# The Dream of an Artist: Writing a Novel



## Fiesta_Jack (Oct 17, 2010)

I awoke this morning from a dream that actually had a decent plot (for once). I felt sufficiently inspired that I want to finally attempt the goal of most casual writers: writing a book. I've wanted to for years, but I never felt I had a good enough idea to run with. I believe my dream was enough to jump-start the process.

How many of you have ideas for books, or have written your own full-length works? Are there any unfinished books here among the regulars of The Writer's Bloc? Do any of you have tips or advice that could help out a writer attempting such an arduous task? Any help is obviously appreciated.


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## Daisy La Liebre (Oct 17, 2010)

I'll just say that procrastination is a bitch on her period.


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## sunandshadow (Oct 17, 2010)

I have several ideas for novels and have attempted to write one a few different times, but never succeeded.  Initially my problem was that I usually have fragmentary plot ideas that refuse to organize themselves into a coherent plot.  I'll write a few pages or a few chapters, get to a point where I have no idea what should happen next, set the story aside, then just never get an inspiration for how to continue it.  Coming up with an idea for the climax of the story is also very difficult for me.

To try to combat this problem, I started studying what plot is, what techniques people use to create and revise plot, and what the specific plots of several novels I like are.  I learned about act theory and outlines/synopses and Freytag's Triangle and the Snowflake Method and the Provost Paragraph and the hero monomyth and archetypes, and Dramatica theory, blah blah blah.  I got to the point where I could create a relatively complete plot outline for a short story, such that all I would have to do was actually write the story, and it would work and maybe even be publishable.  Then I discovered, I just didn't feel like writing it.    I realized that a major part of why I love reading is because what I'm reading surprises me.  But if I'm the one writing it, it's not surprising.


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## Riley (Oct 17, 2010)

Right now I'm working on something that grew out of a school assignment from the beginning of last school year to create a retelling of the classic Arthurian legend.  The assignment was to write a single page, but I took the idea and ran with it so far that I ended up handing in five pages, then continuing to work on it up until now.  Over the course of working on it, I've found ways to link all the other stories I've wanted to write together with it, and the entire universe I'm creating makes me happy to always have something to work to finish.

If I could actually get myself to write more than a few paragraphs a month, that is.


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## Fere (Oct 20, 2010)

I must admit, speaking from a position where I have one novel written and the second on the go, the planning of said novel took inordinately longer than the actual writing. I spent over three years planning out sequences, characters, back-stories, plot etc... and then a little over 18 months bringing it all into one big furry yarn. 

I base a lot of my longer plots around racism and nationalism in an anthropomorphic context; some of the plots within the main plot hint at or become allegories to recent world affairs. They even relate to what I've experienced growing up where I did. I like to be sneaky and controversial.

My first book has bits of everything in it, dwelling in a world where the power of belief in oneself is everything; whilst my second has an intensely sexual theme, relating to the supernatural revenge of a long lost twin brother and his eerie way of dispatching those who forsook him purely for the colour of his fur and the uniqueness of his scent.

If you're struggling with plot or even what to write, I always found that the best ideas came when I wasn't thinking *directly* about it. Brainstorming can help though. Catch the news now and again on the TV. Be aware of your everyday life and who you work/study with; inspiration can literally be just down the road.

Always have a pad of paper and a handy pen around the house; I have one by my bed, as I know that as I'm semi-asleep I'll come up with a cracker and have to quickly jot the outline down.

Either way, it is a lot of fun once you get on the road as it were. Don't give up on it, no matter what.


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## jinxtigr (Oct 22, 2010)

I've written three complete furry novels and have recently finished a fourth based on the characters in a webcomic I did for a while. I got started right away on a fifth without missing a day, though I didn't tell my readers this clearly enough, so everybody thought it was all done and wandered off 

Sit down and write. If you can't be fantastic that day, chisel out a few useful sentences leading to the next day, but don't let yourself be stopped by thoughts of 'I'm not inspired today'. Books are way too f**king large to ever finish if you aren't allowed to still work on them on uninspired days. Let those be the 'not very wordy' days and lead you to more interesting stuff 

Leave a trail of breadcrumbs for the next day, so you have some idea where you're heading. Sometimes the ideas of the next day are way cooler than what you'd have done if you were forcing yourself to go all the way through all your current ideas at once before stopping.

Read. If you're going to write, you probably turn to reading as an escape. Otherwise you have the wrong artform 

I once had a dream that I was going to die in a matter of days, and experienced what it was like to regret all that I hadn't done. The biggest thing on my mind in my dream was, 'I didn't tell my stories, I didn't write'.

So I fixed it- now I write


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## ScottyDM (Oct 23, 2010)

*Fiesta_Jack, if you haven't written down your dream, do so immediately.* Fere spoke of keeping a pad of paper and a pencil near his bed. Ideas can be all too fleeting.

Eventually I lose scraps of paper so I end up putting my *story ideas into a doc file*: A basic title, followed by a paragraph or two of the idea, then a blank line, and the next basic title. I also toss one-liners into that file and short phrases. If I end up with more idea than will fit in half a page I create a folder for my story and start filling the folder with ideas. Sometimes I start work on a new story immediately and sometimes I let it set for a few years.

And Thlayli was right on. *Procrastination has killed more wonderful things than could ever be counted.*


*Novels*

*My first story* started out as a few scenes to try to capture the personality of these characters I had boppin' around in my head. I wrote two chapters and set it aside. Six months later I tripped over the furry fandom, found a couple of serialized stories, and read them. I thought, "Hey, I could turn my scenes into a story." So I went back and did. My first effort ended up with seven chapters and just under 30,000 words--*a novella*.

