Some takeaways from a "Write Your Novel Worshop"
At the novel writing workshop: Mindy Friddle, Scott Gould, Regal House editor-in-chief Jaynie Royal, and managing editor Pam Van Dyk.
Recently, I partnered with fellow writer Scott Gould to lead a workshop on novel writing at the Village District Barnes & Noble. I was in Raleigh for the weekend to help celebrate Regal House Publishing’s ten year anniversary, and to meet many of my fellow authors, published by Regal House. It was an honor to co-lead this workshop, attended by peers and the general public.
A caveat: every novelist’s process differs, and often changes with each project. With that in mind, here are a few novel writing basics we discussed:
The Freewheeling First Draft
The first draft is all about generating new work without judging or editing. Scott writes the entire first draft of his novels in longhand. I write notes in longhand, do some freewriting, then jump to Scrivener, my favorite software.
Keep a “working journal” from day one of your first draft through your polished, final manuscript. For the first draft, I record a daily word count, aiming for an ambitious 2,000 words per session, with a goal of at least 60k words. Do give your first draft a working title. Don’t share your Ideas at this point or talk about them; it drains the energy. Instead, write as if you were telling the story to someone.
This freewheeling first draft is all about audacious ideas, exploring, and expansion. The next step is compression.
Distilling and Revising
Find a way to distill your freewheeling first draft, however disjointed, to find the essential story. Scott writes a one-sentence logline: this is a novel about….I find writing a synopsis is helpful. Try writing a synopsis of your draft in about 500 words, like book jacket copy. The synopsis is your compass, and you can refer to it as you write the second draft. But keep in mind your synopsis is malleable, a guide that can change as your characters are revealed through their actions. At about 100 pages, a major milestone, consider writing another synopsis. A log line is helpful too: this is a novel about an intelligent octopus in an aquarium who befriends a lonely widow. Keep up your working journal with daily entries, recording the dates and times you write, as well as ideas, frustrations, and your feelings about the work. This working journal is the writer in conversation with herself, and runs parallel with the creation of the novel.
Polishing
After revisions, temporal distance helps. Schedule days or weeks away from your draft so you can read it with fresh eyes. And then print it out, read it aloud, and continue edits. Tackle the big revisions first—character’s motivations, pacing— before you edit sentences and punctuation. When you’re ready to share with a few trusted readers, send not to nit-picky writers, but to voracious readers who read widely and deeply.
Hacks when you feel stuck
Reward yourself along the way for each milestone. For example, after you complete a draft, or revise a chapter.
Visualize having completed the novel and how it will feel.
Read your revised draft aloud to others or have someone read it to you.
Take time away and work on a small project, perhaps in another genre, that you can complete, like a flash fiction piece, a poem, or essay.
Play as you revise. Flip charts, note cards, pens and markers, and sketch pads provide a creative, tactile way to “re-vision” your drafts as you firm up a timeline, or fine tune narrative threads.
Walk outside or sit on a park bench. Nature is restorative.
Try listening to music. I listen to soaring instrumentals from modern composers on noise-cancelling headphones. Scott creates song lists for each novel, and sometimes for characters, like a southern-rock loving bartender.
Above all, learn to love the process. Love it and trust it. Be grateful for your creativity, your opportunity to write, to make art.
Write Your Novel Workshop in the Village District Barnes & Noble in Raleigh.