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 Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 1:49 pm
No. i don't have writer's block.
i've been reading Stephen King's On Writing so that i can maybe learn some tricks, some tips, and hell, just learn about Stephen King (because while he's not my #1 favorite author, he's pretty amazing). on the back of the book it has some sort of quote from some magazine about how the book is encouraging and awesome, right? well it is awesome, but i'm not feeling so encouraged. in fact, i'm feeling rather inadequate. i mean i've been pretending to write (when i started my novel) for about a year now, and i just don't have a lot of "writer" habits. he recommends writing at least 1000 words a day. that has happened maybe one time for me...every day? pft. no way.
so let me just get right in to it. how in the bejeesus do your novels get so long? because i'll tell you: i've heard this a lot. people talking about "oh, i'm at 120,000 words, only been working on this for five months, and i'm really just getting into it." how does that happen? most of the novels i read range between 200 and 400 pages, but usually they're right around 300. at 120,000 words (not even finished), that's about 480 pages (this is using the standard 250-method--not always accurate, but a fairly round-about number). how much more is there to that story? i just think that must be one amazing story to be so long. and crap, if it doubles, that's 960 pages (since you're only just started, you know).
i don't mean to sound bitter, but i feel grossly misinformed and grossly unprepared for this. the only reason (besides inadequacy and failure--i'm trying to shy from that) that i can think these novels are so long when finished is that there is a LOT of crap mixed in that's getting edited out. does that happen with most writers? i don't feel like i have a lot of extraneous junk lying around in my novel (i have looked), but am i unusual in that aspect?
i want to think that i'm just not a generic writer. i mean, i have no plans of writing as a main income. i want to believe that it's okay for me to write this way (whenever i feel like it, as slow as i feel like it), but i can't fight the idea that maybe, discrediting the reviews from my friends, it's not any good and my writing habits are to blame.
in a nutshell: i'm questioning my ability and preparedness as a writer. do you have any input on this? has this happened to you? what did you do about it?
edit: i'm glad no one has posted yet. i feel a little silly after having written all this, but i still wonder if i am alone in feeling...slow? i don't mean slow intellectually, but like i'm way behind and should be finished by now or something. have any of you felt like you didn't measure up to other writers, even fellow unpublished (amateur--i'm hesitant to say that because of certain implications) writers? am i just lacking will-power, drive, or something else? i just feel like i didn't get some big "what a writer does" manual that people seem to innately have...
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 5:31 pm
No your not alone, and don't feel silly for voicing your concerns. A few years back I wrote a... not too long novel, maybe 250 pages. I was almost finished and re-read it, it was crap. No joke. I realized it was one of those books where only you would like it. I finished it anyways and kept it. I still love it, even if it's not that good. Just keep writing if it's what you love and don't worry how far behind you are. I know I'm really behind and that's ok with me. It's ok because I know I'll go at my own pace and possibly write something really special. I also just got a flood of ideas today at my barn and I'm going to take a stab at putting them on paper. I also really need to break my lurking habit. *sigh* Sometimes I think too much, but that's another thing. I wish you luck with your writing and remember, you're never behind compared to someone else's speed. You can only go by your pace standards.
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:15 pm
thanks...
i still feel silly for being like "omg, what's wrong with me?" and i know that i can't really compare myself to others, but it's hard not to. i mean, i'm kind of new to the whole writing scene and i never intended it to be a novel. i didn't know what it was, but i knew i couldn't sleep well at night because of it and i had to get it out of me. now i know what it is, but every once in a while, when talking to thers, i feel like some huge "what you're supposed to do if you're writing a novel" manual came out and i just wasn't on the list to get one. it seems like most of these writers know and do what you're supposed to, but i never knew that i wasnt confused
but you're right. i keep trying to tell myself that, but it helps when i've got someone else saying it xp
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Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 6:53 pm
No problem. Besides, most writers (in my opinion) who "know and do what they're supposed to" have less interesting books.
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Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 8:37 pm
Writing doesn;t have a rulebook. It's something from the heart. However fast or slow, in-depth or shallow you want it to be is whatever you like.
I have close to 110k, and it's not even at 200 pages. But nevermind.
My book is super-long because it just is. I enjoy it that way.
And that 100 words a day thing...I heard three pages, but meh. And I do that because I love writing. But it isn't really a necessity. No one can tell you how to write.
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2007 2:45 pm
thanks kirbs.
i just wanted to make sure i was acting crazy xp
one thing: i keep mentioning the "250 method" which isn't 100% reliable, but it's supposed to be a fairly accurate method of determining how many printed, novel-size pages a story will have.
the method goes like this (switched around a bit; it's usually used to determine word count):
number of words / 250 = ~ number of pages.
so for you, kirbs, it'd go like this:
110,000 / 250 = ~ 440
i've read about this method on a few writing boards (because i'm a lurker).
like i said: it's usually used to determine word count, but it only works (so i'm told) in Courier 12 point font (changing the formula to: 250 multiplied by the number of pages in the manuscript).
am i the only one who has ever heard of this?
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 8:25 pm
Crap.
Ametris is gonna be looooooooooooong. Like, in the 1200 pages, long.
Would any of you read a book that long? Honestly.
Because personally, it is my dream that a book should never end. *sigh*
And Lacausta is gonna be just as long...maybe longer...oooh....
Um, Flick? Does this mean novel pages, or MSword pages? 'Cause on MSword, in Courier New 12, it's about 260, with 110k words.
I'm confuuuzed. :/
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 12:17 pm
it's supposed to give an approximation of how many novel pages there will be.
i just wasn't sure if anyone else had ever heard of it.
i mean, my 53,000 word (open office word count) WIP novel is 118 pages in courier 12 point font, whereas in my usual 10 point veranda, it's only 79.
but get this: if i use the 250 method for determining word count, i get 29,500, which is friggen tiny.
so i just don't know if i'm not doing my math right or what.
and while i love to read long books (because they tend to be more involving), i could not read one forever. i always get that sense of satisfaction out of finishing a book. and if i've been reading the same book for 20 years...well there must be something wrong, methinks ninja
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 2:20 pm
Hmm. Everyone's different.
Well, novel pages are considerably smaller and shorter than normal pages. Even a LOTR page has less words on it than a 12 pt Times New Roman MSWord page. *shrug*
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:25 pm
I am like you. I write when I feel like it and however much I feel like writing. Otherwise, it feels forced (-coughnanowrimocough-). I tried to do NaNoWriMo, but trying to force myself to write x amount of words every day just put too much pressure on me and my novel ended up being crap.
So, I'd say write what you want when you want and don't let anyone tell you you're doing it wrong.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 9:23 pm
Amen!
Except editors. Editors are like St. Peter to a Christian. sweatdrop
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Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:03 pm
I personally think the speed of your writing is proportionate to the scene. Some parts of a story are harder to write than others and some come more easily. Especially parts you KNOW are going to happen, versus those parts inbetween the ouline. Sometimes I can sit down and write 10 pages in two hours. Sometimes I which 2 paragraphs in two hours. Sometimes that's discouraging. Which is why I usually need a good swift kick in the rump. ^.^'
It's good to set a goal, but only if it works for you. And if you're writing part time, who cares what should and shouldn't be done? Otherwise, you suck the fun out of it. Put fun back in it. Every time you write, no matter how much it is, do a happy dance. Live for the happy dance! That's my suggestion of getting the pages churned out. 3nodding Silly Steven King.
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