Do you know that a window is associated with a writer – especially a large window? Well, every time a writer goes to task – writing that is – they will look outside through the window when they get stuck… looking out at the snow falling down and marveling at the beauty of the winter season (right now since winter is still here).
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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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If you have started to write your manuscript I believe you write everyday? I do. I am trying to complete my manuscript as fast as I can. I have all the outlines done to get the plot moving scene-by-scene. Now with the little time I have consumed writing the manuscript, it seems I am not producing it fast enough. I find the characters are begging to be written.
The prolific writer will write everyday up to 2,000 words. If your novel is about 100,000 words, it will take you about 50 days to complete. I would love to be able to do that.
So, I have to make the decision that blogging is become secondary.
I will resume to blog daily when I complete the first draft of my manuscript. In the meantime, I will be organizing the articles I have written so far into a somewhat presentable format for the first timer who visits my blog.
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The villain in your fiction is one of the important characters driving your plot forward. Their main purpose is to create chaos and make your protagonist’s life miserable. They will do anything they can to stop your hero from achieving their goals. I read many “how to” books about creating your villains. Here is the list of advice I stumble upon most often:
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As a writer you have to write and edit your manuscript. This is very tricky because you are first the author and then must switch positions to become the editor of what you’ve written. Ouch! This is too much painful work!
But the reality is this: you have to experience the process of editing your own work if you decide to be a writer. No exceptions and no easy way out because no one writes flawlessly the first time. And don’t even let me mention the business side of writing yet where you will confront the editor at your publisher.
I remember one of my fellow writer friends who told me she will get sick for a week right after she finishes her manuscript. Then she has to drag herself to edit the draft next. When I saw her during a writer’s conference she really looked like she was just recovering from an unknown disease.
How you do the editing task is up to you. Some writers will edit right after completing the manuscript, while others prefer to edit while writing. Whichever technique is best for you it is the editing process itself that takes the most out of you as a writer.
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In my previous blog I wrote about how to obtain facts for use in fiction and mentioned that I preferred to use my own experiences when illustrating the setting for the characters since this is the best way to show the reader what I see, smell, taste, hear and feel about these place(s). However, if I am not able to experience the setting(s) where I place my protagonist, I will go for the second best – looking for other’s sensory experiences in describing these places.
This is exactly what I did last week. I needed more information about a particular arrondissements in Paris where the setting took place for my novel Antara Dua Kota. I did find some, but it was written by tourists who had been there for less than a week. But I needed a comprehensive description by someone who actually lives there. Before bugging the bloggers who have been to Paris (as tourists) for help, I decided to go to my local library to see if I could find what I am looking for.
I didn’t find anything specific, but I found a novel titled Lion Eyes by Claire Berlinski. I read it at home and I couldn’t put it down. I read it that night cover-to-cover.
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Have you ever experienced the fear of writing? Something like when you start to write your fictional piece or memoir you feel that you reveal yourself too much? That you feel everyone will find out about your dark secret in your writing?
In Ralph Keyes book titled The Courage to Write he discusses in depth about how fear prevents the writer from writing. I also believe that fear of writing is one element of the writer’s block that is related to having difficulty when starting to write or when continuing writing.
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What an irony. You thought that you don’t need to use facts in fiction. If you think fiction is just that – pure fiction – think again. Even though you write a short story or novel, research is an important part in creating believable characters and settings.
Making a plausible character is important for your reader to identify with and relate to. If say your protagonist’s occupation is a lawyer, you do need to get an accurate description about the life and ways of a lawyer. The more accurate your protagonist portrays it, the more credible he/she is in your reader’s eyes. So, if someone tells you writing fiction is easy because you can create everything in your mind without doing any research firsthand, you have received wrong advice.
Setting is another element in your fiction that requires accurate facts – unless you are writing science fiction that needs you to create an entirely different world. But even science fiction needs extensive research about some areas in science. Your characters need to be in a believable setting to interest the reader since they read your fiction to get an experience and to be entertained as well.
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When you think you have had enough information to help you begin writing your first fictional piece or memoir, you will scratch your head when I tell you there is yet another technique you need to master. And I experienced it first hand when beginning to write. Writing is not as easy as I thought it would be. This is because the same question keeps repeating itself through my head: how to make and keep the reader glued to their seat from start to finish?
If you plan to be an apprentice writer and writing your fictional piece just for yourself or as an exercise – that is fine. But when you write with the intent to send your manuscript to the editor, you better get ready for the arrival of the rejection slip. No, seriously. The editor is your first and the most critical reader you will confront. You need to impress him/her with your best writing.
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Authors write fiction with goals in mind: they want the reader to read and learn something from their character’s experience. Additionally, the reader expects the story to be entertaining as well. It all sounds fairly easy and straightforward as it makes writing fiction interesting, but it is not. Any writer who’s published or attempted to write a short story or novel understands – writing fiction is easy; writing fiction that maintains the reader’s interest throughout is not.
So how do you present your story to hook the reader from beginning to end? Your ability as a writer is now challenged and you need to equip yourself with several plot devices. These devices help you to captivate your reader’s interest in your story. One type of plot device is suspense. Suspense is when the reader has to wait and worry about what will happen next to the main character(s).
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