If only I can get beyond chapters 1 and 2!
By scribe1
@scribe1 (1203)
United States
January 19, 2007 4:02pm CST
Writing a novel has been a lifelong dream and I am determined to make it happen before I leave this world. Usually, I'm off to a great start in the first two chapters, then lose momentum by the third and fourth.
Got to admit that I've tried a number of strategies so far, such as developing outlines, writing separate chapters, creating character backgrounds, dialogues and scenes, etc.
Maybe I just need to complicate my plot a little more....
2 people like this
4 responses
@Stiletto (4579)
•
29 Jan 07
Maybe it's down to your plot scribe1 or it could be your characters need to be more developed in your own mind before you even start writing. I've heard a lot of writers talking about characters taking on a life of their own once they get started with writing.
@scribe1 (1203)
• United States
29 Jan 07
That's true as well. About two years ago, I began to develop a character and before long, I developed another character and a plot. I didn't write entire chapters, but a descriptive paragraph for each chapter in a notebook. Interestingly, I liked a few chapters more than others. My experience was like getting good radio or tv reception every so often before everything blanked out or went awry. Maybe I could look at that notebook again and reform my plot from the paragraphs that made me feel like I had something going.
@Nstar0227 (60)
• Singapore
19 Jan 07
MAybe u can try read more novels?Afterall, those great writers din write their great novels within days..isn;t it?So long u have a start, it's half way thru success..Rmb, ROME is not BUilt WIthin Days. NEVER GIVE UP!
@mjgarcia (725)
• United States
28 Jan 07
Maybe add a subplot to intertwine with the main plot will help. Sometimes I skip ahead and write other chapters that will come later in the book. I may have a great ending in mind, so I'll write that and think backwards to some of the complications that may have caused the ending. I can't just sit and write from Chapter 1 to the end.
@pacodecabra (160)
• United States
28 Jan 07
I would encourage you to keep at it. All of the things you mention are positive strategies. And here's a suggestion that helped me after 20 years of never getting more than 40 pages in without hiting a wall. Every November there is a contest called National Novel Writing Month (www.NaNoWriMo.org). The way you "win" is by writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. This comes out to 1667 words a day, or about 6 pages. The key is that you don't edit anything during that 30 days, you just write. It's great for breaking through the wall, and I completed my first novel in 2005 and my second in 2006.
