Laura Thomas's Blog: Self-Publishing: A Mean Old Dog (who loves to cuddle) (and might just make you rich) - Posts Tagged "character-development"
Novel Zygote Formed; Writing Begins!
Ok, finally, I begin! My own personal NoWriMo starts tomorrow, Feb 27 – gonna try to push it all the way through March. Weehoooooo yay GAH terrifying! I don’t want to reveal too much about the novel just yet, but I can tell you that it has to do with a neo-Mayan cult, a kidnapping, and some very important seabirds. And it’ll take place in Utila (Honduras), Chicago, and an off-the-map island.
My goal is to write 1500 words a day, which means that just about every minute I’m not working at my actual paying job, I’ll have to be writing. Help me help me I need writing buddies! Dana – are you still in? ☺
I’ve got an outline written for the novel, and the main characters are more or less developed. Personally, I like to let the characters develop fully during the writing process, so I don’t always know exactly how they’ll turn out. I’ve written a basic history for each of them - where they come from, what their motivations are, and how they might relate to each other. But one of my favorite favorite favorite things about writing is when my characters do and say things that surprise me; when they reveal something about themselves of which I wasn’t previously aware. Man, that’s cool. When a character comes alive all by herself, I feel like I’m wrapped up in some wizard’s spell, like my story is being directed by a mind other than my own, a mind from another dimension, spinning its tale inside through my hypnotized fingers. I looooove that!
I’ve done a decent bit of preliminary research about the ancient and modern Maya, and I’ll probably do some more along the way. I’m curious if others of you who are writers do ALL your research beforehand, or do you do it as needed, while you’re writing? For “Shadow Swans,” I did most of it beforehand and then added to it as I went along, and that seemed to work well. This novel will require more research than “Shadow Swans” and I want to make sure I get it right, but I also don’t want to get so bogged down in research that I can’t start writing… Thoughts?
I’ll post periodic updates about the writing process and obstacles that I encounter along the way. Please float me some inspiration! I will catch it!
My goal is to write 1500 words a day, which means that just about every minute I’m not working at my actual paying job, I’ll have to be writing. Help me help me I need writing buddies! Dana – are you still in? ☺
I’ve got an outline written for the novel, and the main characters are more or less developed. Personally, I like to let the characters develop fully during the writing process, so I don’t always know exactly how they’ll turn out. I’ve written a basic history for each of them - where they come from, what their motivations are, and how they might relate to each other. But one of my favorite favorite favorite things about writing is when my characters do and say things that surprise me; when they reveal something about themselves of which I wasn’t previously aware. Man, that’s cool. When a character comes alive all by herself, I feel like I’m wrapped up in some wizard’s spell, like my story is being directed by a mind other than my own, a mind from another dimension, spinning its tale inside through my hypnotized fingers. I looooove that!
I’ve done a decent bit of preliminary research about the ancient and modern Maya, and I’ll probably do some more along the way. I’m curious if others of you who are writers do ALL your research beforehand, or do you do it as needed, while you’re writing? For “Shadow Swans,” I did most of it beforehand and then added to it as I went along, and that seemed to work well. This novel will require more research than “Shadow Swans” and I want to make sure I get it right, but I also don’t want to get so bogged down in research that I can’t start writing… Thoughts?
I’ll post periodic updates about the writing process and obstacles that I encounter along the way. Please float me some inspiration! I will catch it!
First Week of Novel Writing Month = Not-Yet-Exploded Head, Whew
Ouuuuch mah li’l head is spinning. I am seeeerious delirious after a week of intense work, both at my actual bringin-home-bacon job (and of course this past week has been the busiest so far this year, whatthafaaaa), and at my fake novel-writing job. I’m not quite where I wanted to be one week into my Novel Writing Month, because on Monday of last week I had to put in about 14 hours for the bacon job, and then I had no brainpower left over for the fake job. So I got a day behind. But I’ve officially written 9,000 words of the new story, which is about 10% of a novel. And if I can keep this up I should be on track for 50,000 words by the end of March, provided my head doesn’t actually explode into a zillion gooey bloody bits all over my MacBook Pro.
Then, of course, I’ll have to find another month to torture myself working and writing the second half of the novel, and then ANOTHER month to torture myself working and editing the novel, so I really have several marathons left to run (*anxiety wells in stomach*) but whateva. 1,500 words per day for one month, that’s what I’m focused on for now.
In general, I’ve found that some days I can knock out my 1,500 WPD in 2 hours, and sometimes I feel like I’m walking through knee-deep half-dry cement, and it takes me more like 4 hours.
I have no idea if this draft will be worth more than a sack of flour, but it’ll at least be a pretty solid start! I’m becoming attached to my characters, which I think is a good sign, no? One of my characters, who I love love love, has Asperger’s, and I want to find someone out there with Asperger’s who can eventually read my draft and tell me if any of my characterizations are off, or too stereotyped, or offensive in any way – let me know if you or someone you know might be interested! I’d give you a big fat “thank you” in the book’s acknowledgements.
Another of my characters is an underdog, thrown into an impossible situation with no previously-honed coping skills for such a situation. I love me an underdog. Especially an underdog determined to rise above.
The story so far is exciting if maybe a bit dark. I’ve discovered that what inspires me most in any story is the magic and beauty that can arise from difficulty. Hopefully that magic and beauty will shine through in the story so it won’t get mired in the difficulty.
Ok, now I need to go take a nap. Or watch an episode of HOMELAND, which OMG I CAN’T…STOP…WATCHING…AND IT REALLY IS NOT HELPING WITH THIS CRAZY SCHEDULE PLEASE LET IT END IS BRODY A BASTARD OR NOT I HAVE NO IDEA GAHHHHH MUSSSTT FINNND OUTTTTTTT.
Then, of course, I’ll have to find another month to torture myself working and writing the second half of the novel, and then ANOTHER month to torture myself working and editing the novel, so I really have several marathons left to run (*anxiety wells in stomach*) but whateva. 1,500 words per day for one month, that’s what I’m focused on for now.
In general, I’ve found that some days I can knock out my 1,500 WPD in 2 hours, and sometimes I feel like I’m walking through knee-deep half-dry cement, and it takes me more like 4 hours.
I have no idea if this draft will be worth more than a sack of flour, but it’ll at least be a pretty solid start! I’m becoming attached to my characters, which I think is a good sign, no? One of my characters, who I love love love, has Asperger’s, and I want to find someone out there with Asperger’s who can eventually read my draft and tell me if any of my characterizations are off, or too stereotyped, or offensive in any way – let me know if you or someone you know might be interested! I’d give you a big fat “thank you” in the book’s acknowledgements.
Another of my characters is an underdog, thrown into an impossible situation with no previously-honed coping skills for such a situation. I love me an underdog. Especially an underdog determined to rise above.
The story so far is exciting if maybe a bit dark. I’ve discovered that what inspires me most in any story is the magic and beauty that can arise from difficulty. Hopefully that magic and beauty will shine through in the story so it won’t get mired in the difficulty.
Ok, now I need to go take a nap. Or watch an episode of HOMELAND, which OMG I CAN’T…STOP…WATCHING…AND IT REALLY IS NOT HELPING WITH THIS CRAZY SCHEDULE PLEASE LET IT END IS BRODY A BASTARD OR NOT I HAVE NO IDEA GAHHHHH MUSSSTT FINNND OUTTTTTTT.
Self-Publishing: A Mean Old Dog (who loves to cuddle) (and might just make you rich)
Self-publishing allows an author ultimate independence and total control. It also allows ultimate invisibility to mainstream media, and a total lack of support from traditional publishing resources. I
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