What are you working on right now?

Working on a Martin-esque epic set in historical fantasy world modeled on ancient Greece and Persia. After faffing around for a couple years doing research, compiling notes, and sketching characters, I got down the business in earnest about three months ago, and now I'm 60,000 words in, managing to keep to a pace of 5,000 words a week.

What I'm finding easy: Dialog. Get my characters talking and I whip off 1,000 words in an hour no problem.

What I'm finding difficult: Plotting a story of such complexity. Four major POV characters spread over half a continent. The need to construct a satisfactory story for the first book, but also keep the overall story (and characters arcs) in mind for the projected three-book series. I have a loose plot-line, and I know how things will end. But I'm finding it very distressing when I'm just letting myself go with a plot-line and I become nagged by doubts about whether it fits or I'm taking my story down a dead-end.
 
One such as myself often wonders how I'm unable to hold continuous thought for any extended period of time. To which I could exercise a simple idea into a well expressed story. I'm of the circumstance that I hold no relative information on topics such as mythology or anything of the sort. Therefore the transitioning of thoughts to words slips me rather frequently. That's not to say that I'm not able, as I love writing and would love to write my own stories. It's a simple matter of being unable to shape ideas one takes from what's known and making it part of their own world while still being relative.

Sadly, any writing I do is more of a novelty/hobby rather than holding a career aspect to it. Something which seems to be the main focus of this site anymore, from what I've seen and heard that is.

Anyway,

I'm currently trying to come up with ideas for the current 75 word challenge. Karn (for those of you who know him) is a really close friend of mine and participates in them, as it's one of the few things here he thoroughly enjoys. So I thought I'd surprise him with one of my own. Though, It's not looking so good at the moment. >.< I'll keep my spirits up though that I'll manage something in time.
 
There's plenty here who write for a hobby, never fear. :)

Today, though, I wasn't hobbying and finished my copy edits. Yay! Freedom. What will I do now? (Looks glumly at book 2 and 3 and the new thing, and the unfinished YA foresty-thing. I'll think of something...:D)
 
Sir Edric is, once again, facing highly probable death.

Very unusually, I had to write an extra chapter because I enormously overran the amount I was meant to write for one. Typically [and oddly, for a writer], brevity is my problem. I almost always have to add to stories rather than subtract, so it's a bit weird.
 
thaddeus6th said:
Typically [and oddly, for a writer], brevity is my problem.
Click to expand...

I struggle to do verbosity too.

Anywho... I'm still not writing. Not written properly since December. But I am thinking about writing, so I guess mentally I am working on things. In between doctor/hospital/house thoughts, my brain swings between TBM, L&C and WM (that's the newest, shortest one, Whitecott Manor). I think I've mentally sorted TBM and L&C. WM is giving me huge problems. I can't get the MC, Alistair, in my head. I have absolutely no idea what his goal is and what stands in the way of that goal. Not a bloody clue. And the more I think about it, the more lost I get.
 
Mouse said:
Anywho... I'm still not writing. Not written properly since December. But I am thinking about writing, so I guess mentally I am working on things. In between doctor/hospital/house thoughts, my brain swings between TBM, L&C and WM (that's the newest, shortest one, Whitecott Manor). I think I've mentally sorted TBM and L&C. WM is giving me huge problems. I can't get the MC, Alistair, in my head. I have absolutely no idea what his goal is and what stands in the way of that goal. Not a bloody clue. And the more I think about it, the more lost I get.
Click to expand...

I'm writing up my notes as we...er... type... for TBM- because I've been so crap at getting this to you in a timely manner, some of the comments I made have not made sense to me and I've had to re-read and decipher my scribble :D

Going to give L&C a read after I finish reading Catch 22 (it's just an insanely good novel but does my head in a bit).

I think Alistair is on the board of directors for SpiderSafe; a worldwide organisation dedicated to stopping bad people from killing lovely spiders (problem is, those wasps and their daggers keep foiling his plans). What?

As for me :
Bad Leg has stalled. Send red Bounty.

pH
 
Stuck on the damn penultimate chapter but the rest is done including the final one which flew off the keyboard.

So just need to buckle down and get my head round what I exactly want to write. Then it's hand out time to a proof reader of mine who is a damn fine storyteller ... if only he got off his proverbial backside and wrote.
 
Mouse, I thought I was the only one. Reading others' complaining of making cuts all the time to severely reduce their first draft's size always seemed so odd to me.

Maybe start with a central personality trait? Or [if it fits] the nature of his relationship(s) with other significant characters. Getting into characters' heads can be tricky.
 
Phyrebrat said:
I'm writing up my notes as we...er... type... for TBM- because I've been so crap at getting this to you in a timely manner, some of the comments I made have not made sense to me and I've had to re-read and decipher my scribble :D

Going to give L&C a read after I finish reading Catch 22 (it's just an insanely good novel but does my head in a bit).

I think Alistair is on the board of directors for SpiderSafe; a worldwide organisation dedicated to stopping bad people from killing lovely spiders (problem is, those wasps and their daggers keep foiling his plans). What?

As for me :
Bad Leg has stalled. Send red Bounty.

pH
Click to expand...

Ta very much. I'll, uh, leave the spider suggestion. Although it would work wonders with his gardening job.

Have you started your novel yet??

thaddeus6th said:
Mouse, I thought I was the only one. Reading others' complaining of making cuts all the time to severely reduce their first draft's size always seemed so odd to me.
Click to expand...

Yep, this is me exactly! I always have to add rather than subtract.

Maybe start with a central personality trait? Or [if it fits] the nature of his relationship(s) with other significant characters. Getting into characters' heads can be tricky.
Click to expand...

I definitely need to sort out his personality. I had a kinda epiphany last night though, and I think he needs to get fired.
 
Ha! Something I cut had to be put back in, and expanded. Now it foreshadows two things, maybe three. And works as a nice peaceful interlude in between the super hero and villain battles.

But it looks like my first draft is finished. Yay!

Now there shall come an editing...
 
Hi,

Likewise. I don't think I've ever had an edited version of a book end up more abbreviated than the first draft. Usually they increase in size by up to 10%.

Case in point, my latest is with the editor now, and I've already had the first "are you bonking mad?" call. She didn't understand about half a dozen different aspects of the book and suggested adding a prologue to explain the world build. It's about 2600 words as of today when I finished it, on an 88k novel or 3% extra right there.

I often get this sort of comment from her, and mostly it's because I don't do enough explaining of what to me are basic things since I've lived with the book for so long.

Cheers, Greg.
 
Finally got back to the novel after a two month break. It's slow but hopefully I'll build up momentum. Got a thousand words written yesterday in a very busy day so fingers crossed I can keep going and get this draft finished.

It helps that I had an epiphany the other day. Suddenly thought of a way to resolve a conflict that had held my two MCS apart.
 
Been struggling with a certain chapter for a while, but written a couple of thousand words today (rather pleased with the progress, to be honest).
 
Almost halfway through the major re-write of Liberator, steady going but it appears far smoother and tighter.
Will possibly be looking for an extra beta reader when it is finished ( who likes a semi military style space opera) .
 
Slightly puzzled how the novel got this long. I'm very glad that it's an epic, but it's going to take a lot of editing...
 
Non-fiction. Got to be the hardest thing to write, 'specially if there is any names involved. I write 5K then delete about half of it. Annoying how reality refuses to comply with writing a book about it.
 
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