Currently I am working on a novel. It is so much harder than I ever thought and the first thing I need to say is KUDOS to anyone who has ever finished one. Prior to this I was a pretty harsh reader. Now I know the blood, sweat and frustrated thumps of the keyboard that are involved… I want to say this: Sorry to every author who book I ever said was drivel. It turns out, that writing a cohesive and interesting novel is really REALLY hard. I am going to take this blog as an opportunity to discuss some of the mistakes and how I am attempting to overcome them on my writerly journey.
Challenge #1 – Keeping track of your Universe:
I cannot tell you the amount of authors I have cursed because of a minor (or sometimes) major plot or character contradiction. The more invested I am in the book the greater the offence. “But HOW could you possibly think that character A has brown eyes when you always said he has blue” I would vent into the aether. The thing I never realised was, unlike you, the reader, the author has an entire universe in their mind to keep track of, thousands of details about hundreds of people, places and things and it is hard. Sometimes you forget that Character B hates tomatoes and you have him declare a hundred pages later how much he loves pizza.
What I have learned:
Write everything down, be as organised as you can. When you have an idea or a thought about someone. WRITE IT SOMEWHERE OR YOU WILL FORGET. I find the notes section on my phone is good because I can search quickly, even if the notes sent grouped correctly.
Happy wordsmithing!
The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.
Agatha Christie
