Writing

On writing …

That’s a bit of a cheek, using the words I now associate with Stephen King’s book, but I thought it about time to tell you how my writing is going. And it is actually going at the moment, after a fair bit of stalling and avoidance.

For some time, I had decided I’d started the story too far in. I’ve mentioned this in comments here and there.  Anyway, after reading  Write Your Novel From The Middle: A New Approach for Plotters, Pantsers and Everyone in Between by James Scott Bell, I was more than convinced to go back and fill in those missing three weeks from ‘when it all started’.

While my word tally reveals over 101,000 now, not all those will be in this first novel. I’ve determined that the ending is where it now stands at about the 63000 word mark. This means I already have the beginning of the next book well underway. I reckon, with the new writing to be done, it’ll come out at about 95,000 words, but it will be as long as necessary, I suppose.

I found an intriguing co-incidence after reading the above book. Mr Bell has worked out that what makes great movies and books is what happens in the exact centre. What happens there with a character’s personal decisions is actually what that character’s story is all about. He said to check any good book, or fast forward a movie, and you would find the main character changing direction in the exact centre.

I thought I would put this to the test in my novel – as it stood at the time because it really felt like it should be finished already. I have three main characters and in the exact centre, all three of them had a change of heart about something. And those three scenes are the only three in that particular chapter! I mean, how spooky is that!  By the way, I’m not really suggesting my book is great.  Anyway, now I have a firm grip on the character arcs of those main characters. I spotted what was going on without my being aware of it.

Now, what prompted this post today. Today’s writing has revealed that my main girl T is only 15!  I hadn’t really determined her age yet, and aping Terry Goodkind, I wasn’t sure it needed to be said. But today, there she is, saying it.

So, looks like I’m writing for YA readers after all.

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14 thoughts on “On writing …”

  4. Sue says:

    It’s all too much for my brain. I don’t even write letters, can never think of anything to say,
    glad it is going well.

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    • Mine was a fluke, Barbara, I’m sure. And it’s not even the middle anymore, so I’ll have to write on both sides of it to put it back. Well, I’ll need to anyhow, since I’m wrapping it up in a different spot.

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