*I tried to duplicate my success* with a second novella, but found I had much to learn first. The reason the first novella worked is because I _knew_ my characters, and I let them do whatever they felt like doing. Fortunately what they felt like doing that first time wasn't mind-numbingly boring. The second time...? :sad:

*One of my failings as a storyteller was lack of conflict*, so I created a new storyworld where the conflict was inherent (terrorists and stuff). It was supposed to be a short story but grew beyond that. Then I ran into the problem of how I'd structured the story and had to set it aside until I learned how to fix that problem. I now know how to fix it, and poke at the story now and then, but haven't jumped back into finishing the thing. Must be that bitch and her period. :evil:

But I did write and complete several short stories in that time, including a short spinoff of my terrorist storyworld.

*I discovered NaNoWriMo in October of 2005.* I think it was October 30th, so I didn't have a lot of time to prepare. That's when I discovered I need a clue or I'm not very productive. I quit writing at about 7,300 words and spent the rest of November doing research. Let's call this *my first novel*.

I didn't do NaNo in 2006, but *that novel has become my perennial NaNo project ever since*. At one point it looked like it wanted to be over 200,000 words, but this last spring I did some serious planning, and cutting, and it should be a much better novel at a more palatable size--once I finish it.

Last year for NaNo I thought I'd do *a completely different novel*, but at the last minute I switched to my perennial novel. :roll: I've done some research on *this second novel*. I've got some good characters, and even a rough plot, but I'm not quite sure how to write it. I mean, how is it going to go together? Who is the narrator? Anyway, novel number two is on the back burner with zero words written.

This past spring I discovered Harlequin was looking for novellas for their e-book line and I had a couple of ideas in my doc file that might fit. But there was a huge potential glitch: This was Harlequin the romance publisher. I'm a 50 y.o. guy and I've never read a Harlequin romance. So I started checking out romances from the library, and I plunged into writing the first novella. Well, Harlequin had some requirements for this particular imprint, such as a modern setting and the hero needed to be an alpha male. But most damaging, *I realized I wanted a novel* for my paranormal romance.

*So for NaNo 2010 I'll be working on my third novel.* I don't yet have much of an outline, but I really _know_ my characters. And this one wants to be a reasonable size, so I should finish it in good time. I've got four completed chapters (from when it was going to be a novella), and I've even spun out a successful short already (although I tweaked the storyworld for the short).

I have high hopes for NaNo this year. But if I get stuck on this third novel I can always jump in and work on my first.


*NaNoWriMo*

*Procrastination being the bitch that she is, I suggest you write something.* If you're the kind of person that works well when given a deadline, may I suggest you participate in NaNoWriMo this year?

If you do, *I strongly encourage you to get hooked up with your local NaNo chapter.* When you setup your account on the NaNo website go into your Profile and set your Region. You can then go to the Forum and put your region into the Regional Lounges so you can communicate with others nearby. Many regions hold Kickoff and Glad It's Over parties as well as Write-Ins.

*During November the forums can be a massive time sink, but the forum for your region is worthwhile.* Keep in touch, meet people at local coffee shops, and make friends. Other people will be writing even weirder stuff than a furry novel, so no one will ridicule you for your choice of genres. Serious. :grin: You're cool.

You have 8 1/2 days to prepare. What will help you the most so that when November 1st arrives you can just write?


And good luck with your novel.

S~


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## Stratelier (Oct 23, 2010)

DId somebody say NaNoWriMo?  Yes, it's that time of year again, so if you want to _really_ write a novel, the number on thing you need to do is -- well, *actually write it*.  You can have momentous scenes floating around in your head forever, but until you actually _do the legwork_ (or in this case, fingerwork) and actually complete the darn thing, the dream's still on hold.

I completed two novels for NaNoWriMo, first in 2007 and then in 2008.  I still like my 2007 novel the best.  No plans for publishing, but I do have thoughts about making a comic from it -- and _that_'s what is currently suffering from procrastination.


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## M. LeRenard (Oct 24, 2010)

I have three unfinished novels under my belt right now.  Two published to FA, the other not.
I'd suggest not getting too attached to your first attempt at a novel.  Either be willing to scrap it entirely, or completely rewrite it several times.  Especially if you're just starting out as a writer in general.  Because what you'll find is that the longer you go (and novels often take years to write), the more your writing will evolve, and so it'll turn out that the beginning of the book is written completely differently than the end, that you'll have changed your mind about things, that your idea became more concrete, that you decided on a new plot point that screws everything up, but you don't remember what all it screws up because you haven't read the first half of the book for 6 months, etc.  So by the time you're finished, you'll be sitting on top of a big ugly mess that you don't want anymore.
It's something either to do quickly (within a couple of months), or to put off until you're more confident in your ability to write and to plot.  If you take too long, you'll run into long periods where your inspiration for the novel is lacking, and progress will slow to a crawl.  And if you start out too early in your writing career, you won't be happy with it by the time you're finished because you're such a different writer now than you were when you started.
It's a tough thing to do.  Feels great when you actually finish one (even if it's just the rough draft for one), but it's also exhausting as hell.  I think most novels are eventually abandoned for this reason.  My problem is that I can't abandon a novel, even if I've left it sitting there for years.  It's still always in the back of my mind.
Ugh.  I should probably go work on one of my novels.  I'm thinking instead of doing NaNo this year, I might just take the month to finish one of my big projects.


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