I spent a little while with my characters today. I only got 500 words written, but it felt good to be working with them again. Curiously, what I wrote longhand is not what ended up being typed in. I edited as I copied it over. It just didn't sound like the right narrator for Heidi and Dave. I think my editing got me closer, though. I know a lot of writers think editing while writing is taboo, but often I find that if I don't have the right voice, my inner editor actually blocks my path. I can't go on until I figure out what's wrong.
Heidi's loosened up a bit in the time I've been away. I think that will be good for the novel. She's more approachable.
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5 comments:
Not too many stolen moments but I'm glad you are getting some writing done. Remember the whole process is much longer than we want to acknowledge. I've heard the average is about 10 years from inception to publishing - so take that with a grain of salt and keep on trucking. I know you will get it done and it will be published one day - E :)
Bah! 10 years!? Say it ain't so. I've heard 2 years on average.
10 years from writing to getting published - the 2 years is the average from selling you story to getting published - but about 10 years is spent on a first novel
Editing while writing is taboo?
I edit constantly, before, during, and after I'm writing something. I can't imagine doing it any other way.
cjh
On average, from what I have seen coming from authors I know, two years is the time it takes from start of writing a novel to the completion of the final draft. Then it usually takes about one year from the time of the signed contract to the publication date. That is how it is with a normal publishing house. Not sure about small presses, etc. though. I know of four writers who have just signed contracts for their first books, and they all have about a year to wait.
As far as the ten years average, I'll bet there are a lot of people on either side of that median. And of course, I highly doubt that the people who take ten years are the people who work every day at it. Keep plugging away. If you only write 275 words a day, you would have a novel of over 100,000 words by the end of a year.
I wouldn't say editing whole you write is taboo. I would say anything that stops the novel is taboo--it' easy for people to use editing as a form of procrastination.
sheesh, and these word verification things on this blog are getting so long it's taking up some of my valuable writing time ;)
--mel
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