Note to self: write a novel
Sep. 4th, 2002 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pegkerrI have decided to write a novel.
I have written two novels, and both have been published. Since finishing The Wild Swans almost exactly four years ago (the afterward to that book was dated August 30, 1998), I started another book, a prequel to Emerald House Rising, which peetered out after about seventy pages of manuscript, and a novel collaboration with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kijjohnson. That latter project is still a viable project, and it's well written and a lot of fun, but we have had to set it aside for the moment because Kij is finishing another book up under contract.
So, in the four years since finishing The Wild Swans, I have finished one short story. I have not managed to sell it.
I have been writhing and agonizing about this for some time. Today, abruptly, as a result of various conversations and threads of thought, I have decided to start again. Like Mr. Earbrass, who sets the date that he begins his next novel (for him, it is November 18 of alternate years) I am setting the date that I am beginning my new novel, and it is today.
I have set my goal for the first week: brainstorm. So I lit my writing candle for one hour (while the candle is lit, I am not allowed to answer the phone or go on the Internet, or do any other avoidance behavior) and brainstormed, writing down anything and everything that interests me. I also identified various stories that I have been moved by in the past, and tried to pinpoint what I liked about them.
I do not have to dream up my whole novel in one hour. After my first hour of brainstorming I have, however, decided one thing about my new novel: it will be about a character who, in the words of Pamela Dean in her afterward to Tam Lin must choose between a heart of flesh and a heart of stone. The novel will be devoted to what leads the character to making that choice.
Well! We have that settled. We'll see what comes out of tomorrow's brainstorming session.
I don't know how this will work with my LiveJournal. I will continue to be public about the process, as long as it works for me, but if talking about the process keeps me from DOING it, I won't. We'll see how it goes. I don't intend to post any of the actual fiction in progress here, however, but will instead run it past the faithful beta readers who helped my on my last books.
Cheers,
Peg
I have written two novels, and both have been published. Since finishing The Wild Swans almost exactly four years ago (the afterward to that book was dated August 30, 1998), I started another book, a prequel to Emerald House Rising, which peetered out after about seventy pages of manuscript, and a novel collaboration with
kijjohnson. That latter project is still a viable project, and it's well written and a lot of fun, but we have had to set it aside for the moment because Kij is finishing another book up under contract.So, in the four years since finishing The Wild Swans, I have finished one short story. I have not managed to sell it.
I have been writhing and agonizing about this for some time. Today, abruptly, as a result of various conversations and threads of thought, I have decided to start again. Like Mr. Earbrass, who sets the date that he begins his next novel (for him, it is November 18 of alternate years) I am setting the date that I am beginning my new novel, and it is today.
I have set my goal for the first week: brainstorm. So I lit my writing candle for one hour (while the candle is lit, I am not allowed to answer the phone or go on the Internet, or do any other avoidance behavior) and brainstormed, writing down anything and everything that interests me. I also identified various stories that I have been moved by in the past, and tried to pinpoint what I liked about them.
I do not have to dream up my whole novel in one hour. After my first hour of brainstorming I have, however, decided one thing about my new novel: it will be about a character who, in the words of Pamela Dean in her afterward to Tam Lin must choose between a heart of flesh and a heart of stone. The novel will be devoted to what leads the character to making that choice.
Well! We have that settled. We'll see what comes out of tomorrow's brainstorming session.
I don't know how this will work with my LiveJournal. I will continue to be public about the process, as long as it works for me, but if talking about the process keeps me from DOING it, I won't. We'll see how it goes. I don't intend to post any of the actual fiction in progress here, however, but will instead run it past the faithful beta readers who helped my on my last books.
Cheers,
Peg
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2002-09-04 07:40 pm (UTC)I actually use an old beat-up laptop that isn't connected to the Internet when I write, so I can't do the Internet avoidance game. Pulling the 'net plug helps a lot.
(no subject)
Date: 2002-09-04 07:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-09-04 08:29 pm (UTC)K. [impressed with your resolve, and glad to hear of it, both]
(no subject)
Date: 2002-09-04 08:33 pm (UTC)Good luck!
(no subject)
Date: 2002-09-04 08:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-09-05 03:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-09-05 09:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-09-05 09:34 am (UTC)B
(no subject)
Date: 2002-09-05 03:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-09-05 04:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-06-22 06:22 am (UTC).
Date: 2003-06-22 04:18 pm (UTC)Cheers,
Peg