There is no faster way to transition from writer to author than to actually write. That story floating around in your head cannot be a best seller if it lives only in your mind. Take advantage of November and National Novel Writers Month to get a working draft of your novel on your hard drive.
BUT I don’t know what NaNo is! During the month of November, NaNoWriMo hosts a pleasure cruise for every aspiring writer’s internal editor, the part of your mind that demands perfection on the first try. November one, kiss your darling internal editor goodbye and promise to write everyday. Promise a huge mess for the internal editor to clean up when she returns with a tan and a tattoo December one. The open a blank document and get to work! You have thirty days to purge the story of your heart, or at least the first fifty thousand words of it, from your brain. GO!
BUT I don’t know the first thing about grammar.
BUT punctuation makes me go cross-eyed.
BUT I’m not sure what active voice is, or how to cultivate it.
BUT I don’t know how to write a chapter hook.
All the better. Because to get over that first draft hurdle, the one that separates the hobbyists from the novelists, you must find that part of you with the big BUTs, and squelch it. Those doubts are your internal editor talking, and if you can’t bear to live without her while writing your first novel the very least you can do is stuff her mouth full of marshmallows to muffle the fears. While the internal editor is busy trying to chop the air and sugar, hang the framework of your story.
BUT I don’t know how. Unless you’ve never read a novel, you may be right. But if you’ve laid a book down and knew you could do it just as well, if not better, you do know how. Ever gossiped? Lied? You’re well on your way. A reader wants to be told a story, and that one floating up in the recessed of your mind will do.
BUT I don’t have the time. GOTCHA! I drafted my NaNo novel in ninety minutes a day. I stole a half hour before the kidlets woke up, and stayed up an hour after they crashed. Yes, I lost some sleep. But I wanted it and so I made the time.
BUT I don’t know which story to write. A lot of writers have so many ideas they get lost in trying to pick the perfect one. Roll a dice if you have to. Write the kind of romance you would like to read. Sensual, suspense, fantasy, historical, or some all new combination.
BUT I don’t know how to plot a novel. Neither do I. I’m a pantster. The fun of writing for me is to let the characters tell their own story. Maybe your preconceived notions about plotting are getting in your way. If you really want to plot, take advantage of the BIAY (Book In A Year) instruction and the eHarlequin Q&As.
BUT I don’t have a title. Borrow one from a favorite book or song. Your book will reveal its title in due time, and then when it sells your editor will think of a better one.
BUT I don’t have an opening hook. Even if you did, you’d tweak it later. Start your story where you need to and worry about it in the edit.BUT what if I get stuck? The answer is in your question. Play what if. So your thirty-five thousand word in and the characters have been eating dinner for a thousand words. What if a car crashes into the restaurant? One of them gets food poisoning? The fairy king levels a chocolate tax? Whatever it takes to move them along.
No one is born a novelist. They earn that title with dry eyes staring into space for the perfect word and fingers cramped from typing or holding a pen. Whether the story you write this National Novel Writers Month is kept as a humble reminder of where you started, or polished to publishable perfection, it is one step in your journey from writer to author.
My apologies to those who remember this article from last year. I'm going to do some motivation every day , and need to recycle.
No comments:
Post a Comment