Saturday, December 22, 2001 ( 9:49 PM )
On the wall!
I got some good help last night from a writer in an AOL chatroom. She suggested I tape a large sheet of paper (butcher paper or newsprint) on the wall, and do a new outline of the novel on that. That's just what I needed... a way to see the whole thing all at once - like a timeline.
That much empty wall space is hard to find here, but I've got a large penboard that we use for homeschooling. I cleaned it off to re-outline my novel. In doing this, I found the part that was troubling me - a large spot in the middle where I needed more evidence against the true criminals. Though I found the spot, I was still unable to fill it, until my boyfriend offered to work on it with me. With his help, we came up with a new character to add to the story. She is vibrant, interesting, and possesses information that is critically needed. I will weave her into the manuscript ... it will be much better now. Suddenly I think I may have a novel that is worth publishing, rather than one I just did for practice.
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Thursday, December 20, 2001 ( 1:16 PM )
Exploring the Process
I'm at 40,000 words with this novel, and feel I'm about half way through... but suddenly I'm so confused about what to write next. I already have the ending planned out... I'm just not sure how to get there from here... so I've decided to start from the beginning to do some basic editing and at the same time to take copious on-paper notes, writing a sketchy summary of the first 19 chapters before I continue on.
I'm reading a few books to get used to the art of mystery writing. I just finished Pretend You Don't See Her by Mary Higgins Clark, and now am reading A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman.
Tuesday, December 18, 2001 ( 1:28 PM )
Pravado News
I finally recovered from a week of burn out (or was that writers block?) and finished chapter 19. The novel now has 40,856 words - which thrills me because I see this as the half-way point. Escape from the Hills of Pravado is an adult mystery, and I'm aiming for about 80,000 words, give or take a few thousand. Right now I'm reading Pretend You Don't See Her, a Mary Higgins Clark novel, for inspiration. My first-time mystery novel attempt doesn't compare well to her NY Times list #1 bestseller, but I keep plodding along, gaining strength and new ideas as I go on with my work.
So far, I've only done two days of practice using the prompts in this book, and got good results both times. Both writing sessions produced wonderful scenes I can use in my novels... one for my novel-in-progress, "Escape from the Hills of Pravado" ... and the second night I got a cute scene I can use in a novel I have in the planning stage, called "Swallows Nest". It feels good to get such great scenes going - I'll just insert them into my novels in appropriate places.
The second one was so amusing - it was about a young man trying to get a girl to give him a kitten. I knew my kids would like it because they like anything about cats (or dogs) so I read it out loud to the family.
The book isn't just for novelists, however. Each writer can do any kind of writing they like to do - fiction, non-fiction, and any other type of conceivable thing (use your imagination). I just happen to be focused on novel writing just now, so that's what I'm writing when I practice.
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Tuesday, December 04, 2001 ( 8:24 PM )
Voice
Voice is the quality in writing that shows who the storyteller is. It takes writing from sounding stilted and unnatural, to a place where it flows so naturally that the reader feels he is coming to know a close friend. Voice puts us in touch with a person (the writer) rather than just words. As valuable as it is, there must be restraint in the use of voice, especially when our writing represents the words of a certain character. The character must have his own voice, not the writer's. In my experience, I've met many people who have left a trace of their personalities in my life, and I can draw from these many contacts to formulate voices for my characters to use when they speak. An easy way to understand voice is to see it as the author's personality that shines through the writing. The more writing practice the writer has, the better he is at letting this happen naturally. Voice cannot be forced, it must be celebrated and shared in a measure that doesn't overwhelm the reader or detract from the story. The development of a sincere writing voice is crucial to the writing of high quality literature. This is, like most talents, a skill that improves with time and practice.
Here's inside information on how to make money with freelance writing, using email to apply for jobs. I haven't tried it yet, and since I'm doing novel writing at this time, am not sure I even want to right away. I'm putting the link into my blog to remind me to look into it more later, after my novel-in-progress is complete.
Monday, December 03, 2001 ( 1:01 PM )
Escape From the Hills of Pravado
Work progresses at a rate of 2000 words each night. I'm at about 32,000 words now. The more I write, the more comfortable I feel doing it. I'm learning the skills for writing a mystery, slowly, as I go. I figure by the time I get to my seventh novel, I should know what I'm doing!
