The beginning

Currently I am working on a new novel. Well, it's not new; I wrote a 50,000-word version for NaNoWriMo 2008 entitled "The Reunion." I've decided, though, that it needs to undergo some drastic changes. These changes will alter the story enough so that the title becomes obsolete, so I need a new title. That will come later; right now I'm not as concerned with that as getting something on paper.

Right now, I've decided to write free-hand; I think this makes the first draft more intimate. It will also give me the chance to do my first edit in a way that doesn't feel like I'm editing; I'd just be typing it in and making little changes as I went along.

The goal, for now, is to have a first draft with 200,000 words and to pare it down to 100,000 words for the final draft. This way I can get out everything I want to say without worrying about what to keep out and I can go off on tangents to see what comes of it and I won't have to hold back at all. I can get everything down and then take out what doesn't fit or what isn't as good. I've averaged a few handwritten pages, and it comes out to about 300 words per page, which means I need to fill 666 or so pages.

We'll see how this goes and how this method works. Hopefully it will all turn out for the best. I encourage anyone at any time to comment with any writing tips or tricks you may have for myself or anyone else who might be reading this. Also, if you have a similar blog and would like to link to mine, let me know. We can support each other.

The most important thing, for me, is to continuously remember Hemingway's quote: "The first draft of anything is shit." Now, let's get started with our shit.