Crossroads

[mixa]

I am guessing that the gods of writing doesn't want me to write this post!!! This is the third time I've written this!

Anyway, my dilemma is after 4 months, I've come to 10,000 words, I've tried to write as organically as I could, so at this point, I've come to realise that the plot along with the characters will be huge....its going to be at least 3-4 books, as a first time writer I am not sure I have the skills to craft the story.....

Basically I am wondering if I should leave the current story and start a simpler story (where it'll be finished in one book) or continue on with my current tale.

The thing is leaving the current story:

1. Feel like a quitter.
2. Spent a lot of time and effort on it already....

What are your thought??

Thanks.

 

[jenna]

You don't need to quit the larger project per se, just put it aside while you write something smaller. Then when you've completed the smaller one and have more skill and confidence you can return to the epic.

 

[Troo]

You've reached 10,000 words in only four months! That's a fantastic achievement (assuming you have other things you do during your month, like school or a job).

Stick with your big project. Keep writing it. Don't walk away from it just because the size and scope of it frightens you. Push on!

Get that bad boy down on paper. THEN you can shelve it for a couple of months and come back to it with fresh eyes. Re-read it and see what stays and what goes, and whether it needs cutting down into parts or could be one whole book.

If writing organically works for you, go with it. Don't panic now just because you're not as far ahead as you'd hoped to be

 

[Erin99]

The same thing happened to me a few years ago. The plot I designed covered some five plus books, but I'd never written anything before so I wondered if I should. Regardless, I ploughed on (since the story/characters hounded me day and night), and within two years I had the first book finished -- that's 135,500 words. As I went along I found my skills vastly improved, along with my confidence, and I'm now glad I completed it. Another year and a half was spent on editing, making my total amount of time spent on my book five years (including plotting each novel, its background, and extra background material that I'll probably never use). But it's worth every moment; I'm now a quarter of the way through book two and I can't wait to write the rest!

If you love the story enough, nothing will make you abandon it.

Hope this helps!

 

[Aes]

Anyway, my dilemma is after 4 months, I've come to 10,000 words, I've tried to write as organically as I could, so at this point, I've come to realise that the plot along with the characters will be huge....its going to be at least 3-4 books, as a first time writer I am not sure I have the skills to craft the story.....

Ha, this is my story, isn't it? It must be!

I say this because, when I first joined these forums, I had an idea for a story that I just had to write, but as I filled out more details in my mind, I began to realize that the scope of the story (the timeline, the amount of characters I had planned, and the sheer volume of things I wanted them to accomplish) was far too epic for a rookie writer such as myself.

So, for practice, I've decided to go with something less complicated, and you might want to consider this as well.* Just be sure to mentally go over your original story every so often, so you not only remember it, but so that it can be somewhat fresh in your mind when you are ready to pick it up again.

* It really depends on how you feel your writing/creating skills are. I'm personally doing it because I want to really be able to do my "main" story justice when I sit down to write it.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Its going to be at least 3-4 books, as a first time writer I am not sure I have the skills to craft the story

So long as you are willing to do as many revisions and even total rewrites as it takes, you can learn what you need along the way. Just be flexible enough to throw away anything that doesn't work, and rethink as necessary, so that your plot and characters mature along with your skills.

My first serious attempt at writing a novel expanded into a trilogy. It took more than six years (and more than six rewrites) before I was satisfied that it was good enough to send out to publishers, but I doubt I would have reached that point any sooner writing something shorter that I cared about less.

It's not really where or how you begin that matters; it's how you progress.

 

[koma]

At least 3 or 4 books...?
Try writing one, thats difficult enough.
I don't mean to sound doubtful but I fear you will only end up with an unfinished tale thats cost you a hell of a lot of effort.
Better, if you want something published (if that is your aim), to first go for something smaller and more easily achieved. At least then, should you be disappointed, it will only have cost you a third or less of the effort it will take you to write what you are thinking about writing now.

 

[WriterDoug]

My first serious attempt at writing a novel expanded into a trilogy. It took more than six years (and more than six rewrites) before I was satisfied that it was good enough to send out to publishers, but I doubt I would have reached that point any sooner writing something shorter that I cared about less.

I know this may go against the topic of the thread, but I am dying to get a few more details on this! How do you define a novel "rewrite," (or at least for the sake of that one project?) I have spent a lot of time with a novel that I have managed about four rewrites on it, but I define each one as such:

1. The entire manuscript is printed and placed into a spiral-bound book. The entire thing is then read extensively, and corrections are made all over the pages.
2. The corrections are transferred to the electronic copy. Sometimes chapters are moved around, or renamed. In some extreme cases, the entire prologue and ending have been both completely thrown away and rewritten--twice! One of my rewrites included approximately 2,000 corrections.

I suppose what I am wondering is, did you actually completely redo large portions of the novel two, three or even up to six times? I love the story I have crafted, yet I always have this slight doubt in me that it is not my absolute best.

