descriptions, expanding sections, removing lines, trying to get it as readable as possible. \u00a0The third step is to fine-tune it, twiddling with bits here and there to get it to read better. \u00a0Once this is done I put it aside and consider it finished, for now.<\/p>\n
The plan is to get every scene to this stage and join it all together, then re-read the whole thing several times, fine-tuning as much as I can. \u00a0I will also need to cut or expand sections to ensure the book balances: it’s no good to have half a book of character development and then what happens with them is packed into a few pages, and the same is true for the reverse. \u00a0Pacing is also important, and adjustments will need to be made: I am aware I need to include scenes which drop the pace and let the reader catch their breath for a while, before putting them through another intense passage of dialogue. \u00a0Then I need to stick the whole lot\u00a0in front of an editor who will probably tell me to chuck it all in the bin and start again, this time refraining from basing the central character on Ron Jeremy.<\/p>\n
As I said in my previous post, I am doing this as much for the learning experience as anything else. \u00a0I don’t know how many other writers would use the methodology I describe above, but the three things I have learned so far are:<\/p>\n
1. Scrivener is an excellent tool for writing in the way that I am.<\/p>\n
2. My original idea that a novel could be written in chronological order now appears to be insane.<\/p>\n
3. The idea that passages can be well-written on the first attempt is equally insane.<\/p>\n
So far I still have the motivation to continue, I hope it stays that way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As an update on how my book is going, I have now written just shy of 56,000 words. \u00a0If we take a book to be between 80k-90k words, I’m 70% of the way through at the lower end. \u00a0Of course, … Continue reading