For the past month my novel has been flying out of my fingers. I used to have to wrestle with it (see my "Wrestling with a gorilla" thread) but now it's just flowing.
Robert Howard said that he didn't write the Conan stories, so much as have Conan stand behind him and tell him the stories, and I really feel that this is what is going on with me. It's like my two main POV characters are standing there say "and then this happened."
I think that this has to do with teh fact that I've really nailed the characters down. I took the advice I read going into this story, and really got to learn my characters before writing. I know what they would do in nearly any situation, and this is really helping me now.
Just wanted to share my happyness. At this rate I'll be done my first draft in another 6 - 8 weeks or so (I hope) and then can start to do the 2nd draft stuff.
Happy happy!
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I wish my characters would at least stand behind me long enough for me to finish what they're dictating...
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
I don't care one way or the other. I just don't want to have Conan standing behind me. If anyone should be the meatshield, it should be him.
Posted by rcorporon (Member # 2879) on :
LOL at Survivor. Conan is one of the best characters ever, IMHO, and it's unfortunate that popular culture has destroyed him.
Norwall, I know what you mean. At first this story was like trying to hold water in my hands. It just fought me. Now, it seems like I can't stop writing.
Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :
or trying to baptise a cat
Posted by Novice (Member # 3379) on :
Where does one go to purchase them talking characters? My characters stare at me blankly, as if to say, "I don't know. You're the one writing it." I wonder if they're thinking, "Well, it would certainly have been nice to be assigned to a better writer. Instead, I got stuck with her. Just my luck."
Posted by Leigh (Member # 2901) on :
I used to be able to write a thousand words in a half hour on Word, not it's like an hour. I have to force myself to write at the moment. I'd rather do other things than write, but I want to write and if I do the other thing's I'd rather do than it's procrastinating. I think I should go write right now...
Posted by pooka (Member # 1738) on :
I had a dream the other night that my novel was just flowing from my fingers. I guess it would help if I actually committed some time to it.
Posted by rcorporon (Member # 2879) on :
I think most of it has to do with really knowing your characters.
When I was reading the "how to be a writer" stuff that we all read, I thought "pshaw, we don't need to know the characters THAT well."
Then I tried to write, and I ended up posting a "When I write it feels like I'm fighitng with a gorilla" thread.
I let my characters grow in my mind. I thought about them and fleshed them out fully.
Now the novel is flying. I'm putting out between 1500 - 2000 words a day, and I'm having a great time doing it.
This is what it's about, I guess . Happy happy!
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Well, I've had this one novel I've worked on, on and off, for---my god, fifteen years. The lead character keeps coming up, demanding to be written about---then leaves as soon as I get partway into Chapter Two. Last time, earlier this year, I was nine thousand words in, the characters were going into a bar / hangout, and then they all ditched me.
Posted by thexmedic (Member # 2844) on :
It comes and it goes for me. Some projects free-wheel out of me in a matter of weeks, and some I have to slave over for months.
Quite honestly, the end quality doesn't seem to vary much though. I still need to sit back and edit like hell to get something useable out of it.
It's obviously more fun when the characters talk but as with anything, you have to wrestle through the tough times and just keep plugging away.
Posted by pooka (Member # 1738) on :
quote:the characters were going into a bar / hangout, and then they all ditched me.
That's what you get for writing about people cooler than you.
Posted by kings_falcon (Member # 3261) on :
Lol at pooka.
My planned antagonist took over when I asked him why he was doing what he was doing. Now, he is a true MC and goes through a lot of character development/change. He was very insistent (more so than the protagonist) about getting his part of the story down and right.
I find when I am trying to force the story, it doesn't work. I can't write. Either the characters are telling me what happens next or I'm "blocked." If I'm "wrestling the gorilla" I either work on another project or skip to a different part of the story that wants to be written then.
I've had the ending of my current one in my head for . . oh . . years now but couldn't write it. Until now. 1 hour - 10 pages! Yipes! So I should finish the wrap up over the weekend. Then I have to go back and fill in story line holes.
If they leave you to go for drinks, go with them and listen.
Posted by Louiseoneal (Member # 3494) on :
My characters have ADD and multiple personalities. Also, I think they like playing practical jokes.
Posted by Corin224 (Member # 2513) on :
My characters do really interesting things, have very real emotions, are creative, and always have witty, clear dialogue except when they're not supposed to.
They just forget to tell me AHEAD of time where to be to see the story happening. I keep having to fill in the details after they tell me about the big important things that keep happening. It's never quite the same, and I'm sure that they're leaving out the little subtle bits that make the story flow really nicely.
It's very discouraging.
Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :
anyone else read the title as: Unleash the fowl?
Posted by trousercuit (Member # 3235) on :
I suppose you could put a duck on a leash, but why?
Of course, a canary would be a lot funnier.
Posted by CoriSCapnSkip (Member # 3228) on :
Congratulations, and yes. I speak of it as the "point of momentum"--where you've been rolling a giant boulder uphill forever. When you reach the top, it rolls downhill virtually by itself.
Posted by Leigh (Member # 2901) on :
I've written 10,000 words in two days. Talk about letting it flow, literally. It's absolute garbage, but I feel the idea or at least the small plot I see forming is credible. Anyways, it feels great to have the big blockage gone and allowing everything to flow much smoother, and just the feeling of writing frees my minds of my sucky life. Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
In the Hatrack forums, they have "dobies," that is, threads that exist to have a similar title. I was very tempted to make a dobie titled "Unleash the fowl!" but I figured that woulnd't quite fit here.
I like it when my characters can tell me exactly what to do. Too often they want to sit and do nothing and let events happen to them.
Posted by kings_falcon (Member # 3261) on :
Wbriggs - that's when you make something happen to them and get them off their backsides!
Quack!
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
quote:anyone else read the title as: Unleash the fowl?
It's the exclamation point...
Posted by LibbieMistretta (Member # 3496) on :
That's GREAT! Kudos to you...enjoy it and hope it lasts a long time! Personally, I'm always most inspired to write like a maniac whenever I definitely cannot, like recently (preparing for a trade show next week). Ugh! Torture!
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :
quote:I used to be able to write a thousand words in a half hour on Word
I don't think I can physically type that fast--that's 4.44 characters per second assuming 8-character words (the old way of counting) non stop for one half hour, without pausing to think or scratch an itch.
[This message has been edited by Spaceman (edited July 15, 2006).]
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
I thought words were five characters. You know, four letters and a space? Maybe I'm a bit messed up there. And word has an autocomplete feature that provides possible completions for words that you've already used in your document. If you were used to using something like that, it could up your word count considerably. Even if we assume that Word's autocomplete and five letter words have nothing to do with it, 4.44 characters a second isn't out of reach for really good typists.
. Happy happy!
