Writing is a marvelous occupation to embrace because it's lifelong learning. It doesn't matter whether you've won a Pulitzer, a Nobel for literature, or any other award. There is always something new to learn, always something different to try. Each novel or nonfiction book comes with its own set of challenges. The beauty of writing is that you can even choose the set of challenges you want to tackle. There are so many parts that make up a good book that a lifetime can be spent mastering the subject.
I have a lot of challenges within the pages of my current project. It's hard enough to capture the vision and wrestle it to paper, but then there's all those small opportunities to take things to another level that I've planned or that suddenly present themselves for yet another "opportunity." I've set a very high bar this time and there are days when I wonder if I can even jump the first hurdle let alone the one after and the one after and the one after. It can be daunting. But then I remember that even if fail to reach perfection, my work will be so much better simply for having tried. How about you? Do you find that you work in challenges when you envision your books?
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6 comments:
I am now only 2K words short of where I should be for JanNoWriMo. A change of scenery helped a lot. I bought an extra flash drive and took my novel to the library at the college. I think all the encouragement I received from others this weekend helped, too.
So I'm 2/3 of the way there. I think I just might make it. We'll see!
I hope the writing is going well for you, too.
Wow, Christine, Good job! I'm very impressed with your dedication. I'm certain you'll achieve your goal.
Me? Not so much. I'm getting there but it remains a strange and unusual struggle.
I didn't write at all yesterday, and the computer lab was full of talkers today. But now I have some peace and quiet so I'll try to do a little.
I'm revising, remember, so I'm not writing from scratch, just tweaking. My word count isn't really that impressive if you consider that.
What exactly are you working on, Vikk? It sounds like you have something interesting in the works.
Listen, any progress on a work is impressive. :)
My major project is a crime thriller novel. It's a homicide detective book and will, hopefully, be the first in a series. It was in development for several years and morphed quite a bit and included a major evolution when it went from a amateur sleuth story to the detective's story. That's when the development exploded. Just goes to show you what a simple POV change for the main character can do.
I've taken the time to consider it as a foundational book for the series so I was willing to spend a lot more time in development with plot and character building. I have a little over 55K words done in the first draft--very first. I scrapped nearly everything when I shifted the POV. My goal is to finish this white heat draft and then begin threading the book because I'm not writing in chronological order.
Another challenge is the research. My characters inhabit worlds I have never visited. Many of my readers are police officers and medics, and I have to make my details authentic, from my position of complete ignorance! I've also never killed anyone... but can get away with flights of fancy when creating my villains. Fortunately, I have been able to pick the brains of police officers, fire officers, a doctor, a professor of forensic medicine, a market manager, a hotel receptionist... the list is growing! It's great fun and people are all incredibly helpful, but it all takes time.
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