 So we’ve made it to the final post in this series!
EDIT YOUR PREVIOUS DAY’S WORK BEFORE WRITING NEW MATERIAL This might seem to be more important for cleaning up your novel, rather than reaching the day where you pound out the words THE END, but let me explain! Editing your previous day’s work gives you several benefits. 1. By the time you finish your novel, you’ve actually completed your first round of edits. Trust me, this is valuable. I didn’t do this on my first full manuscript and it was a long slogging process of fixing all the misspelling, minor typos, and double-typed words. The worst part was I still had to do real editing after all that. By editing your previous day’s work, you handle the tedious process in manageable parcels. 2. You give yourself a chance to ease back into the writing stream. This editing time helps your brain reacquaint with the ideas you assembled the previous day and helps you start building forward momentum as you move into fresh material (a cup of coffee also helps!). 3. You will be encouraged to create more when you find those well-written gems tucked away within the manuscript. Don’t ignore them. Savor them for the victories that they are and keep writing. The more you write, the more frequently these treasures will find will start cropping up! I would offer two minor words of caution. 1. Don’t spend so much time editing, that you neglect the writing process. If you don’t write, you won’t have words to edit the following day. Never allow any process that hampers your forward motion. 2. Don’t read your previous day’s work and beat yourself up because it’s not the most amazing prose ever composed. Keep in mind that you will be polishing and adjusting later. Right now you are only interested in the big picture. Lastly, on a practical note, here are a couple of thoughts to help you on your way to completion. 1. Keep you final formatting goal in mind. If you plan to send your manuscript out to agents, start out with clean document properly formatted with 1" margins, 12 pt font, and a proper title page. If you're planning to publish on Kindle, format the chapter headers and put in the necessary page breaks. Getting the details right as you go will save you hours of tedious tweaking later. 2. Watch your punctuation and spacing. For the sake of visual clutter I don't recommend you keep it on all the time, but use the Formatting Symbols feature as you work will help you find the extra spacing and rogue formatting issues. Turn it off after you've done your verbal housekeeping. So there you have it seven tips for writing and finishing your novel. Click here to see Tip Number One. Click here to see Tip Number Two. Click here to see Tip Number Three. Click here to see Tip Number Four. Click here to see Tip Number Five. Click here to see Tip Number Six. Something to add? Continue the conversation below! Sign up for my newsletter here.
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A simple thought in the form of a question. What's in a name? Does a character's name change your attitude towards them? Send me your feed back!
 This tip is obvious but vitally important to completing your novel.
WRITE STRAIGHT THROUGH YOUR FIRST DRAFT I offer my first attempt as a case study. When I began trying to write a novel, I started without a solid outline and simply “pantsed” my way along. And it wasn’t pretty. If I got stuck, or worse, bored, I would simply jump to another section of the story and keep writing. I do understand writer's block and have some tips here and here, but this is not the solution for completing a novel. If you skip enough sections, you’ll end up with a Swiss cheese novel. So what is the psychology behind wanting to skip around? There are probably many reasons, but here are the most common. 1. We skip because we are stuck. We write ourselves into a corner. I hate this feeling. I would rather spend the extra time experimenting in the outline phase getting the story right. If this is where you are stuck, I would encourage you to step back and figure it out. You will have to do it eventually. 2. We skip because we are excited! Sometimes a terrific scene will just pop into our minds, and we feel the siren call to write it down. It’s deliciously easy, but don’t do it. If the scene is good, it’ll keep. Make notes if you must, but keep on writing where you are. Don’t do anything that will change you trajectory or momentum. 3. We skip because we are bored. The converse of reason two, we've lost interest in the scene we are currently writing, and any other place in the story would be more enjoyable. This is typical human nature, but we must not let it stop us. In this stage of the game, it is better to write a mediocre scene that you can clean up later than leave a blank space for a terrific scene later. Inevitably, the blanks will stack up and you will have compounded a problem to the point of despair (and the abandonment of your precious story). So what are some benefits of writing straight through your manuscript? 1. When you are done, you will have a complete story, not just a series of vignettes firmly planted in thin air. 2. Your story will have a tight internal structure building into a crescendo, written the way it will be read. 3. You will have faced your obstacles, surmounted them, and have a complete, coherent first draft. This process may not be thrilling or mysterious, but you will thank yourself when you type that final period. Click here to see Tip Number One. Click here to see Tip Number Two. Click here to see Tip Number Three. Click here to see Tip Number Four. Click here to see Tip Number Five. Something to add? Continue the conversation below! Sign up for my newsletter here.  