Tag: writing a novel

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Ways To Write A Novel

carolyncordon

I am a writer and at the moment I am writing a novel, not my first, but I expect the current one is more likely to actually have some chance of being a publishable book. The first novel began as a NANOWRIMO project, where I wrote the first draft of at least 50,000 words on one month. I can’t remember if I wrote it in November, but know it was just one month, whichever month it was.

I am the editor of this community newsletter, and some of my writing group members help me get each issue out every month, by writing their own page their own page.

NANOWRIMO refers to National Novel(or November) Written in a Month, if you are interested in this, google it and you will find much more information, I am only an interested onlooker really. But certainly writing 50,000 words in one month, if you can dedicate your time to it, is a fine way to get a novel on the way, and ready for action!

So that’s one way. But the way I am currently working on my next big novel project is happening in a different way. I am writing a novel in a particular genre (Cosy Murder Mystery), and I am using prompts given at my writing group, to get some of the novel written. I have setting and characters, and with one third of the novel written so far, I have a fair idea on what is going on, and needs to go on in this first novel in my “At Talloola” Cosy Murder Mystery series.

These prompts are given to writing group members at each of our weekly meetings, for both a writing exercise at the meeting, and also another one for homework. So that is potentially two pieces of my novel written every week, based on those prompts received on the Thursday. This method has certainly been useful to me, and I hope it will go on being so.

But as I am not finished yet, and have been working on the novel for quite sometime, it may be getting close to another novel writing motivating method, and that is a writer lock in session, where I and other members of my writing group choose a particular writing project we’re working on, and spend a whole day at our usual venue, just writing. I may even have written some of this particular novel at one of these lock in, but I suspect not. Because of Covid, we haven’t been able to have a lock in at our chosen venue …

And of course, I also just sit down at home in my chosen writing place, and write. This has how most of this current novel has been written, but going back and finding previously given writing prompts can help me to get more of the novel moving too. Writing prompts are just random things, and the mind, or my mind for sure, takes the prompts to all kinds of places. And when we read our responses written, it is always incredible how far we all go in different directions, based on the same prompts.

We’re all writing in different genres, some prose, some poetry, and we enjoy hearing where other members have taken on the prompt …

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Preparation is the Key!

carolyncordon

When having to do a new thing, being prepared in advance, knowing what to expect as much as possible, while being aware that the task may change, are important things. I have a new role I will be taking on from next Monday, that of the Writer in Residence at Gallery 14 in Hamley Bridge, a lovely small town not that far from where I live.

I’ve been to this cafe three times now, and discussed this role with the owner, and she is happy for me to be there, ‘Doing my thing’. I’ve been a Writer in Residence before, at a different cafe, and then at a hotel. The hotel ‘gig’ ended, and other things came along, but now I’m ready for this Writer in Residence ‘gig’ again!

Gallery 14 is a lovely cafe, good coffee and great food, and I’m looking forward to meet more people living in Hamley Bridge, and sharing news about what I’m there for, what I’m working on myself, and the things I could do with them, if they were interested. I can do creative writing workshops in a range of subjects, genre, and I will have a range of my own books with me, for people to look at and perhaps purchase.

I love talking to people, and am looking forward to it, very much. And if things are a little bit slow, I have two writing projects I can be working on. I have a novel I’m writing, and a new poetry collection too. Both of these are in the approaching halfway mark, and I hope to bring them closer to getting published stage, by the middle of the year would be nice, but before the end of the year will be close enough.

I have the text for a flyer I plan to leave at the Cafe, so people can read about me, and know who I am, and what I’m doing there. I will be at Gallery 14 in Hamley Bridge every Monday (except for Public Holidays) from 10.30am. I imagine I may be there for a couple of hours each time. This feels like a great thing to be doing!

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500 Words A Day

carolyncordon

My dear friend Michelle, who pops in on this blog sometimes, (Hi Michelle!), set me a challenge, to send her a set number of words of my current novel-in-progress. The idea was that the challenge would both inspire her with her own progress in a writing-related project, and to inspire me to get a move on in the writing of my novel.

So for all of January, every day, I am to send 500 words of my novel to Michelle for her to read, and send me back a brief word of encouragement. I don’t remember that being a part of the plan, it may be just Michelle treating me like a student of hers, and doing it to encourage me, I don’t know. It doesn’t matter about that, because the truth, having to send those words to Michelle has defenitely got the novel moving along more.

I definitely recommend other writers who have a project that is lacking in progress, may do well to find someone they like, who likes reading, and offering feedback or at least encouragement, to do the same. I merely copy and paste 500 words from my novel, in a linear fashion, unless I get it all mixed up and send something from earlier. I copy the words from my manuscript, then paste them in the body of an email, and send it off to Michelle, simple.

When I remember, I put *from here* in my manuscript just after the piece I last sent off, so I know where to copy the next 500 words from. And the really good thing, or things actually are, I will have 15,500 more words in my novel written, that may not have happened, and the best thing is once January is over, Michelle and I are going to get together, and look at what I have so far. How it’s going, whether anything needs fixing, and so on.


This is a good way to get help in writing a novel, I reckon, and I’m so glad Michelle suggested it! Writers need quiet times away from everyone, to get longer works written, but they need friends too, to keep them on track, to listen and to offer support!

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Having Encouragement

carolyncordon

In writing, as in life, gaining encouragement is an important thing to help a person keep going. Of course, we must encourage ourselves too, because the internal messages we tell ourselves can be crippling, and easily kill off an idea, no matter how good it is.

So I say thank you, to the people who have let me know they’re following along with the progress in my Cosy Murder Mystery novel, the first in the proposed “At Talloola” series with amateur sleuth Meredith Webster. Having you with me, as I work my way through this first book is certainly greatly helping me!

Books take time, particularly when a writer is used to writing poems, and is accustomed to being able to get a poem written, edited, and done within a day, when it goes well. A novel, no matter how good it’s going, is going to take at least a month.

Anyway, thanks, and I can promise you, a novel will happen. By the end of 2021, Winds of Death At Talloola, will be written, and if not published, at least available to be read in pre-published form.

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Write a Cosy Murder Mystery, Sure! I Hope …

carolyncordon

Writing a novel is a strange thing, I’m discovering. When I write a poem or short story, I know more or less what I’m doing, and whether what I’m doing is working. But with this novel I’m currently writing, while I’m enjoying the process, I have no idea if it’s actually working.

A murder mystery needs a killer, and clues, and it needs someone who will solve the crime, and so make sure everyone is safe. So I created a town, quite similar to a town I know well, and I created people who live in or near the town, and I came up with a dead person, possibly murdered, and I know I have to plant clues, as well as ‘red herrings’ and my main character has to be interesting, and not seem to smart, or too stupid either.

I’ve read quite a few murder mysteries over the years, and I’m very interested in the whole idea of writing in this genre. But I’m not sure whether I’m capable of doing this. I like the town, and the people, I really like my main character, and some of the other characters feel like friends too.

I’m definitely going to go on writing about the town I’ve come up with, my town of Talloola. This is my town and I love it! There are some great things going on in Talloola, and I’m glad to be watching them happen!

So I’m going to go on writing away at this project, forwarding some of my writing of this novel to a friend, and she is enjoying what I’m writing. I hope I continue to write words that go on being enjoyable. And I hope I get my head around the necessary aspects of plot, that will make this work look and read like a cosy murder mystery!

If anyone could offer any ideas about things to make sure I have in the novel, I’m all ears!