Some days writing is like a flowing river, some times you have to pump the water from a well. Today I’m using a frigging Divining Rod trying to find my writing talent in the desert that is my brain. Lowering my daily word count from 1k to 500 has given me a (false) sense of accomplishment so at least there’s that. I’ve sent my Work in Progress to Annie to read. The story’s only half finished but hopefully she’ll be able to identify what is missing from my work that has left it with such a pitiful word count.
I’ve been studying some of my favorite books, trying to identify how many major plot points, sub-plot points, and filler scenes are involved in helping a book achieve Novel length. You wouldn’t think I’d have to do this, considering the fact that I’ve already written two books. But the fact is, my second book could probably be split in two if I really worked at it. It’s just action after action without those little pauses that allow a Main Character to reflect. I’m not great at that stuff. I’m less about the quiet pauses and more about moving the plot forward.
My Dad says I should just turn Hindsight into a novella. This may be unfair of me to say but I don’t like novellas. They get me as invested as a full length book, and then end too soon. Also, if I want to accomplish my goal which is to have Hindsight be the first in a series, I need it to be a full length novel.
My first book took a year and a half and I’ve only been working on this one for a month, so I’m not too worried. If I try to force it too much I’ll just have to trash the whole thing and that would be too depressing to even consider. It’ll work itself out eventually.
Bye for now!