Something for the actual topic starter:

I have three words of caution for you, though I most definitely encourage you to write a large series if you feel you can handle it, and those words are: planning, pacing and patience. My biggest downfall was my ambition, which saw so much further ahead than my ability to plan out the ideas. Ultimately, I came to my own crossroads in which I did not know the path I wanted to take; instead, I sat there and failed--numerous times.

I finally came to terms that I was starting off with far more than I could chew. I attempted several massive novels, and my fuse always fizzled out right around the halfway mark. For me, the solution was relatively simple; I favor writing shorter novels. It is just maddening otherwise, at this phase of my life.

If you have more endurance than I do with a pencil or keyboard, then the best of luck goes out to you, of course! Always listen to what you're saying to yourself inside though; if the project starts to feel more like a burden than a passion, then that it is not something to take lightly.

cheers,
WD

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

How do you define a novel "rewrite," (or at least for the sake of that one project?) I have spent a lot of time with a novel that I have managed about four rewrites on it, but I define each one as such:

1. The entire manuscript is printed and placed into a spiral-bound book. The entire thing is then read extensively, and corrections are made all over the pages.
2. The corrections are transferred to the electronic copy. Sometimes chapters are moved around, or renamed. In some extreme cases, the entire prologue and ending have been both completely thrown away and rewritten--twice! One of my rewrites included approximately 2,000 corrections.

I suppose what I am wondering is, did you actually completely redo large portions of the novel two, three or even up to six times?

This was back before I owned a computer, Doug, and every rewrite ultimately meant that I had to retype the whole thing from the very beginning. I did, and still do, make copious pencil corrections, but writing my first three books on a typewriter established the habit of throwing out large chunks as needed and beginning again. I remember that with the middle book I threw out the last third of the book, rethought the action and the setting entirely, and wrote completely new chapters.

I said more than six rewrites for the first book because that's when I stopped counting. I suspect the final number of rewrites of that one (including the revisions I did after it was sold) was closer to twelve than six. However, the first few drafts were very short -- I was learning how to write, and in the beginning the writing was ... thin. The second and third books were part of the first book for quite a long time, and I know they went through at least three rewrites before I lopped them off to concentrate on the first part. The second book had at least three complete rewrites of its own, but by the time I got around to the third book I pretty much knew what I wanted to do and where I was going, so I believe there were only two more rewrites before I turned the manuscript in to my editor (and then made relatively minor revisions at her request).

After I finally started using a computer, for the next several books I would complete a draft, print it up, and then trash the files. The book only existed in hard copy, so that again I had to retype (and think about) every single word, which led to some very drastic revisions along the way.

Now I don't trash the files between drafts, but I will sometimes retype a book from the very beginning, and whole chapters and sections are often rethought and rewritten entirely, and this can happen at any stage of the process.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that when I say "rewrite" I'm not talking about niggling little corrections, but something along the lines of what you do, and not infrequently much more sweeping and drastic changes even than that.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Sorry for the double post. I was called away to dinner before I finished what I wanted to say.

mixa -- I never meant to write a series, or even a long book. All I wanted to do was write a 200 page novel, and for a long time that was a struggle -- but the story grew between one draft and the next, and kept on growing. (Even so, all three books are rather short by today's standards.) So I can't say from my own experience whether it's wise or foolish to start out with the intention of writing a massive multi-volume story. But if someone starts out with whatever intentions and finds that the creativity and the momentum are greater than he or she ever expected -- that seems to me to be a very strange place to decide to stop.

If and when the size of the project begins to overwhelm you, then you might want to put it aside for a while; but when things are going well, that's not the time to stop.

 

[Anthony G Williams]

My own approach to writing is a bit different.

I should start by saying that my background is in writing non-fiction: analytical reports in my former day job, magazine articles and books on military technology as a hobby.

A few years ago I started writing fiction. I'm sure that no-one here will be surprised when I say that I found this a very different experience: much more organic and difficult to plan and control, with the characters developing lives of their own and sometimes heading off in surprising directions. In both of my novels published so far, I did not have a detailed plan in mind when I started - I just started writing because I had ideas in my head that I wanted to get down on paper.

With my first novel ('The Foresight War') is an alternative WW2, and the structure was to a great extent determined by the path of the historical WW2, which I didn't want to depart from too much for obvious reasons. So I managed to get about three-quarters of the way through in about a year (mainly slowed by the need to do lots of research) but then got stuck - I didn't know how to end it. I put it to one side and it took another six years for me to finish.

For my second novel (Scales) there was no obvious structure, I just took an idea I had and ran with it. This took me to the half-way point, where I found that I didn't like where the story had ended up, and still hadn't thought of an explanation for the mysterious accident which had befallen the protagonist and left him with some non-human characteristics and abilities. So I shelved the book for a year, until inspiration struck again and I completed it in a few months.

