I am not a published writer, so nothing I say really holds weight, but I did just finish a first draft of a novel in 7 months, and while it is very messy and needs a lot of work, I'm very proud of it. One thing that kept me going was reading a LOT of novels in the same genre I am currently working in, and realizing how many of them I thought were bad! Not that I strive to write something bad, but "quality," beyond the basics, is so subjective as to be basically meaningless. I read some novels this year (no names here...) that were beloved and very well reviewed on Goodreads, and sold well, but while reading them I was just thinking, "this is the worst dreck I've ever read" (some of which were from writers with multiple successful books and some movie deals!). Taste is personal, and what one person loves, another will hate.
Another thing that really helped me get started was outlining the novel and doing full-page character sketches before I started writing, and it helped so much. The outline changed a bit as I wrote, but it still provided the basic structure for what I needed to keep going. When I got to parts of the book I didn't know how to write (for instance, I learned writing violent action and fighting, especially involving multiple characters, is extremely difficult), I just "wrote through it," knowing it wasn't great, but also knowing the writing itself would open me up, and I could revise it later.
Like I said, not published here, so this is just what worked for me. I got a PhD in the sciences almost 10 years ago, and grad school completely sucked all creativity right out of me, and I've been trying to get it back for years now. I finally feel like I succeeded a little bit!
Oh dang, Snoopy really GETS IT today.
I am not a published writer, so nothing I say really holds weight, but I did just finish a first draft of a novel in 7 months, and while it is very messy and needs a lot of work, I'm very proud of it. One thing that kept me going was reading a LOT of novels in the same genre I am currently working in, and realizing how many of them I thought were bad! Not that I strive to write something bad, but "quality," beyond the basics, is so subjective as to be basically meaningless. I read some novels this year (no names here...) that were beloved and very well reviewed on Goodreads, and sold well, but while reading them I was just thinking, "this is the worst dreck I've ever read" (some of which were from writers with multiple successful books and some movie deals!). Taste is personal, and what one person loves, another will hate.
Another thing that really helped me get started was outlining the novel and doing full-page character sketches before I started writing, and it helped so much. The outline changed a bit as I wrote, but it still provided the basic structure for what I needed to keep going. When I got to parts of the book I didn't know how to write (for instance, I learned writing violent action and fighting, especially involving multiple characters, is extremely difficult), I just "wrote through it," knowing it wasn't great, but also knowing the writing itself would open me up, and I could revise it later.
Like I said, not published here, so this is just what worked for me. I got a PhD in the sciences almost 10 years ago, and grad school completely sucked all creativity right out of me, and I've been trying to get it back for years now. I finally feel like I succeeded a little bit!
Appreciate your insights, as always!
Awesome advice! 😊
You got me: just signed on for the Novelist's Toolkit. Birthday present to self.