I am one chapter away from finishing the first draft of my fourth book and here’s what I learnt so far.
Don’t be mistaken, I still have no idea what I am doing. But here’s everything that I am not doing every time I sit down and write.
Obsess over my word count.
I admit. Now that I am so close to finishing my draft and yet so far from having a complete novel I do obsess over the word count, but not too much.Yes, the fact that my novel is supposed to be 100k and my first draft sits at less than 40k is worrying me, but I know there are so many things missing from the final product (and I don’t obsess over them either). The important thing is quality over quantity, always. And having a half finished novel is better than having no novel.
Obsess over my plan.
I used to have no plan. But writing a novel without having a vague idea about where your characters are going and what message you want to pass, is like writing a bunch of gibberish. But that said, I always leave room to surprise myself. I don’t know the ending of my book- even when I think I know it. Because I always have a spur of inspiration that will change the course of all my characters lives. Not every writer is like that, but if you are, allow yourself to create. Sticking to a plan step by step is so weird to me. It’s like putting a stop sign on your own mind, as if your plan wasn’t your own brain creating ideas in the first place. Let those ideas change. But always give yourself some sort of direction, mainly for motivational purposes.
Know your characters. I know my characters better than I know myself. They are real in my mind. They go off on their adventures and give me mental post it notes and tell me everything they do. My characters have their own existence and I let them. But I always think about them, even when I am not writing. Knowing what your character likes and dislikes, what they would do in any situation -whether it happens in your story or not- is what gives your characters depth and life. If you can’t bring your own characters to life in your own mind, your readers will never be able to relate.
Know your readers, but don’t think about them. I never write as if someone will read my stories, poems and books. I always write for myself. As much cliche as it sounds, I will never not write what I like, and I will never write something I don’t like (just to appeal to an audience). I write as if no one but me will read my books. Otherwise the criticism in your own head will never let you finish anything. But that said, I always keep in mind the readers when I edit. If you don’t, the book will only make sense to you. You write to understand yourself and for others to understand you.
I put mental deadlines to keep me discipline but never really care about them. I really hope you are not pushing yourself to write because if you do, I am sorry to tell you, but you won’t write anything substantial. It’s creative for a reason. Telling yourself you’ll write a whole novel during nanowrimo is killing your creativity and I will dare say, harming other authors who start seeing writing as a “grind”. (But participating in nanowrimo will give you the discipline and motivation to actually finish it, someday).
Writing as no one’s reading it means to also keep your writing interesting to your own self. Starting a chapter with a different mood than what you’re finishing it is fun. Cliffhangers are fun. Using fancy words that you had to look up and don’t quite understand yourself just to impress someone, isn’t.
Let your editor (aka yourself later) cringe with your writing. If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.
You can’t have fun all the time. Some scenes will be a pain to get through, but it will be worth it.
Writing a bad scene or paragraph doesn’t kill your story. (Again, let it be the editor’s problem. Just keep writing).
And last but not least, don’t act like a reader. Let me say it again, don’t act like a reader. Judging the words you wrote 5 minutes ago thinking how it would be like reading them won’t make your writing better. You are the writer. Write. Let others judge your work.
Let others judge your work. I’ve got friends read half finished paragraphs, yes paragraphs when I wasn’t even sure where I was going with it. Nothing I wrote ever got published without my friends reading it thoroughly. And yes, getting praised is nice but there is nothing more motivating than your friends telling you your writing didn’t make any sense.
If you have any tips on writing please leave them in the comments. I’d love to hear new ideas/routines or advice!
xx
Eva