"The Order" in its new form is a far more comfortable layout than what I was trying to do before. As I mentioned last week, short stories are weird, and trying to apply their meter and method to a full-length novel results in something with an awkward, knob-kneed gait. The new version should be much neater, and honestly give more of a glimpse into Geno's growth from harmless innocent to seasoned killer, which is the whole reason I wanted to write it in the first place.
I've been outlining scenes for the entirety of this week, which is to say I've gotten almost no writing done, but I expect that to change here shortly when my cloning experiment yields what I'm certain will be passable results. Seriously, though, time will be freeing up in my average week from here till the end of the year, so I have time to write the page a day I'll need to complete this on time.
I mentioned previously that aiming to pen 1,000 words a week will give anyone a novel every two years without even trying hard. Writing just over 1,000 words every two days isn't much more difficult, until I paused to consider just how many words I'm already writing in the average week.
- The average Rant is 750 words.
- The average Anomaly so far is over 1,250 words.
Adding another 17,000 words a month is equivalent to growing a new week. It means putting another work window in the middle of a cool-down period, which you'd much rather be unwinding from the stress of the day. It's a part-time job unto itself, except the only chance of seeing a paycheck comes long after you're finished, just as the ramen stores are running low.
The trouble then becomes motivating yourself to write. It's much like starting an exercise regimen: yes, you should do it; no, it's not that painful; yes, it's worse the longer you put it off; and yes, Soul Calibur does seem like a much better use of your evening. Before we get to the "how" on that, we need to examine the "why."
Know why you're writing when you start. It may be the only thing that gets you over the hump into the middle of any writing project when you start to question the need to go further. If you're writing to remind yourself how to put words together, stopping in the middle may not be a tragedy, but if you're hope is to see your name on a shelf at Barnes & Noble, you have a lot of work between here and there.
Thinking of writing like work may work for some people, but to many of us the reason to go to the office is the paycheck. Writing for the money is like stripping to get over your stage fright: there are far easier ways of going about it; a fact you're going to realize just a little too late.
Writing for the art of it will sustain a number of potential authors for many years. Unfortunately, it also tends to lend towards authors in love with their own would-be legacy, unwilling to pen anything they feel falls shy of their ludicrous expectations. It can be crippling to any writer early in the game. Musicians practice the same meaningless gesture thousands of times before ever playing anything that sounds even vaguely like music. Writing is the same way. Start small.
Writing to entertain may be the most sustainable model, although I imagine it will always receive criticism from the second sort. If you want to make people smile, laugh, cry and feel, then you have a good chance at keeping your writing going purely for the enjoyment of it. There's nothing quite like looking back over 4,000 words and chuckling at your own dialogue. Entertainment makes a wonderful reward, especially for an early writer. Write something you'd want to read, and I guarantee you you won't be the only one.
Once you have the goal in mind, write it down as one simple phrase. "The point is to make them laugh." "Leave them guessing till the end." "I want their heart racing just reading this." Whatever your goal, put it on a sticky note and staple it to your writing space (if you have cats, consider taping it down. I speak from experience). Any time you get lost in the middle of a scene or you feel like you're typing in a bowl full of tar, glance up and remind yourself the point you're going for.
But the "why" isn't everything. Even in a good novel, there are pieces that are necessary but unfun to write. They're the backbreaking hurdle that topples far too many would-be writers: the long exposition or calming down-time between the exciting elements of the story at large. If you're a short-story author, you may never have seen these strange phenomena, but novel writers can choke down dozens in a single book.
When you hit the points you need but don't want, adjust your scale. Count off each sentence as a tiny win. Reward yourself for paragraphs rather than pages until you're through the rough patch. Yes, it will make the stretch take about five times as long, but if you trust yourself to swallow it whole you can lose a lot more time putting off the attempt. There's an old line about eating a whale one bite at a time. This is a little more like liver and onions when you're six. And no, there is no "feed it to the dog" option. Just pinch your nose and get started. It'll be over before you know it.
And never forget why you sat down to eat this whale in the first place.
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