SET A DAILY WORD COUNT GOAL It's a very simple formula. If you write thirty minutes a day for 365 days, you will have enough words for a full-length novel. So, how does it work? Let's reverse engineer it and get into the nitty gritty. Most novels are generally in the 75,000 to 100,000-word range. Anything much shorter than that and you are into the novella range. Anything much over 100,000 and you will be considered too long-winded and need to trim your novel down (science fiction and fantasy skew a bit higher). Let's take the upper limit, 100,000 words, and use that for our target word count. (As a side note, you'll want to edit this down, so going a little over isn't a bad thing). Also, if your life is anything like mine, there's no possible way to write every day of the year. So for the sake of example, let's say you miss twenty-five days of writing; that still leaves you with 340 days to get things done. Here's your formula for completing that first draft of your manuscript. 100,000 Words ÷ 340 Writing days = 295 Words per day If you've never written before, 295 words may seem like a lot, but let's go back to the 30 minutes a day part. If your goal is 295 words and you have 30 minutes to write it, that comes out to less than ten words a minute, or one word every six seconds. Even if you are taking long sips of coffee while you write, one word every six seconds is a very manageable task. From my experience, once you start a writing routine, you will quickly notice you are overshooting you target word count on a daily basis. Bravo to you! Word counting may not be very glamorous, but it is another step in taking away the barriers that stop you from completing your novel.! Click here to see Tip Number One. Click here to see Tip Number Two. Click here to see Tip Number Three. Click here to see Tip Number Four. Something to add? Continue the conversation below! Sign up for my newsletter here.  In this step by step process, so far we've looked at three tips for you to write and finish a novel. Now we come to Tip Number Four.
INTERVIEW YOUR CHARACTERS Of all the tips, this one may be the most fun. This is where you find out who's going to populate your novel and what they are really like. If you've done step three, write an outline, then you already should have a decent idea of the major players vying for attention. I'm not dogmatic about how deep you take the information on your cast, but I strongly advise you at least rough in a decent sketch of each main character. In your quest to complete your novel, you don't want to hit a rough patch and stop simply because you didn't know your characters. Here are nine things to consider in understanding your characters. 1. What is their name? Unlike real life, the character's name in a story does carry weight and symbolism. Sometimes their name is the antithesis of their true personality. The name you choose says volumes. 2. What is their personality? An introvert will react to a situation completely different than an extrovert. Find out how your character is hardwired and you will know how they will act. 3. What is their cultural identity? This covers a broad swath of sensibilities, everything from physical appearance and ethnic heritage to tastes in food and potential global connections. 4. What is their family history? While similar to cultural identity above, this focuses more on how a character grew up. What was their relationship with their parents and siblings? Was it a matriarchal family? Was it troubled or peaceful? Did the family carry collective secrets? 5. What is their biggest dream? This will tell you what the character is pursuing and what motivates them. Make this big. Most of us don't have little dreams. 6. What is their biggest secret? This will tell you what your character reacts to or wants to avoid. This can be something that has been stifled for years. 7. In the story what is their driving motivation? This one, while similar to five and six above, is plot specific and gives us the character's forward motion within the context of the story. For instance, your character's biggest dream may be to retire to the beaches of St. Croix, but their immediate driving motivation within the story is to get a job and get back on their feet. This is often differentiated by the immediacy of the need/dream. 8. What is their relationship to the other characters? Human relationships are dynamic. We often tailor our body language, word selection, tone of voice, etc. depending on whom we are interacting with. Characters are no different. Find the conduits and barriers between your characters. 9. What are their core values? Each person has a worldview and a set of rules for how they live life. What is your character's? Even "I have no rules" is a rule. Discover how a character's valuations impact their interactions. Answering these questions will open up your character and make them come alive. And having this information will take you one step closer to completing your novel! I've prepared a PDF Character Information Sheet that I will freely send anyone who sends an opt-in to my newsletter/email list here. Click here to see Tip Number One. Click here to see Tip Number Two. Click here to see Tip Number Three. Something to add? Continue the conversation below! Sign up for my newsletter here.  Wow! So, we've made it to Tip Three for writing and completing your novel. I have to warn you, some people will really not like this one (at one time I wouldn't have, either).
