Adrian Faulkner's Blog, page 44
July 20, 2020
Draft (Sorta) Done – The Climb #514
It’s done. Well sorta.
I’ve managed to do the new draft in just over 2 weeks. This is with a day job and other distractions. Best of all, I don’t feel I particularly rushed it.
Case in point, if you remember, I wasn’t happy with a scene with a secondary protagonist as I didn’t feel as if it fitted their new character arc, So yesterday was mostly spent, rewriting an entire chapter. What replaced it is funny, and elevates that character more. I even gave them a kick a...
July 19, 2020
Blooming Secondary Character Arcs – The Climb #513
We’re definitely on the homeward straight right now. I’m now approaching the epic climax of this novel and I’m not expecting a lot of changes needing to be made.
But sometimes, little changes you make can have bigger impact later on and I’m finding this with one of my secondary protagonists.
As you may remember, I moved her introduction much later in the novel. I felt this strengthened her arc and, to be honest, I feel she’s better for it.
Except now. There’s a small ‘in...
July 18, 2020
The Emotional Pivot – The Climb #512
Today has been a busy day. I had a Pokemon Go tournament I helped organise (which I jointly won, much to my amusement) as well as a major shopping run breaking up my writing day.
I’ve got to a pivotal chapter. Logically thinking, it’s probably that point in the novel where the second act moves into the third, which is always the toughest part for me as a writer.
This chapter needs to pull the emotional strings together, give the protagonist an epiphany, and set everythi...
July 17, 2020
Action Stations – The Climb #511
I had a realisation about staycation today.
I want to get lots done. I want to look back at these two weeks and feel that the time I would ordinarily be devoting to the day job got used productively. My main aim is to get this draft done. If that’s all I achieve I will be happy.
But given how well it is going, I realise that I’m probably going to be done half way through the first week (even with a read through before I send it off). That will leave me ¾ of my Staycati...
July 16, 2020
Staycation – The Climb #510
I’ve got an upcoming Staycation.
Given the day job owes me so much holiday I need to start taking it, so I’ve booked out 2 weeks from next week.
Of course, with Covid, I don’t plan to go anywhere other than the supermarket for essentials, so it’s going to be a Staycation.
To be honest though, I don’t mind them, and used them back before the pandemic. Sometimes I would time them around a Warcraft expansion release, or at other times when I needed to get a draft or rewrite...
July 15, 2020
Improvements To My Revision Process – The Climb #509
I know I sound like a broken record, but this draft is going exceptionally well.
I’ve tried to put my finger on why that is and I think ultimately it relies in confidence in my ability to revise.
Writing a novel is a difficult endeavor. There’s so many moving parts. There’s setting, characters, plot, and much more. I always worry that I’m going to forget something and the entire novel will fall to pieces around me like those chefs on baking shows whose sugar sculpture...
July 14, 2020
The Late Introduction – The Climb #508
My friend was still ill so it was another long evening of writing again tonight. This proved to be quite handy as tonight I got to work on one of the longest chapters in the book.
In terms of changes, not a whole lot needed to altered. There were some subtle shifts in continuity due to the ripple effect of earlier changes but mostly this chapter needed a light hand… with one major exception.
I’ve chosen this chapter to introduce a secondary character. She’s been seen in...
July 13, 2020
An Evening Of Good Progress – The Climb #507
Social plans got cancelled tonight due to a friend being ill. Thankfully not Covid related. But it gave me the opportunity to get a lot of work done on the draft.
The bulk of it was spent on the new chapter. For what ended up being a very short chapter, it took a lot of time but this was always going to be one of the most challenging in this draft.
It proved that the challenge wasn’t writing the new bits, but taking some of the old bits and sprucing them up. I’d not gon...
July 12, 2020
The New Chapter – The Climb #506
I am now at one of the most difficult pieces of this draft.
I’m am close to the midway point in the novel and where the half from one draft meets the half from another. Bang in the middle of this is a new chapter.
I say new, but a version of this existed in a previous draft. That version was so old though that I effectively have to write it from scratch.
This was a chapter I debated about putting back in. If I find my word count massively going over budget, then this will...
July 11, 2020
Jigsaw Puzzles – The Climb #505
Some drafts feel like hurdles where you’re struggling to get the story, character motivation and prose over some obstacle in order for everything to tie up and work.
This draft feels more like a jigsaw puzzle where everything feels like it is slotting into place.
I don’t have enough skill and experience to truly know if this is a good sign or not. It feels good, but as a writer you always worry that you’re overlooking something, and the fact that it feels easy is because you’re n...
