Today I finally sat down and typed up the beginings of what I hope will be a decent attempt at a novel. Due to a busy schedule I sat down and in two seperate 2-3 hour blocks. I found that once I started it was easy enough to keep writing and so I'm happy enough with my word count for today. I did have few observations.
1) He said, she said: I found that writing dialogue was fun but having to type he said or a variant there of was a bit of a pain in the arse and I'm worried that it may come across as repetitive. I'm guessing that will be one of the issues pointed out to me when some poor schmuck takes the time to actually read it.
2) The word count: I'm slightly concerned that I'll exceed the word count. I really don't want to end up with a tome at the end of this and so I may have to set it up as part one in some kind of series.I'm still aiming for it to be a self contained story but that may be difficult. It has stopped me adding what I feel is more depth to the world I've created.
3) Geography: Due to my completely unfounded hubris I'm convinced this is going to be not only a bestseller but a movie franchise as well. For this reason I've left out the name of the town and the even the country so my awesome writing skills (that will no doubt pay the bills) can be used in any country.
4) Tone: I'm finding sticking with one tone quite challenging. Depending on my mood it goes from lighthearted to depressing within a couple of paragraphs. I've found myself on multiple occasions having to go back and change things.
5) The title: I assumed this would be easy enough to come up with. Granted I haven't spent long thinking about it but I was expecting some kind of epiphany to come to me as far the title went. I'm sure I'll come up with it further down the line but I'd like to have it sooner rather than later
So far I've quite enjoyed this. It's been fun and as I said the story seems to be easy enough to tell. I've also quite liked how the story has changed from how I first imagined it when it was first conceived. While telling the story I've had to make certain decisions along the way as far as what makes the most sense (Pff, none of it) But I'm still quite happy with how my word count and the story as a whole is being fleshed out. I'm really not looking forward to the editing phase of this but I suppose I'll have to do it.
Anyway the details
Chapter one and two written
Word count: 4187
Later
Adam
I think it's a generally agreed rule that 'he said' and 'she said' are invisible to the reader.
ReplyDeleteAn idea might be to crack open a book and look at how it's dialogue is structured.
Valid point about the invisibility. However when I'm writing I constantly find myself wondering if my readers will get what I'm saying. I'm sure I'll find out at the end of the month. What's that Simon? You want to read my first draught? Well if you insist!
ReplyDelete