               The Book Maven
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Most Commented On
Archives
Blog
Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (11)
A Novel Approach to Finishing a ManuscriptAugust 7, 2008 This isn't new, but not only is it intriguing -- there's a lesson in it, one that most of us who write alread know but need to have repeated again. And again. And again. On Lifehacker, I read a post from LtU about how Neal Stephenson finished his first book: "It was a hot summer in Iowa City. Neal Stephenson had a regular job, and yet had a hunch that writing might be for him. He had written a 'query' -- a plot summary, the outline of a book, biographies of characters, and a few sample chapters -- and started to send them to editors, which he picked at random from trade directories. Many rejection letters followed. Finally, one editor wrote that he was intrigued by the outline and the sample chapter and asked for the rest of the novel. After a brief exhilaration the reality set in: there was no novel yet. He had to write it. With all his vacation time and the 4th of July holiday there were 10 days, in which to write a novel. He rented a modern typewriter, secluded himself in his apartment and started to type. Soon a problem appeared: the typewriter had a modern plastic ribbon. The plastic mellowed and became sticky: it was July in Iowa City, and the apartment was hot. The only way to prevent the ribbon from getting stuck is to keep the ribbon moving. And the only way to keep the ribbon moving is to keep pressing the keys. That discovery did wonders for his productivity. He didn't have time to think: he had to keep pressing the keys and write the first thing that came into his mind. He sent thus created manuscript to the editor. The latter replied that his publishing house can't print that -- but the work was interesting and should be published. Eventually, Neal Stephenson got an agent, a publisher, and his first published book, 'The Big U'." Stephenson learned by necessity the lesson that all successful authors learn by hook or by crook: sticking with it (oh, I know, groan...) is more important than aiming for perfection. (Maybe someday I'll learn this. My current goal seems to be to beat out Helen Hooven Santmyer for title of oldest debut novelist.) My trick to keep writing is to fill up a page with dummy text and overwrite it all (note to my various editors: now you know why you keep finding random "lorems" and "nellesques" in my files.)What are your tricks? Posted by Bethanne Patrick on August 7, 2008 | Comments (11)
August 7, 2008
In response to: A Novel Approach to Finishing a Manuscript Jeff Rivera commented: There's a great book called HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL IN 30 DAYS. I highly recommend it. You can get it on Amazon. -- Jeff Rivera (Author of FOREVER MY LADY - Warner/Grand Central)
August 7, 2008
In response to: A Novel Approach to Finishing a Manuscript Jeff Rivera commented: There's a great book called HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL IN 30 DAYS. I highly recommend it. You can get it on Amazon. -- Jeff Rivera (Author of FOREVER MY LADY - Warner/Grand Central)
August 7, 2008
In response to: A Novel Approach to Finishing a Manuscript KaraBella commented: How often does Helen Hooven Santmyer get name-dropped these days? Excellent pull! And excellent point about slogging away -- is sticky typewriter ribbon the secret answer to performance anxiety?
August 7, 2008
In response to: A Novel Approach to Finishing a Manuscript Madison McGraw commented: Another inspirational story to add to the old bulletin-board. Now, it makes me wonder why some authors take years to finish one book. I wonder if Nora Roberts uses a typewriter with a sticky ribbon?
August 7, 2008
In response to: A Novel Approach to Finishing a Manuscript books296 commented: Hemmingway said - and Salman Rushdie often quotes it - to write one sentence less than you know. That way, it's easier to pick up where you left off.
August 7, 2008
In response to: A Novel Approach to Finishing a Manuscript Rockin' Rich commented: I recommend Jeff Rivera find someone else to plug his book. And do it once, not twice.
August 7, 2008
In response to: A Novel Approach to Finishing a Manuscript Christine commented: Even though the sidebars are really hard for me to read, I love "No Plot, No Problem!" Kind of expresses my approach to writing...which has obviously been wildly successful (cough).
August 7, 2008
In response to: A Novel Approach to Finishing a Manuscript Natalie Hatch commented: What a wonderful thing to do, I'm too scared to send out a partial to an editor for fear of the same thing happening, so I'll stick to fixing my full novel before throwing it out to the world.
August 8, 2008
In response to: A Novel Approach to Finishing a Manuscript Nicole Seitz commented: When I wrote my first novel, THE SPIRIT OF SWEETGRASS, I was pregnant, then on bedrest, then had a baby, and would wake in the night to write when I got home. It was five months total till the first draft. It ended up being a two-book deal. I had no agent, publisher or pressure while writing except that the story was much bigger than me and had to come out. These days, there is a publisher, pressure, deadlines, and readers. I struggle to become small again in the face of my stories and allow them to take over. But I remember what it felt like that fisrt time.
August 19, 2008
In response to: A Novel Approach to Finishing a Manuscript Gale Laure, Author of "Evolution of a Sa commented: I say write from the heart. Everyone has one. Feel what you write. Feel the joy, tears, excitement, fear or anxiety of each and every character.
August 23, 2008
In response to: A Novel Approach to Finishing a Manuscript writeroffthelake commented: I'm big on structure, so my favorite books on writing fiction are the ones that give the nuts and bolts of construction.
Advertisement
|
|
