This has been a busy week for me. Anyone who follows
my pointless ravings on Twitter will know that I've spent the last few days working on my novella outline - again. A while ago I cracked it because I'd found a massive plot hole, and though I'd slaved over it for a few days to come up with a plausible alternative, what I had was still a bit crap. I had decided to leave it for the time being because I couldn't think of anything better, but I was never happy with it. And then on Thursday, while I was making paper aeroplanes out of other bits of my novella (don't ask), an idea struck me. It was something quite simple, so simple that I'm surprised I didn't think of it earlier (I think it was my writerly muse screwing with me). With a few adjustments, all my characters are now where I want them to be, when I want them to be there, with plausible reasons for their presence. The changes have meant that substantial parts of what I had written have to be rewritten or scrapped entirely; this is annoying, but probably better for it to happen now at 20,000ish words than at, say, 50,000 words. Based on what I've written so far, and my outline revisions, I'm also thinking that my novella may end up being a novel, albeit at the lower end of the scale (I'd estimate at this stage that it will end up at around the 70,000 word mark.
Though I didn't get chapter 3 completely finished, I have started writing chapter 4. Ideally I want to have my prologue and first three chapters completed and fairly polished by this time next week. I'm back at uni on Tuesday and I'm planning to use the first part of my novella in my sample prototype for my thesis, so that gives me more incentive (stress) to get it to a reasonable standard.
I've also more or less abandoned those two short stories I started a few weeks ago. I've kept what I wrote, but my inspiration for them kind of ran dry as quickly as it appeared (exactly as predicted). I may one day return to them, but they're pretty far down the priority list.
Judgemental Dog shouldn't get his hopes up:
See other ROW80 updates
here.
I've found that it's the bits I'm never quite happy with that come back and bite me. When I least expect it I come up with the solution which usually involves simplifying things a little. It's still huge progress even if it does require more work to fix.
ReplyDeleteI know you're annoyed but think of it - you're so much further along than you were last week. Your story is coming together - so much so that it's now a novel. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteYou filled a plot hole! That is awesome!
ReplyDeleteYour paper airplane method reminds me the scene in Stranger Than Fiction:
Kay Eiffel: I went out... to buy cigarettes and I figured out how to kill Harold Crick.
Penny Escher: Buying cigarettes?
Kay Eiffel: As I was... when I came out of the
store I... it came to me.
Penny Escher: How?
Kay Eiffel: Well, Penny, like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method.
well done - another novel eh? - my first novel began life as a short story but it never stopped - sometimes one has no choice but to go with the flow!!did you keep the areoplane - need to frame it.
ReplyDeleteall the best for uni and your offering
hehe Thanks folks :) I haven't seen Stranger Than Fiction but it looks intriguing; must check it out.
ReplyDeleteThis novel also started out as a short story, but almost as soon as I'd written it, I thought to myself, "I could do so much more with this." That short story is now my prologue lol
My idea for adjustment wasn't so much a simplification, it was more just an alternate path so obvious that I don't know why I didn't use it in the first place. Oh well, it's fixed now so I won't complain :D
I love when that happens...
ReplyDeleteAnd Judgmental Dog is starting to sound almost supportive....
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Makes you wonder what was stressing you about part when the solution was so simple. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great feeling when you're able to fix a plot hole with some plausible. I'm still working on one of those in one of my completed novels. Enough to drive a woman mad(der).
ReplyDelete"And then on Thursday, while I was making paper aeroplanes out of other bits of my novella (don't ask)" - I literally LOL'd at this, because I've been there, done that. Some days I want to burn it all and go find a saner occupation, but then I'd end up on Thorazine or somesuch to quiet the voices in my head.
And you should definitely watch "Stranger than Fiction." Awesome movie.
Re: the outline and plot holes. I'm there all of the time. LOL. Sometimes we get so stuck on an outline that it's really hard to change it, particularly when it means changing a lot of the words already written. I'm glad it's clicked for you, it's always a bit of a relief to sort out a nagging problem.
ReplyDeleteI love having little bits of short stories lying around, btw. It helps when I want to work on something different but can't be arsed to start from scratch. :)