Michael Palmer describes on his website the painstaking effort he puts into a book proposal and outline before he begins to write, explaining that as a doctor and dad, he has no time to waste on a book that's not going to work. Consider me converted.
I'm beginning to see that my doubts about a work in progress can halt the entire project as I wonder what the hell to do with the mess I've created. Though I'm not a doctor, I do work hard to make time in my day to write. I don't have a job outside the home anymore, which means that my family makes sacrifices to live within our means. I'd better make something of my writing, or I've wasted lots of my time and my family's resources.
This is where some of Palmer's painstaking planning would have come in handy. Almost 6,000 words into this project and NaNoWriMo, I'm reconsidering my plot and my created world. Sputter. That's the sound of my engine stalling, folks. If not now, then soon, I will be writing a considered proposal and very detailed outline of my book. As far as NaNoWriMo goes, though, if the car won't drive, I'm getting out to push. I only have till November 30th at midnight to write 50,000 words, so I'll slog through what I have now and sort it out later.
It could be good for my novel. Writers are divided on this subject: whether to work from a comprehensive outline of their book or to think up an idea and a couple of characters and go for it. The first approach conserves words and the second approach leaves room for surprises. Probably everyone uses a bit of both. Outliners stray from the plan when they're inspired; freeformers have an idea of what's going to happen in their heads.
Okay. I'm tired of this back-and-forthing. Thus far tonight, it has led to zero words actually written, either in the body of my novel or in an outline of it. Here's what I know and have to keep in mind:
1) All books are written the same way--with words strung together to form grammatical structures. Type a word, type the next word, type the next one, then the next one...how many times do I have to coach myself this way?
2) I'm imitating other authors' writing habits during this project. However, the one thing that cannot be imitated is the writing itself. That has to come from within me and it has to offer the world something new, or it won't be worth anything.
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2 comments:
Naw, this is a good thing. Isn't this exactly the type of thing you wanted to gain from this project? Lesson learned, experience earned.
I like that you said experience earned. I want to be working through obstacles and toward my goal, not sitting back and letting experiences happen to me. No matter what the outcome, I can be proud of the effort.
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