WRITE AN OUTLINE See, I told you! I understand that some people don't want to write this way, but all I have to work from is personal experience. The first manuscript I attempted to write, I ended up with about 36,000 words and an incomplete story. I've gone back to that mess several times to make it happen, but it never has. I wouldn't wish this upon you, so here are five reasons to outline your novel. 1. You Know the Big Picture You have a birds eye view of your story from beginning to end. This helps on all sorts of levels from pacing (see point three below) to characters (we'll tackle this next time). You may not have every nuance broken down yet, but you have a story arc and a central theme. You are going places, and believe me, that is a powerful motivation to sit down and write every day! 2. You Can Experiment With an Idea I hate to throw away anything I write, much less if I've invested hours on crafting and nurturing emotion into those words. If you outline, you can potentially save yourself hundreds or thousands of words and countless hours. It is much easier for you to delete an uncooperative paragraph than it is to cut out-of-place chapters. 3. You Have a Better Sense of Your Story's Pacing It is far more efficient to shuffle through a two or three-page document than a 90,000-word story. By outlining, you give yourself the advantage of having a panoramic view of your story without the cumbersome back and forth frustration. This will make it much easier to spot inconsistencies, plot holes, and slow (or fast) pacing. 4. You Will Save Time Editing While this is a general rule of thumb, an outlined manuscript will need far fewer rounds of content editing. Refer to point number two. You will have done your experimenting and rabbit-trailing on the outline and by the time you write the actual manuscript, you'll have a much tighter plot to work with. 5. You HaveYour Synopsis Already Started The way I outline, I write roughly one paragraph per chapter. This isn't too detailed, but it gives me a snapshot of the chapter. The beauty of this type of outline is that you can, with editing and polishing, quickly finesse it into a synopsis. And a synopsis is something you will need if you are going to be submitting your work to an agent. Here's what I suggest. If this is your first time writing a novel, give yourself the best chance of completing it by writing an outline. Save the experimentation and fancy footwork for down the road, when you have more experience. Focus, instead, on crafting the best story and characters (coming up in next week's tip) that you can and see where that takes you! Click here to see Tip Number One. Click here to see Tip Number Two. Something to add? Continue the conversation below! Sign up for my newsletter here.  If you've ever told somebody that you were trying to write a novel, you know there's a chance they'll tell you that they want to do the same. If it hasn't happened yet, just wait, because it will.
What is it about writing a book that everybody wants to do, and so few people accomplish? Who knows, maybe you're the person I'm talking about. You want to write a novel. You may even have an unfinished manuscript that never quite made it to fruition. Now you're wondering what it would take actually to finish one? These tips are for you. Here's Tip Number Two. SET A DEADLINE TO COMPLETE YOUR FIRST DRAFT That is so simplistic, I know. Let me explain why this is key to everything you're about to accomplish. Without a deadline, you haven't allotted time to complete your goal. Setting a concrete deadline gives urgency and legitimacy to your project. If you don't have an end point, there's no pressure to spur you on to labor over your manuscript. Not everybody functions this way, but I sure do. If I know when the project is due, I can adjust my time accordingly. I don't beat myself up if I miss a day of writing when I know I still have 300 days to get the job done. And if I need to, I put in extra time when I'm coming down to the wire. Here are three things to consider when setting a deadline. 1. If you're not sure how much time you'll need, shoot for a year. Some take more and some take less, but it seems the average author usually spends about a year on a book (and let's face it, most of us are average). I like to start January 1st and have a year to get that story written. 2. Realize your commitment is for your own benefit. The stress and pressure of a deadline are necessary struggles to help guide you to the end. Embrace the pain like a marathon runner that has to push through the "wall" to cross the finish line. 3. Don't be afraid to adjust your goal if it isn't working. None of us ever know what the future holds, and we have to manage our lives wisely. But before you adjust the length of your goal, first look over your schedule and see if you can squeeze in extra writing time. If not, add an extra month to the deadline and keep writing. So there you have it. A simple tip to help you in your epic struggle to complete that novel manuscript. Click here to see Tip Number One. Something to add? Continue the conversation below! Sign up for my newsletter here.  I've decided to start a reoccurring blog post series to address the moving parts involved in writing and, more importantly, finishing a novel. I started out like most people with a boatload of dreams and good intentions and no concrete idea how to make them a reality. Over the years, I've read many books on writing, listened to interviews, read blogs, watched YouTube posts, and muddled my way through my own manuscripts. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm thrilled to share what I've gleaned thus far.
