Working through the novel

Hi Heather!

Here's my advice that I really hope helps you:

For me it it varies what works, for my current WIP, I had a general idea of where the story would begin and where it would end before I started writing. It doesn't have to be set in stone, in fact it shouldn't be because better ideas may come later, but you need to have at least somewhere to start. It's like a jump off point. The vague outline helps you to get started and then from there you can fill in ideas. Just throw them into the outline at first in any order as they come. The goal isn't to make a coherent story yet, but to simply get your ideas down. Then later you can weave your story and make things make sense and stuff like that. Only when you have a fairly detailed outline full of notes (which can go so far as to say exactly what happens and characters do in scenes, for some reason writing it in notes form first is much easier for me) do you start writing the actual manuscript from whatever point you want and if one section is giving you trouble skip it, ignore it for the moment and move on to write another section. Then you can go back later to sections you could not write earlier.

Hope this helps,

Matthew

That's pretty much how I work through it too!  Sometimes I go in order, sometimes end-beginning.  This past Sunday I did a short story and started in the middle, got the end and then worked backwards to the beginning.  I think one just needs to let the mind just go where it wants to.

Thanks for sharing, Matthew; it's nice to hear people speak so candidly about the writing process!

Atalaya

Hi Heather, SK never even outlines any of his novels. He wakes up with a story in his head and simply writes it down. We are not all SKs though. I personally write it as a screenplay all visual, then convert it to manuscript format and fill in the blanks such as thoughts, feeling etc that can't be seen on the screen. That way I also have a screenplay of my novel. Probably won't help much, but that's how I do it.

Hi Heather,

I am like you, always coming up with new ideas. I have four or five WIP novels but wasn't able to get past chapter five! I tried outlining, but found that too restrictive.

Participating in Nanowrimo changed all that. With a "daily word quota" hanging over my head, I was forced to keep going, let the characters determine what happened next. By the end of the month I had a skeleton - but it's a complete skeleton, not just feet. Now I am going back and putting all the meat on the bones, fixing all the plot holes. I just feel so much better that the story is finished.

My advice is to set for yourself a daily word goal, a realistic one, but stick to it. If you get stuck, just keep writing with the knowledge that the second time through, the delete button will still be an option.

Do what I do.  I wrote my first YA Paranormal/Time Travel/First Kiss romance novel I Kissed a Ghost, like a sculptor getting ready to produce a statue. A sculptor used wire to setup a base for the keen parts of his statue, I wrote down the points I want to hit in my storyline. Like a sculptor who then adds, takes away his medium to produce his desired end product, I did the same using words.  Once both the sculptor have finished, we both go back, sometmes for then once, to smooth out any rough spots which might still exist,

In the end, how you go about writing/completing your manuscript is all up to you. You must feel comfort in your approach. Remember, you're an individual who can't fit into the same shoes of someone else.