Writers Not-So-Anonymous: Day 18

Hi.  My name is Benjamin, and I'm a writer.  It's been 18 days since my last writer's block.
If you haven't already, please read Writers Not-So-Anonymous: Day 1.

I feel a desperate need today to point out that while it has been 18 days since the last day where I didn't write something, not all of those days involved writing anything GOOD.  I have also discovered that my chapter-a-week goal may be a little unrealistic.  Just a little.

Last week, I diligently made sure that Chapter 3 was written by my self-imposed deadline of Sunday night.  I really was never quite happy with it, though.  Things happened that were driven neither by events in the story nor the narrative process.  Characters acted completely out of character.  I had a girl in an all boys school.  It was a mess.  I hit all of the plot points I wanted to for the chapter, but I got there inelegantly.  And if there is one things I am not a fan of and will tear other authors apart for, it is inelegant plotting.  (Here's looking at you, J.J. Abrams's Star Trek reboot!)

Luckily (and I use this word hesitantly) for me, no one will ever read that chapter, because on a whim last night during my writing hour, I deleted every trace of the former Chapter 3 and started from scratch.  I knew that if I tried to use bits and pieces of it that I liked, I would end up forcing the same worthless plot upon myself, and I didn't want that to happen.

The new Chapter 3 is already much better.

There's another odd thing that I've found myself dealing with a lot lately.  People in my life are slowly either realizing or accepting that I am writing a book and am very serious about doing so.  Of course, the first question that anyone asks when they find out you're writing a book is either, "What kind of book?" or "What's it about?"

I find both questions hard to answer.

From a technical definition, I would file my book under the heading of 'low fantasy', but I think it would be almost as accurate to consider it 'high fantasy' or 'urban fantasy'.  (For explanations of what those terms actually mean, click on them and skim the Wikipedia articles.  If you're feeling really ambitious, actually read them.  I don't recommend it, though.  It's a dangerous and time-consuming habit to get into.)  Usually, I just say fantasy, but I feel like that leaves an unfortunate impression.  My book doesn't take place in a Dungeons and Dragons or LOTR sort of world, which I feel like is what most people expect when you say 'fantasy'.  It does, however, involve some weirdness and supernatural aspects.  Since I don't offer much explanation for the weirdness, I can't personally consider it sci-fi.

So, for now, my answer to "What kind of book?" is "Fantasy.  But probably not the kind you just thought of."

The other question is infinitely more difficult.

When I write, especially when I'm writing good stuff, I don't really know exactly what's going to happen.  I'm not sure of what plot points are important yet and I don't know if what I think the book is about is the same thing that you would think the book is about.  I'm not sure what's teaser material and what's spoilers.  Unfortunately, that means that at least for now, I have to stay very VERY vague.

Plot-wise (which I believe most people actually want to know about), my book is about a boy who gets someone in trouble and eventually finds out the world isn't quite what it seems.  So, you know, half the books on most people's shelves.  Is that vague enough for you?  Thematically (which is really kind of where this one all started), the book is about the power of words and the human imagination and how one person's decisions can affect other people.  That, however, makes the book sound WAY too high-minded for what it is.

Hopefully, one day I'll be able to tell people what it's is about without ruining it for them.

Hopefully.

In the meantime, I'll just continue to write it one day at a time.

The other day, I was thinking about people who do "Novel in November" or National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo or whatever you want to call it.  The idea is that you are supposed to write 50,000 words between November 1st and November 30th.  That averages out to just under 1700 words a day.  Some people round it out to 2000 words a day for a total of 60,000 words by the end of the month.

From what I've read, most publishers would consider this a short novel.  Also, the movement focuses less on quality and more on quantity, believing that you can always go back and edit it later.  At least you have the first draft down.  For some, this is a good strategy.  For me, however, I don't think it would work.  Because of the way my fickle bitch of a muse works, I have to edit as I go.  If I just trudge forward telling myself that I'll do edits and rewrites later, they simply won't happen.

2000 words a day is pretty intense.  I've been shooting for around 2500 words for each of my chapters (No.  I don't know how many there will be.), so 2000 words a day would be about a chapter a day.

And I'm having trouble with a chapter a week!

I don't mean to scare people off of NaNoWriMo or suggest that it's a bad idea.  For some people, it could be a great starting point.  It's just not for me.

How could I write the entire book in a month when I can't even figure out what it's about?

My name is Benjamin, and I'm a writer.  It has been 18 days since my last writer's block.
Today I wrote from 11:05pm-12:05.