Novelists: What's Your Process? (Read 538 times)

[heroicmuse]

I'm curious as to how other novelists approach the process of creating a coherent, ready-to-publish story.

My method is really chaotic and takes forever. Reinventing Hannah took me 18 months and eight drafts to write. Drafts 1-4 were figuring out the complete story and the characters, halfway through Draft 5 I realized that Hannah's friends had nicknamed her Mouse because she was so quiet and that I wanted to split the book into parts named after the different community service activities she was doing, 6 was where I finally had a complete story I was happy with, and 7 and 8 were polishing, adding things to make it all make sense, etc (e.g. adding mentions of the girls Hannah eventually becomes friends with being in the cafeteria in earlier scenes so that they don't show up out of nowhere.)

I didn't do much, if any, planning prior to writing the first draft. Instead, I just sat down and wrote and hit dead ends and backed up and started again, over and over until I was happy with it, then paid for editing and made some final revisions.

It works, but it takes a long time. I'm on draft 6 of my second novel and I'm finally feeling like I've figured out my main character and most of the story events... six months and five drafts after I began. Which is still faster than the 18 months my first book took, but it also feels like a slow, frustrating way to write. So I'm curious: how do you approach writing a novel and how long does it take you from start to finish?

[Kpatch]

Writing a novel DOES take a long time. I had an outline first and I wrote a lot out of sequence, creating different documents for different characters at times. I probably had 4 drafts and when I was happy with it, I proofread it another 3 or 4 times. It's tedious.

[booksoapwriter81]

I usually start with a title and a list of bullet points of things that are going to happen in the novel. These are established at the end of the previous novel because they are set up as a preview of the next book. Once I actually start writing, I write in order from start to finish.  I give myself a limit of fifteen chapters for a normal book and twenty chapters for special editions so that I know how long I have to tell the story and when it needs to end and transition into another book.  As I work, I will often write bullet points under chapter headings to keep track of where things are going if I know that it might be awhile before I get back to my book.  I will also cross reference with previous books to make sure that details of storylines and settings that are being referenced are being portrayed correctly.  If I am doing a storyline that involves an experience or place that I am not one hundred percent familiar with, I will stop and do some research on it so that it comes out as realistically as possible.  This is what will sometimes make the process long and tedious for me.  But it's always worth it in the end!

In the past, I have rarely rewritten scenes after the first go around, but I have been doing a little bit more of that lately, especially if I get an idea about how to make things flow better.  I am also rewriting my oldest books since they were written when I was in high school and are not in sync with the style I eventually developed.  As I get closer to publishing my newest books, I will probably be doing less of this.

After I have written the fifteen or twenty chapters, I go back and edit the whole thing.  Then I add in the preview for the next book at the end, format the book for publishing, and set it up in amazon kindle.  I also have to take time to do the cover art since I draw all of my cover pictures and the preview pictures for my website and my book trailers.  Once all of that is complete, it is time to start the process all over again by using the preview for the new book as a basis.

[billiereed]

I admire all of you. I really do. I have been struggling to complete a novel for like 15 years now lol But I do have a new project in the works I'm pretty excited about. I've plotted it out and finally started writing it. I hope I can keep the momentum. That is my problem though. How do you keep the writer's block at bay and keep excited and motivated about your project? Any advice on that would be appreciated because I really would like to finish something someday and maybe, just maybe, publish it.

[heroicmuse]

Mar 29, 2022 12:29:55 GMT -5 billiereed said:

I admire all of you. I really do. I have been struggling to complete a novel for like 15 years now lol But I do have a new project in the works I'm pretty excited about. I've plotted it out and finally started writing it. I hope I can keep the momentum. That is my problem though. How do you keep the writer's block at bay and keep excited and motivated about your project? Any advice on that would be appreciated because I really would like to finish something someday and maybe, just maybe, publish it.

I have a free guide to overcoming writer's block that you can download from my website (jackaori.com).

I am particularly fond of free writing. When I feel blocked I sit down and write about why I'm blocked and how frustrated I am and that unblocks me.

[billiereed]

Thank you. I tried to download the guide, but I am getting an error. I'm probably doing something wrong lol

[heroicmuse]

Mar 29, 2022 22:57:31 GMT -5 billiereed said:

Thank you. I tried to download the guide, but I am getting an error. I'm probably doing something wrong lol

Hmm... this is the direct link to the form. jackaori.activehosted.com/f/13. If this doesn't work, PM me and I can send it to you directly.