write a novel

Hi, I’ve got this great idea about a book. Its the one I’ve always wanted to write, for years. I’ve spent years getting some plot outlines together….but mostly its been time spent being afraid to commit to writing it. I recently started just writing and its flowing well. But I know that all I need to do right now is just write and the trimming can come later!

I finished my novel, RANSOM, and am currently second drafting it. I have set myself a deadline of 1st September to send it to a publisher.

I have a plan…..

The goal I’ve been wanting to set for years, and avoiding. It looks so huge and scary. But today someone said to me, “Do you ever think about writing a book? You’re a wonderful writer.” And I said, “Funny you should mention that . . . ” And then she said, “I bet you could get a grant to write. It’s no doubt time-consuming to research and apply for appropriate grants, but I really think you’d have an excellent shot at getting one…”

And so I suppose today is the day to set the goal.

I had another small idea for my book, or two ideas. And just for fun I wrote a small couple of lines which would have to fit somewhere in the middle of the whole story. I know, not the way to write a novel. But it’s fun to already write some random parts to know where you want to go with the story, I think.

I have been writing stories for a long time now, but I never finish a single story (except for one). They are all just short stories with no ending, just for fun to practise writing. But my big dream is to write a real, full novel and publish it.

The main problems are having enough inspiration, having enough side tracks to keep it interesting, finish the story, blablabla.

Anyhow, I have taken a book to write all my thoughts and idea’s and lists and all in. A book which I can then always use for reference, searching up things, ... And so far so good, after a bunch of thoughts, I have today decided which story idea of mine I will use for the novel. I only had an idea for the beginning back then, but I already have transformed it in my head. What used to be the beginning (an introduction to the main character telling about his past) will now be shown in pieces throughout the first third or half of the novel, as parts of nightmares.

Oh right, in case anybody would be wondering, it will be a Fantasy novel. The latest years I read nothing else but Fantasy and creating new worlds and races gives this extra something to it all. It allows you to live someplace else but in the real world. I know, I sound pathetic.

Anyhow, I decided about something already, yeey! Now I need a main story line, side tracks, main character and eh… well the whole thing. But blah, I have begun!!

I have sent out 32 query letters to prospective agents.

At present, the tally is 11 “no”s (but some very nice “no”s in the bunch) and I am waiting to hear from 21.

Yesterday, I sent my first e-query. This agent doesn’t accept paper, and I’m happy with that. To show my concern for the environment, I sent my query with recycled electrons. I’m hoping she’ll note the extra care I took and act accordingly.

I have chopped my recent work into digestible bits and submitted it to various literary journals. Following Jen’s lead, I plan to submit a story to Quay in the next few weeks.

I feel good about the novel I’m trying to get an agent for. The novel I have in draft is more problematic but I hope I can fix the problems with extensive rewrites. We’ll see.

about my experiences

Basically wrote an entire outline for a novel while I was on holiday.. wrote a couple of passages but wasn’t really feeling it :/ I may try again soon though..

The second draft is now 70% complete (possibly more). At current pace, with current word count targets, I should have second draft completed by the end of July, with agent submissions starting mid-August