Stop it.
Whatever novel you are working on right now, KEEP GOING! Keep writing and writing and writing until you reach the finish line. Not the "perfect" finish line, but A finish line.
Here's the deal. I made a huge mistake when reading various author's advice about finishing. I thought they meant taking your story through to the public and seeing it where it takes you. I even wrote an entire blog post about my own fight to that finish. However, the other night, while I was on StumbleUpon, I fell upon a number of different sites on writing (as usual). As I read through page after page of different tidbits, I kept reading "finish it" over and over again. Then it hit me.
I had.
I had finished my first novel. I had that sweet feeling that all these writers were all talking about. I had been through all of the torture of not understanding how my characters got into the situations they did, how they were going to get out of those situations and how all these things were going to play into my plot. I had experienced the times of terror, when it felt like everything had jumped the shark, and I had fought my way back to verisimilitude with nothing more than my imagination.
What I did when I wrote my first novel was simple. I kept going. For that I can thank NaNoWriMo and Scrivener. If Scrivener hadn't offered a huge discount to winners of the 2011 NaNoWriMo, when I was beyond broke (cute how I put that in the past tense, as if things have changed), I'm not sure I would have felt desperate enough to fight for the finish.
It took me a little over a month to get to the finish. In On Writing Stephen King says it should take no more than three months to get through a first draft (he doesn't like it to extend past a season). I think he's right. I am beginning to think that if we don't keep going when writing a novel, then we just end up stalling and getting in our own way.
My thoughts: Stop trying to find the perfect ending, just get your story out, as sloppy as it is, from beginning to end and leave the editing and rewriting until later. In other words, for now, in your beginning stages, just keep going!
"Keep Going!" From Some Writers You May Know:
Neil Gaiman
I don't think there's much more I can add to that. So you know that novel your avoid right now by reading blogs? Get back to it, and no matter what happens next - KEEP GOING!!
Thanks for reading!
What types of things come up in your writing that stop you?
What techniques do you have for writing through the hard parts?
That is my biggest problem with writing . . . to keep going. Mostly I get hit with the idea bug and that nagging little thing ricochets through my brain till I stop the current book I'm writing and start a new one. But I too finished my Nanowrimo 2011 novel so congratulations!
ReplyDeleteYou owe it to yourself, and the awesomeness of all of your good ideas to see them through! I am realizing this myself. Perhaps shift a novel idea to a short story, but finish it. Remember the incredible feeling at the end of NaNoWriMo 2011 and give it to yourself again!!
ReplyDeleteWhen I have a first draft, I get obsessed about finishing it. Nothing else gets worked on, I force myself not to think about editing. I just get the story out. Then I relax, let it sit and procrastinate diving into edits, but eventually get to it.
ReplyDeletePatricia you are my hero! I hope to maintain that stance for my current WIP and for all those that follow. :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see Henry Miller in the mix. I have a book of his called "Paint as you like & Die Happy," that is full of great creative advice. If you ever see it, snatch it up. The title alone always cheers me up when I'm in a creative funk. ~Tui
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking as I was reading that, "That's an awesome title!"
ReplyDeleteI couldn't leave him out - ever since I read those "commandments" I have kept them on my phone for constant reference!
Great advice Nicole! I've been writing the same novel for almost a year and I'm nowhere close to the finish line. Part of that is because I get caught in a wormhole of overplanning and part of that is my inability to find time to write every day. With two young children and a new job I'm lucky if I work on my story twice a week. But I tell myself that I've come too far to give up, and this is one project that I really want to see through to the end.
ReplyDeleteChris, you inspire me every time I read your blog! Your dedication to your story streams through and I know you will finish it. I have not been blessed with kids of my own yet, so I can't even begin to imagine that juggling act, but I do often have to battle for writing time with my own health. I read (I wish I could remember where) one writer's commitment to themselves of 600 words a day. He said something along the lines of even on my worst days I force myself to write 600 words. I thought to myself "That's not so bad." I'm trying to stick to it. You can even cut it in half. 300 words a day. Of course, on your two "writing days" go crazy, but on the other days, just throw 300 more words into your first draft.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it's possible for you, maybe the time really isn't there, but I found the small minimum was something a bit more tangible for me on my sick days. :)