In neither book did I make drastic changes to my first draft. My habit (in fiction and non-fiction alike) is to read and re-read everything I write several times over, adjusting and fine-tuning as I go along. At the start of each session I read everything I wrote in the previous session and often make further adjustments before starting on the next part. So by the time I reach the end of the book, it is in pretty much its final form.

I frankly shudder at the thought of typing everything out again - I am not a touch-typist, so the time required to do this would be immense. I can see that it provides a strong incentive to cut chunks out of the text, though

 

[The Pelagic Argosy]

I'm a rookie writer at a similar crossroads, but for different reasons.

It's not that the novel I'm planning is too epic. I wish! See, I have this Big Idea, that I think is really cool. So, I came up with an outline for the entire novel, characters to whom I have, unfortunately, become attached, and several half-written scenes (including a very cloying scene between the romantic leads. *sniff sniff*) But many things about this novel have never felt right.

There are just too many cliches. My heroine is a farm girl who must reluctantly develop her powers to save the world. My villan -- let's just call him Voldemort and be done with it. Etc.

I've come to realize that I'm trying to force my Big Idea - which I still think is really cool - into an inadequate vehicle: a fantasy world I had been tinkering with for awhile. They fit together as well as two pieces from different puzzles.

My Cool Big Idea deserves better. (I think it's really a science fiction story, rather than a fantasy story. So I've got a lot of work cut out for me there.)

Luckily(?) in the meantime I've come up with two new ideas that I believe will be much easier to write. And I've decided (perhaps as I'm writing this) that I'm going to ditch the first story for now and start with a new one.

I don't intend this post as advice for what you should do. I clearly don't know what I'm doing. I'm just saying you're not alone.

Maybe we should make T-shirts. "I abandoned by epic novel for an easier one, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

God, I even suck at writing T-shirt slogans.

 

[The Pelagic Argosy]

(Off topic...)

My habit (in fiction and non-fiction alike) is to read and re-read everything I write several times over, adjusting and fine-tuning as I go along. At the start of each session I read everything I wrote in the previous session and often make further adjustments before starting on the next part. So by the time I reach the end of the book, it is in pretty much its final form.

I do this also. I find that the first chapter of my stories are really, really polished. Chapters two and three are slightly less so. Everything past, say, Chapter 6 is non-existant. Even when I made a rule for myself to stick to editing only the previous session's work, I got bogged down and never progressed. You must have more discipline than I do.

How do you assure that the final parts are as good as the first?

 

[Anthony G Williams]

(Off topic...)
I do this also. I find that the first chapter of my stories are really, really polished. Chapters two and three are slightly less so. Everything past, say, Chapter 6 is non-existant. Even when I made a rule for myself to stick to editing only the previous session's work, I got bogged down and never progressed. You must have more discipline than I do.

I doubt it. When the writing gets tough I spend a lot more time checking out forums like this one - anything to avoid the hard work of writing!

How do you assure that the final parts are as good as the first?

Well, that's a judgment call. I do read the final parts several times before I sign it off for a final read-through.

 

[Susan Boulton]

(Off topic...)



I do this also. I find that the first chapter of my stories are really, really polished. Chapters two and three are slightly less so. Everything past, say, Chapter 6 is non-existant. Even when I made a rule for myself to stick to editing only the previous session's work, I got bogged down and never progressed. You must have more discipline than I do.

I suggest you don't edit the previous section when you start work on the project. Just get the story down from start to finish out of your head. Then set it aside for a while, then go back and edit it in chunks, perhaps never more than a chapter at a time, so you don't feel smothered by it.

How do you assure that the final parts are as good as the first?

That's a hard one, only you know the story you are writing. If you try to write the best you can, keeping true to the idea, then I would say you are there. As long as you are pleased with the ending.

As to endings for the first time I am writing a story where two thirds of the story takes place within fifteen days. The dates are fixed due to two local historical events. To actually fit the action into those days in a logical manner, having the characters react to the events and move the story on in a successful way is one of the hardest things I have done. I find I am plotting character's movements in detail as they are all in the same town at the time, so if a is at place b and c happens to go there or even walk passed it, do they or a react or see them????? (hope that makes sense). The other thing is that the events are not world shattering, or changing in the grand scale, but they are for the characters, a turning point, an endin, and a beginning for all of them in some way.

 

[jenna]

Maybe we should make T-shirts. "I abandoned by epic novel for an easier one, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

God, I even suck at writing T-shirt slogans.

LMAO I want that T-shirt!!

 

[flynx]

Perhaps you could write each part (plots, subplots, flashbacks) as stand alone entities (difficult as that may be knowing how hard it is to write a 'complete' short story) but it would take away the stretching to an indefinite future aspect.

If there's one thing I dislike, as a reader, it's not having an ending and being forced to pay more money to get one (more usually a hint of one).

On the other hand, perhaps the sub-plots are actually needless as complete stories which means drastic editing for the sections that aren't directly involved in the main story.