So when you begin to write a novel, here's recommendation Number One! WRITE YOUR LAST CHAPTER FIRST I can hear protests spreading far and wide. When I first started writing, I would have vehemently argued against such advice. There are successful authors that would tell you not to listen to me. They would say this is the equivalent of reading the last chapter of a book. How could you possibly be interested in writing (or reading) a story for which you already know the ending? The discovery is lost. That may be true, but hear me out. In all fairness we don't read a book for the ending, we read it for the journey. So if we write the ending, yes the discovery may be lost there, but there are a thousand points in between that are left wide open for development and change. I'm not a stickler, either. If you write the ending then go back and write your novel, I'm perfectly okay with you discarding that ending and replacing it. "What's the point?" You ask. "Why even bother writing an ending?" I'm so glad you asked. There's no such thing as a one-ended clothesline! However, if you have a beginning and an end, you instantly have a middle on which to hang ideas. To put it another way, you now have an apple at which to aim your story arrow. You have direction and movement. It may not sound like such a big idea, but it is, because you have a framework for asking questions and fitting in those elements of character and plot. One final caveat for those who balk at the idea of knowing the ending. Here's my suggestion. Write three (or more) endings, each very different. Maybe write one where the protagonist succeeds, one where they fail, and a third that leaves the story open-ended. This allows you emotional breathing room, where even you don't know the outcome. Give it a try and see if it doesn't give you the forward momentum and focus to complete that first draft! Something to add? Continue the conversation below! Sign up for my newsletter here.  Contrary to what our feelings tell us, rejection is a valuable gift.
I know it doesn’t feel like it when you are in the thick of it. If you can step back and look at the rejection from the outside, you will realize you've been given something both necessary and actionable. Here are three tips for transforming your rejections into golden opportunities both in your writing and your life. 1. Focus on the Positives The silver linings are there if you will look for them. This goes against our nature. We would wallow in the misery of the moment, maybe even look for a dose of sympathy, rather than put on our big kid pants and find that positive message. I know the gut-wrenching feeling of putting my hopes in a submission and having it dashed with a three or four line form response. But look for positive. Not always, not even mostly, but sometimes within the rejection, you will find that glimmer. Here’s one I received. “While I enjoyed some parts, it didn't hook me as much as I wanted it to. I am going to have to pass.” I could moan and take it personally. But even though they rejected me, I was paid a compliment. They enjoyed some parts. That means I got some of it right. I’m not a total failure! At the very least, I'm doing something to which people are paying attention. That's positive and that gives me hope. 2. Learn from the Negatives We take rejection personally. It’s hard not to do, but there is a better way. Take the rejection instructively. I once had an agent write back and tell me this. “While your story work is certainly exciting and your narrative is compelling, the characters get lost and do not stand out within it.” Thank you! I just learned something about myself and my writing. I now have something to work on. That leads us to… 3. Channel Both Positives and Negatives into Forward Action So what do you do when you are rejected? You take what you’ve learned and apply it. As in the example above, you take another look at your writing and figure out a way to make the characters stand out. The next manuscript you work on you will put extra effort into your weak areas. In other words, you'll GROW! Next time you face rejection, take these three tips and see what exciting things come out of it! Something to add? Continue the conversation below! Sign up for my newsletter here.  Okay, so the title is dramatic, but absolutely true. This one concept may forever change the way you describe your settings. I was about halfway through my last manuscript when I realized this important concept. (Are you ready for this mind-blowing revelation?)
When you portray your setting, include one sentence describing what the location smells like! I know, so embarrassingly simple. But here's the craziest part, it works. Once I figured this out, I went back through my novel and sprinkled smells, odors, aromas, etc. throughout the work. We as writers often jump through hoops describing the shapes, the colors, and the temperature ad nauseam. Often we neglect this wonderful chance to deepen our scene. WHY DOES IT WORK? The answer is simple. Adding a description of a smell is shorthand for a much broader experience. Here's an example. "The shed smelled of cut grass and gasoline." Your mind automatically fills in the gaps and assumes this is some sort of garden shed and probably has a lawnmower as well as other lawn manicure tools without ever expressly stating it. Just think back to when you've smelled the faintest trace of an aroma, maybe a perfume or a favorite meal, and it took you back to another time and place. A closing thought. This is one thing that I wouldn't overdo. One sentence per scene, not more. Give the reader a whiff of the locale, and then move onto other descriptions. Next time you're building that setting, use this easy trick to take the reader deeper into your world. Something to add? Continue the conversation below! Sign up for my newsletter here. |
AuthorJonathan Polasek is an Archives
July 2016
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