just keep writing

[aamcnamara]

I have graduated. I have attended many (many!) grad parties, and will continue to do so for weeks. I have baked two large batches of oatmeal-raisin cookies in preparation for my own grad party.

I have also been making progress on the Notanovel, fighting my way through questions of what goes right and what goes wrong in increasing detail. I may or may not be attempting to get to 50,000 words before the end of this month. It would be awesome, but if it isn't going to happen, well, it isn't going to happen.

If I'm having a problem with my novel, I figure other people probably have the same problem with novels and/or stories, too, so: does it ever happen that you are partway through a large project and simultaneously are convinced that a) there is no way you have enough material for the remaining part of the project and b) you have way too many things to put into the rest of the project? Because that's my state right now. I don't feel like my main plot is large enough to support the rest of a novel--I keep thinking of ways in which it could plausibly end in the next, oh, 10k words, certainly. On the other hand, there are all these little things that characters do and say that imply their backstory to me so clearly, and maybe I'll get to explore that eventually, but there's so much of that that I'm not sure if I'll get there before the main plot ties up.

So far, my strategy is simple: Just Keep Writing.

To that end, here is a progress bar which I can update and which will hopefully inspire me to write write write:

26838 / 80000

The sharp-eyed observer may note that I am now just slightly past a third of the projected length for this novel.

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

This is normal, and your strategy is a sound one.

[aamcnamara.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

That's what I figured, but it's always good to have independent confirmation.

[kelljones.livejournal.com]

Yup, I've got that problem with most of mine, and my solution is also Just Keep Writing. I think it may be because plot is not my strongest point, so it's a lot of work for me to get to the end of the draft with just one plotline (and everything else I'm trying to do). My revised drafts are usually longer than my early ones, because I realize all the stuff I left out, and all the exciting complications, etc. that ought to have been in there. I've also found it's really not a good idea for me to "pad" the early drafts, since then I have to both cut and add in the next ones.

Good luck, and congratulations on graduating! :)

[aamcnamara.livejournal.com]

Plot is not my strong suit either. This Notanovel began as an exploratory wander; it's been taking on more aspects of a Real, Live Plot! as it goes along. Previously I've only done NaNoWriMo, which is helpful for learning how to write novels in some ways and, I would argue, detrimental in others. As in everything with life and writing, I guess.

Thank you very much on both counts!