Books About Writing: This Year You Write Your Novel
I picked up this book on novel writing by Walter Mosley the other day at the library. I was looking for another one, (which I didn't find, sadly), when this one stood out. It's small, but the affirmative wording of the title drew me to pick it up (Clever, Mr. Mosley, clever).
I read it in just a couple of hours this morning, the blizzard outside giving me a great excuse to curl up with hot chocolate and a book. It's not full of profound wisdom nor overly burdened with examples or "must do's", which I found made it all the more enjoyable. The straight-forward wording is something that I relate to, and the example that were given were clearly laid out. It's not a workbook or a reference guide, just a simple presentation of the basics of novel writing, along with a forthright assumption that you will now go write your novel.
A few things that I hope to take with me from reading it:
1. Write every day. Mosley suggests a minimum of one and half hours a day. I'm not sure if my schedule will allow for that much time, but maybe I will be able to build up to that.
2. Research later. I needed to hear that. I have a tendency to just skim over things, giving vague details, but then I worry that I'm doing it wrong and end up buried in 20 open tabs of how to tie a tie versus a cravat. Figuring out just how long it takes for spinal swelling to go down can be done later; for now, I can be vague about the timeline and keep the story rolling.
3. Writing without restraint. NaNoWriMo has taught me a lot about this, but Mosley presents it in a slightly different way. NaNoWriMo, with its challenge of writing 50,000 words in just 30 days, forces you to just write, and ignore the screams of your inner editor as you do so. Mosley suggests opening up the Pandora's box of your thoughts and letting your character face all those evil thoughts and feelings. Readers like a protagonist with a dark side after all, someone they can relate to.
I don't know if I'll write a book in a year or not, but I do want to get into the habit of writing more consistently. I do fairly well at this during NaNo-months, but without the added motivation of charts and shiny badges, I fall out of the habit. So, my alarm is set for 6 am tomorrow. (Just kidding, tomorrow's Saturday. I'll make it 8 instead.) April's CampNaNo is quickly approaching and my goal is to get my character sheets shorted out and maybe even a vague outline prepped for that. (I'll explain more about NaNoWriMo and Camp soon, I promise!)
If you want to read Walter Mosley's This Year You Write Your Novel for yourself, you can find it here
~ Belle
I read it in just a couple of hours this morning, the blizzard outside giving me a great excuse to curl up with hot chocolate and a book. It's not full of profound wisdom nor overly burdened with examples or "must do's", which I found made it all the more enjoyable. The straight-forward wording is something that I relate to, and the example that were given were clearly laid out. It's not a workbook or a reference guide, just a simple presentation of the basics of novel writing, along with a forthright assumption that you will now go write your novel.
A few things that I hope to take with me from reading it:
1. Write every day. Mosley suggests a minimum of one and half hours a day. I'm not sure if my schedule will allow for that much time, but maybe I will be able to build up to that.
2. Research later. I needed to hear that. I have a tendency to just skim over things, giving vague details, but then I worry that I'm doing it wrong and end up buried in 20 open tabs of how to tie a tie versus a cravat. Figuring out just how long it takes for spinal swelling to go down can be done later; for now, I can be vague about the timeline and keep the story rolling.
3. Writing without restraint. NaNoWriMo has taught me a lot about this, but Mosley presents it in a slightly different way. NaNoWriMo, with its challenge of writing 50,000 words in just 30 days, forces you to just write, and ignore the screams of your inner editor as you do so. Mosley suggests opening up the Pandora's box of your thoughts and letting your character face all those evil thoughts and feelings. Readers like a protagonist with a dark side after all, someone they can relate to.
I don't know if I'll write a book in a year or not, but I do want to get into the habit of writing more consistently. I do fairly well at this during NaNo-months, but without the added motivation of charts and shiny badges, I fall out of the habit. So, my alarm is set for 6 am tomorrow. (Just kidding, tomorrow's Saturday. I'll make it 8 instead.) April's CampNaNo is quickly approaching and my goal is to get my character sheets shorted out and maybe even a vague outline prepped for that. (I'll explain more about NaNoWriMo and Camp soon, I promise!)
If you want to read Walter Mosley's This Year You Write Your Novel for yourself, you can find it here
~ Belle
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