When I first started this blog I had a certain idea about how it should be, what I should write about, and what I should NOT write about. Over time, I realized that I might want to review other independent authors, or do something like a blog hop, like I did last week.
All of that aside, I still want to make sure to share my experiences as a writer. That's really what this blog is about at its core. For this entry I plan to go over my writing process, what's been working for me, how I think my progress is going, and setbacks that have occurred.
First, I would like to backtrack, and talk about the questionnaire I did for the blog hop last week. It's really a first glimpse into my novel, The Dream Machine, and I hope readers of this blog will take a look at it. I'll have more information about the book later on as it progresses, but the blog hop post actually contains a lot of information about the novel.
Now, even though the novel hasn't been published, I want to talk about my experiences writing my first book up to this point in time.
Before I started The Dream Machine last October I had a few choices waiting for me in files on my computer from previous attempts at writing. I knew I wanted to actually FINISH something, but I didn't know what it would be.
Finish what you start, is what I was thinking. Okay, so I had choice A, B, and very little of C. I wouldn't say that I never finish what I start, but when it came to writing I was very discouraged about the whole process. Write an entire book, mail it in, and no guarantee that anyone would be interested in publishing the thing. More to the point, there was more of a chance that it WOULDN'T get picked up. Like I said, very discouraging.
That had never kept me from writing, though. It kept me from FINISHING my stories, but not from writing. With the rising popularity of self-publishing, and a more optimistic outlook on my part, I decided to take a more serious approach to writing a novel. So, what was I left with? A beautiful selection of previous interests, ready to be explored and expanded.
For some reason, I chose option C, the option with MAYBE half a page worth of content already in place. The idea was interesting, but half-baked, and choosing this option was almost like starting from scratch. That was fine, AS LONG AS I FINISHED IT. If I didn't (don't) finish it, then why keep starting new stories?
Bottom line: If I can finish this story, from beginning to end, then I should be able to finish my other stories.
It wasn't long after starting this story, The Dream Machine, that I realized it wasn't something I was used to writing. It was science fiction, and I was used to writing horror. And guess what... Science fiction is HARD to write.
There were so many questions at the beginning that I was constantly stopping in my tracks. I would be on a roll, surpassing my word count from the previous day, and feeling like I might be able to double, or even triple, my workload for the day. Then, a question: What does a city of the future look like???
Okay, so I got it. THIS is what a city of the future looks like... No, wait... What does a city of the future NEED to look like for THIS SPECIFIC STORY??? Okay, got it. Nope, try again, because it's actually a little bit different than what you wrote. Finally, hopefully, I nail it down to what I want.
That has been the biggest problem that has persisted throughout my writing process. I guess you could say I should have planned out the story better before I started, but I would have never been able to KNOW until later on, after the story was taking shape through the actual process of writing. It's really a very beautiful part about what writers get to do, letting the story take on a life of its own. All I can do is help it grow.
On to word count. At first, I was committed to 500 words a day. If I had kept that pace I would be done by now. Did I drop down to 300, 200, 100? No, whenever I sit down to write I usually crank out 1,500 - 3,000 words. I've went over that, but not usually. The problem arises because I don't sit down to write every day.
Please, go easy on me. I can hear the more experienced writers now, telling me that writers write, and I need to make time for it every day. That's true, and I agree. I try to write, or do something related to writing every day. But if I'm being honest about my experiences here, as I plan to be, I have to admit to getting sidetracked.
There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about writing, but that doesn't always mean I'm producing content. Sometimes, I get writer's block. Most of the time, however, it's just normal every day things. Right now, as I'm writing, I'm being told that my family is ready to go to the store. My daughter is standing in front of me in her diaper, with her pajamas tangled around her legs, trying to plug a keyboard into her bellybutton (Hmm, doesn't look ready to me).
And what am I doing? After checking my word count I can see that I'm over 900 words into this blog, but it doesn't count toward my book's progress. It is, however, part of my social networking presence. Hopefully, people will read my blog, associate the story with a personality they know (and love), and get interested in reading my book when it comes out. It's also a way to communicate with my potential fan base, always a good thing.
Although it wasn't something I was looking forward to when I first started to seriously work on my novel, social networking has become a big part of my writing experience. I'll check Facebook every day, and sometimes I'll hang around and communicate with other writers. For me, Facebook revolves around a single group devoted to independent writers. I'm more than happy to spend time there, trying to absorb as much information as I possibly can. That's another diversion, but a pleasant one.
With all the diversions around, I'm surprised I get any work done at all. But, I do. My daily word count for The Dream Machine definitely hasn't been as high as I had first hoped, but I have to acknowledge the work I've been doing in other areas. I've been reading books from fellow writers, writing reviews, writing blogs, and I've been learning more about independent writing. I'm more informed than I was when I started this journey last fall.
On top of that, I've been writing short stories for upcoming anthologies. By the time The Dream Machine is published I should have a nice selection. From that selection I should be able to separate the stories into their appropriate categories, and start focusing on those books.
There has been a lot of learning going on, a lot of networking, a lot of new friends, and an overall pleasant experience. The actual work of being a writer is more demanding than I had first thought, but not necessarily in the way I would have thought. Being a writer isn't just writing... Well, maybe, but not in MY world. In MY world, it means writing, discussing, learning, backtracking, sidetracking, printing, reading, reviewing, editing, watching, blogging, tweeting, and writing some more.
Would I trade in these experiences? You'd be very hard-pressed to make me, because working on my potential career as a writer has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my life. I feel at home in front of my word processor. I can only hope that these are experiences I will get to continue having. For every chore that writing places in front of me, it offers twice the amount of enrichment to my life. Writing is my therapy, and my drug...
...More experiences yet to come.......
No comments:
Post a Comment