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Important Lessons about Writing
Jan. 20th, 2008 07:28 pmI've realized a couple of important things today about writing. Some of you will laugh at me, but it never really clicked until today.
1. Writing every day actually does help finish things much quicker. Somehow I had in my mind that writing in a big burst makes the words better somehow. Writing an hour or so a day can be just as good.
2. I keep getting caught in the trap of needing the novel to be important. Just write the story stupid. Some novels are epic. Some aren't. It is the enjoyment factor that matters.
3. I've written three novels and each of them have taught me a very important lesson.
The first was a fantasy novel that I finished in college that was basically one long prologue for a trilogy. It was called Prelude to War. It had interest characters and idea, but the story never worked. Why? I kept trying to save the good stuff. Don't save the good stuff. Use it.
The second novel was the Highway West. This novel had a complete plot, good images, and characters. But, I kept adding elements to it. It was like a supernatural Superfriends. Basically, the novel doesn’t work because I kept adding to the soup and the flavor turned bland. That and really it was derivative to the point that it was almost fan fiction. I plan to write a novel using that title one day only because I swore I would do so.
My third novel was Dreams in a Dragon’s House. This is my best novel to date and I believe it to be saleable. I’ve started out the queries. I learned a lot writing it, and the most important thing is that the reader needs to be grabbed by the throat on the very first page. Don’t start just before it gets interesting, start when the story is fun and fill the reader in later.
1. Writing every day actually does help finish things much quicker. Somehow I had in my mind that writing in a big burst makes the words better somehow. Writing an hour or so a day can be just as good.
2. I keep getting caught in the trap of needing the novel to be important. Just write the story stupid. Some novels are epic. Some aren't. It is the enjoyment factor that matters.
3. I've written three novels and each of them have taught me a very important lesson.
The first was a fantasy novel that I finished in college that was basically one long prologue for a trilogy. It was called Prelude to War. It had interest characters and idea, but the story never worked. Why? I kept trying to save the good stuff. Don't save the good stuff. Use it.
The second novel was the Highway West. This novel had a complete plot, good images, and characters. But, I kept adding elements to it. It was like a supernatural Superfriends. Basically, the novel doesn’t work because I kept adding to the soup and the flavor turned bland. That and really it was derivative to the point that it was almost fan fiction. I plan to write a novel using that title one day only because I swore I would do so.
My third novel was Dreams in a Dragon’s House. This is my best novel to date and I believe it to be saleable. I’ve started out the queries. I learned a lot writing it, and the most important thing is that the reader needs to be grabbed by the throat on the very first page. Don’t start just before it gets interesting, start when the story is fun and fill the reader in later.
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