I reached a tipping point in the novel this weekend. I'll be hitting 20,000 words in a few days here, and over the weekend I suddenly had a flash of insight into how the remaining chapters should play out. This necessitated some rework (and painful cuts) in earlier passages, and a complete revision of the outline for several key later chapters, but for the first time it's all been mapped out, from start to finish.
I'm wondering how typical this is for writers and, even as I'm wondering, realize that the range of experiences for writing a book are probably as varied as the types of books out there. It feels great knowing how the thing should evolve, knowing how it should end, etc. But part of the excitement in writing it so far has been diving into the great unknown each day, watching as the story unfolded on the page.
I've also picked up the pace a bit - for the last two weeks I've been going over my weekly quota of 2,500 words by a significant amount (hence the dropoff in blog posts lately).
If I was running a marathon, I figure I'd be on mile 5 or 6 right now ... just getting into the rhythm, with a lot more work ahead. Better get back at it ...
About Me
- David Eric Tomlinson
- David Eric Tomlinson is a professional copywriter and aspiring novelist who has an unhealthy relationship with caffeine. David has an undergraduate degree in creative writing from the University of California, San Diego. He can usually be found huddled over his keyboard in the coffee shops of north Dallas furiously finishing his first novel.
2 comments:
Oh yes, I do know how you feel. When everything comes together you wonder why you didn't see it before, but I must warn you are only on the first part of the rollercoaster of writing a novel there will be a few more ups and downs before you reach the end.
Good luck, my dear friend.
Ps. I've now had my blog rated by 'blogged'
I'm more of a pantser than a plotter, but yes, I've had a bit of that kind of feeling, times when I've realized something about my protag that I didn't know, and how that's going to affect everything else. Like dominos falling.
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