a short story writer’s view of 100,000 words

I haven’t started writing my new novel yet. I said I would start it in February, but I did not. Nope. I did not start it.
I have characters, plot, tension and most of the scenes outlined (according to the snowflake  method) but with the expectation that I will still need to grow and expand the story during the writing process. Still no title [...]

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winter blues

Yep, I have them - compounded today with the Sunday blues! I’m in survival mode now: first survive January, then survive February, then survive March, and so it goes for every me, every year.
Anyway, I thought I should post an update on my writing, even if it’s just a record for my future self to read on [...]

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showing character motivation

One of the problems (actually, the biggest problem) I’m having with the revision project is the whole issue of character motivation. The protagonist’s actions get him into trouble, and as the author, I know why he does what he does (or at least I thought I did), but I don’t think it would be clear to a [...]

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plot vs. character

I’ve noticed that my short stories tend to be very character-centered, but with my novel it’s all about the plot, that marvelous and surprising unfolding of events.
Of course I want both of these to be fully developed – it’s only that my focus seems to shift according to the length of the work. I wonder if [...]

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the relationship between hero and villain

One thing about my draft that I am now changing is the relationship between the hero and the villain. The villain is actually much older than the hero, and I am adding details to show that the two have an important connection that goes back almost to the beginning of the hero’s life, and of [...]

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can’t bear to look…

…at the draft.
After a month-long break (okay, okay, more than a month!) I’m back. And of course, I’m talking about Beamstar. There’s just so much work to do, and I hardly know how to go about it! I’ve divided the novel into five sections of about 20,000 words each, and I’m taking them one at [...]

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an excerpt from the novel

I’ve decided to post the opening of my as-yet-unrevised sf novel Beamstar. The excerpt below represents the first 400 words of the novel, and is followed by a scene break. Please feel free to comment.
 

*   *   * 
 
            The disaster happened without warning. It happened this time in a small village far across the wide [...]

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thinking about revision; bought a workbook

I purchased this workbook to help with the revision of my novel. The title is Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, but it’s geared toward revision rather than writing, as it assumes you already have a completed draft to work with. This workbook is meant to accompany a book with the same title, but it seems to have all the same information, [...]

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different ways of writing a novel

I began writing Beamstar without having a plot or an end in mind, and with the world-building only partially complete. I just thought the story would work itself out in the writing. In fact, it did. So now I know that I can trust the creative process. That’s a good thing to know.
Here’s what I [...]

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done

Well, okay.
It took longer than I thought to finish the first draft of my novel. In fact, I just typed the words “The End” a little while ago. It ran to just over 102,000 words, of which the last 2000 were long and slow, since by then I was kind of running out of steam, and I [...]

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