My Journey Writing a Novel

Writing a novel is hard. Like, really hard.  I honestly didn't realize how hard it would be. I used to think "I'll just write a novel." Ha! It isn't easy. Not at all. But it is rewarding. To see something I am creating and sometimes watching be created when characters just seem to go "off script" and do what they want is satisfying.

I started this particular novel I’m working on in October of 2021. But it is not the first novel I've ever written. I have begun many novels; starting with a murder mystery when I was 16. 

You could say I've always wanted to be a writer but the fear stops me. The fear of: "will this be good enough?" "Is this really that good or is it crap?" 

And I'd start writing a novel and get stuck because I never outlined. I'm a pantser but have realized it doesn't really work that great for me. I have to start over or scrap scenes or I realize I've written the same plot point four different ways! Gah!

So...I started my current novel from an idea of a single mom who hasn't been able to tell her daughter's father that he has a child. He left for the rodeo and she was too afraid (and barely out of high school) and it just never was revealed he was a dad. 

Skip forward nine (or twelve) years and the best friend of the father comes back into town. The three of them were all friends in high school and now our hero is going to help our heroine tell the real father he has a child and they fall in love and everyone is happy. 

BUT I realized this was really hard to write and a bit implausible, so I changed things up. Dad now knows and the hero and heroine are still vaguely aware of each other because only he left town after high school. He comes back home and is now a self-made businessman who turns her world upside down when he buys the grocery story she manages just as she was going to get a much-needed raise.

The ideas floating around in my head for how to make this story work have been immense. The mere act of getting these down on paper and making the characters work, dialogue, scene, setting, etc. etc. has been a HUGE learning curve. (My fellow novel writers know this struggle!)

Someday this novel will be done. I'm hoping by this year because it is set during Christmas. I can't release it in the spring, ya know? The point of this post is really to get my inner thoughts out so I can keep moving forward with it.

Bottom line: writing a novel is hard but satisfying work. I realize I am not saying anything groundbreaking here but I at least said it for myself and anyone else who may have aspirations to write a novel (or anything). Just keep doing it. 

Consistency is the biggest hurdle for me - working on it everyday. I sometimes get lost in the weeds and can't see the bigger picture that is adding up. 

For instance, I forced myself to keep at it and I had a first draft of around 40,000 words. I could NOT believe it. That, honestly, is the most I've ever written in one story. AND I am forcing myself to FINISH it and publish it (self-publish, which is so cool we have that option now). 

Normally, I would get stuck (or bored) and move onto the next idea. I have many started novels that go nowhere and it makes me a little sad because I wanted to know how those stories turned out. So the question is do I go back and finish them or chalk them up to a learning experience of I NEED TO PLOT rather than write by the seat of my pants? It's fun to just pants it but the structure is needed for me personally to finish something.

I just finished listening to Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody. It is excellent and I highly recommend it if you want to write a novel. I won't review it here but I'll just say she lays out the 15 beats, or plot points, that make a story successful. 

After listening to this book, I realized I have written my catalyst four different ways. (Oops! But what romance author doesn't like to imagine their hero and heroine meeting multiple times for the first time? It's an exciting moment!) 

So I am reworking some of those into other parts of the book. Luckily I don't have to scrap many of the scenes I've written, but I will say a few flashbacks hit the cutting room floor and those will only ever be read by me. haha (They're very cheesy but hey, I'm learning and they were fun to write and gave me some backstory that I needed to flesh out the plot and characters).

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Writing this novel has been very different than I imagined it would be. I had very few sessions sitting at my desk writing on my computer. I hand wrote a lot of it in my reMarkable notebook. I am really snotty when it comes to devices and a couple years ago I splurged for this eNotebook. 

It was a game changer for me. I could create multiple notebooks for each scene (and use it for other writing projects too) and they sync to an app for further use. The feature that sold me though was that it feels and looks very much like pen on paper and it converts handwriting to text (pretty accurately I must add). I wrote on that device every chance I could when I was on job sites with my husband (he's a contractor). 

If I didn't want to write by hand I typed on my phone. Sometimes I'd bring my laptop or I'd use a portable keyboard with my phone. Then I got the Freewrite Traveler. (I told you-I'm snobby about cool devices, don't judge. ha) And other times I'd write with a pen in a Moleskine notebook and use Google handwriting to translate my writing to text (not quite as efficient as the reMarkable).

Point is, this novel was NOT written in early morning or 3 am sessions tapping away at my computer chugging coffee. I wrote as often as I could when I had even just 10 or 15 minutes to spare. I had to let go of the idea that I'd get these big swathes of time to sit and write. That was not my lifestyle or my life in those moments. 

I have started getting up earlier because my shift at work allows me a mid-morning start and I have been using that time for writing and edits and other projects to get a freelance career going. That has been hard though because I love to sleep. But I know the sacrifice will be worth it. 

I want this novel done so I can move onto the next big, creative project. I will revisit my journey as I move into other phases but this first pass has been quite the experience.

I know I could have gone faster with the first draft and I judge myself for not getting it done quicker and releasing it fall of 2022. But judging and being annoyed with myself kills the creative muse and without her how will I ever get done?