Sunday, March 26, 2017

Starting That Novel... Again

     So here I stand at the threshold of another attempt at a fantasy novel. I've lost track of how many iterations of this idea I've gone through. I will admit it has been in flux for years now. I always think I've got the characters and story figured out but then something happens along the way to sabotage my house of plot and theme, like a literary sinkhole waiting for me to get just so far before caving in.

     If this sounds familiar then I think you'll have a good time following my blog for a while. I expect to post something every Tuesday from now until I finish writing my story. My intention is to help those attempting to do the same as well as commiserate with my fellow writers. My posts will consist of not only progress reports (because I need to keep myself in check and thinking that others are actually watching what I'm doing helps), but also tips and ideas I use along the way. I'll talk up my story but I'll try to avoid revealing too much in case it sounds like something you may want to read for yourself. If not, that's fine, too. If what you read here helps you with your writing, I'm happy with that, too. Just let me know in the comments so at least I know I'm not just talking to my Ipad and any constructive feedback is good as gold.

     As I said I'm working on a fantasy novel. It is set in a medieval era world where magic is limited by the pain it induces. My main character not only does not use magic, but has a strong aversion and even a hatred towards it and its users. He believes himself a man destined for greatness and seeks it out wherever he goes. What exactly this greatness is he's not sure but he believes it has something to do with eliminating magic and ruling the entire realm. He ends up finding it where he least expects to and that's where the story begins. 

     The story will be told in third person limited and most scenes will be from the main character's point of view. I try to keep the scenes as brief as possible, though I haven't mastered the art of cutting things down to just a page or two. I would like to, but there always seems to be one more one-liner to deliver and I can't pass up a good joke here and there.

     I began writing the first draft yesterday. My goal is at least 1000 words a day. I won't stop myself from writing more but I definitely want to make sure I reach at least that each day. This way I should have a first draft done in about 4 months. The total from my first day was over 1100 words. It went smoothly but I don't want to try to increase the daily word count yet. I know my track record and keeping the expectations realistic is going to be the key to keeping positive about following through with the project this time.

     My next post will reflect my first week of writing so I should have a more in depth analysis of how my idea is going. Hope to see you then.