Skepticism about whether to obtain or not a creative writing degree is a never ending debate. If you want to be a successful writer and plan to pursue a teaching career, you’ll need a degree in creative writing. Even if you just want to be a writer, it’s better to have a degree in creative writing—if you have the opportunity to do so.
The benefits of getting a degree in creative writing:
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You’re reading a novel and not soon enough, you find yourself criticizing the hero or heroine. You don’t like them. You stop reading because the story is awful and you’ve thought how you prefer the novel to be written. Your ability to identify what made you stop reading is a sign that you’re a writer at heart. Even more so, if you decide to write a novel.
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At last…
…after three long and miserable weeks, the word count exceeded 50K and I finished my novel. What an experience. It was truly amazing despite all the kicking and screaming of excuses I made along the way to not write.
To Chris, the guy who’s behind all this madness, a big THANK YOU!
Do I have plan for the next year nanoing? Arrgggh…I don’t want to think about it, yet. I need to take a break in December. I still have my next huge task ahead and I’ll write about it in my blog.
Until then, keep writing.
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Oh for the Lord of Muse.
I know it is coming. I am on Chapter Seven now and it’s starting to go downhill. I’m trying to find each and any excuse imaginable to get away from writing my Nano—you name it— writing content for my blog, writing emails, youtubing, attacking the DH, etc. Yet, I have no choice but to flop into my seat and drag myself to write one more chapter. Remember, it’s only thirty days to write a 50k word novel in NanoWriMo. I am racing against time so I’d better write or die.
Gah! This is crazy yet somehow so far I’ve managed to eke out roughly 1,500 words per chapter. Then it falls apart as I am not as motivated as I was on the first day of Nanoing. I wonder why? It’s not like I’ve never written a novel before. I had just completed my manuscript, but unfortunately it was completed at the end of October when I was planning to join the National Novel Writing Month. So I think it must be writing fatigue that has set in.
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Horaaay!!
Yay! I completed the third revision of my novel and it’s now ready for the next stage. I’m just so excited I finally got it done. And it couldn’t be better timing for my next project—Nanoing on November, 1 – 30.
What? Wait a minute! Did I just say that? Nanoing on Nov. 1? When I don’t even have a clue of what should my next plot is about? Am I going insane?
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I am baacckk!
I just completed my 65,000 word novel and it was just so exhausting to make it to the end! However, this is just the first draft and as we always know, writing is rewriting. I learned a lot about writing a novel through my journey these past two months or so. And mind you, writing up to 65,000 words is not for the faint of heart. It is a tough job. Now I admire the writers out there who manage to produce novels year after year with an interesting story and plot.
As far as getting to finish my manuscript, I learned that:
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Since I blog everyday on how to write fiction, I use the advice I blog about in my own writing. I am presently expanding my short story Antara Dua Kota into a novel (it is not in English, though). And I am currently working on outlining the plot to fit it into a novel. I have set the theme as general as possible: it is about how love can conquer everything. This will help me to get a larger space for the characters to maneuver themselves.
The difference between a short story and a novel is the length. Secondly it is the focus. Usually a short story focuses on a single plot with only very few subplots and the characters don’t have much space to show who they are. The writer can only focus on one plot and are either able to solve the problem or the writer uses a cliffhanger type of solution and drops a hint what the protagonist does to achieve what he/she wants. In a novel, you have a lot of time and space to add more to the plot and develop subplots for the characters.
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