The World of Dragonfly

So now it’s time. You’ve gotten the idea in your mind and created the conflict. You’ve also figured out your main characters and completed profiles on each of them. And you’ve also outline your plot and created the time line to go along with it. And you’re about the scream because you have yet to start putting pen to paper–or fingers to keyboard, to draft the novel.

Well, your wait is over! It’s time to do that. Look at it this way. The work listed above is like the preparation work (spackling, sanding, etc.) that goes into preparing walls for painting. By that point, applying the color is almost sheer enjoyment because you can see the fruits of your labor. Drafting is the same way. You’ve completed all of this work, and now it’s time to see the fruits of your labors.

Go for it! And as you do, keep these pointers in mind:

1. Just write. Don’t worry about editing right now. Sure, if you create a typo, correct it, but don’t start over-editing. You’ll have plenty of time for that later.

2. Try to get blocks of time to write. While you do hear people say, and it’s true, that if you can write a page a day, you’ll have a decent-sized novel within a year. Well, if you’re like me, you’re not that patient. Try to find blocks of time, even if it’s an hour or so, to write. Aim for four pages or more each time. If you can manage it, two to three hours is perfect. One of the ways I try to do this is to disappear to my local Starbucks once a week for an hour to an hour and a half. That way, I’m not sitting there looking at all that needs to be done around the house. Instead, I can focus on my writing.

3. Re-read previously written work. If you have a writing session and come back to it later, go back and re-read previously written work to see if it makes sense to you and to give you a reference to continuing the plot.

4. It’s okay to re-write. In many cases, what you put down may not be exactly what you’d intended. When this happens, it’s okay to erase that and move on. The key is not to get so caught up in this that you wind up getting stuck in one place.

5. No major editing. I know I said this above in #1, but I want to reinforce it here. Don’t do major edits right now. Otherwise, you can waste an inordinate amount of time on one section of the novel, get discouraged, and never complete it. Instead, focus on pushing through because, again, you’ll have plenty of time to edit later.

6. Be persistent. This is my last major point. You have to persist. There may be times when you’re so busy that the only time you draft is when you’re sitting in front of the television. Sometimes, you may have enough stuff going on that even that doesn’t happen. If that’s the case, then accept it and carve out time to write later. Aim to complete your draft within three or so months.

7. Have fun. Finally, finally, you’re off and writing. This should be the fun part. The part where your right brain goes to town and you can simply just enjoy letting your ideas spill onto paper or the computer screen. So enjoy it. Let the story you want to tell take you away for a bit and into the dream that author John Gardner talks about so much.

So there you are. Seven tips to help you get going with writing a novel. Truly soak up this experience. I promise you’ll be all the richer for it.

Next up: Editing.

Plotting and determining time lines are two other essentials when preparing to write a novel. The plot lays out how the story will develop and progress, and the time line helps you determine when that will occur.

I’m not going to get into the nuts and bolts of how to plot such as rising action, climax, and falling action. I leave those up to the experts and strongly suggest that you read a couple of good books on developing fiction. But I do want to share some items that I’ve learned over the years.

1. Think about the entire course of the story you want to tell, from beginning to end. It’s okay to know how things will progress.
2. Don’t worry about thinking linearly. Some scenes may come up early in your thought process that would be more suitable toward the end of your novel than the beginning. Plotting the whole novel allows you to plug in the scenes where you think they go.
3. Jot everything down, either on a notepad or on the computer when they come up. Everything. Even if you think it’s too detailed. And if you’re getting ready for bed or out somewhere when these ideas arrive, write them down somewhere lest you forget them.
4. Be open to change. Plotting is definitely not a done deal. If things change after you draft your plot, that’s okay. Work it into the novel.

On to the time line. This too was a concept that was drilled into my head when I took my writing course. Additionally, I’ve come to see that it is an essential part of planning out a novel. Time lines help you figure out how the plot will unfold. A good time line will also keep you from making errors that knock the reader out of the reality of the book and into their reality. For example, a character may be adopting a child where there is a waiting period of six months. If you’re not careful with the plot, then only four months might pass.

So how is the best way to avoid this? I actually use a calendar. I go to my Outlook and print out blank calendars for the months when my plot will occur. Then I literally pencil in when dates will occur for all aspects of the plot and sub plots. A suggestion I have, especially when sub plots are involved, is to group them on common days to save yourself confusion. That’s hard to explain, and if you have questions, I’ll be glad to entertain them. Just comment on my post, and I’ll respond.

Like the plot, time lines should be subject to change. If something comes up and you need to adjust it, do so. Nothing is set in stone.

One last bit of advice that I have, which was passed to me by someone years ago, was to not stretch the plot/time line over many years to turn your novel into the epic novel. Instead, as a beginning novelist, keep it relatively compact. I try to keep mine to within a year. That being said, if you view placing something in the distant past to set the stage, or into the distant future, to end the novel, then do so. A good way to do that is to use headers at the beginning of the chapters (e.g., 2008 for the past and Present Day when the present action starts). And if you have something at the very end of the novel that is way in the future, you can use an Epilogue and again denote the same thing (e.g., 2017). Just don’t stretch the entire plot over, say, ten years or so.

So that’s plot and time line from my point of view. Next up: Free write!