Clary Books

Last week went well, and I wrote 2843 words for a total 53360 to date.

The middle stretch of the book was hard, but working my way to the end is harder in its own way. I know the end state I’m aiming for, but making all threads of the story both sensible and entertaining is a tricky business. So, more work for this week, and on I go.

I am happy to have passed 50,000 words at last. I started this novel during NaNoWriMo last November, where the goal is to hit 50,000 words in one month. Alas, I have never in my life been that fast a writer, and so it has taken me into February to meet that goal.

But meet it I have. Even though last week I only finished 1259 words, that took me to a total of 50517 so far. I spent the rest of my writing time doing something new: I started a spreadsheet where I laid out in order all my chapters, and all the scenes within those chapters, with columns listing who was present in the scene, where it took place, and what the purpose of the scene was.

In this book I juggle several different plot threads, and I introduce a certain set of characters and magical themes that I hope to write about in other books in the future. So I face a number of tasks, and since this is only the second time I have pushed a novel-length story to completion, the structure of a novel as it’s being written is something I am learning as I work. As I head into the final third of the book, I still have to figure out how to bring all these things to some sort of satisfying conclusion.

I hope that as I do this again, and then again, some of this work will start to feel more natural to me. For now, I test different tools as I try to find what works. I think the spreadsheet is a good tool for me.

And time to report on last week’s progress on the novel. There was progress. That’s the good news. A total of 2553 words, bringing the total to 46479 words as of now. I’m still thinking the book will top out around 75k words, maybe 80k. We shall see.

One thing that’s very weird about writing is how it changes from day to day. Last week I wrote on three different days. One was a kind of normal noodling around, not entirely sure where I was aiming but managing to figure it out as I went along. The next time I sat down to write I felt completely certain about where it was going and what to say. When it’s like that, writing is a revelation. The next day was exactly the opposite. The words were like glue, everything was stupid, nothing made any sense.

I never know what it’s going to be like until I start. It’s an adventure every time, and every time is different. Now, on to see what this week is like.

I’ve spent the past week reviewing the first half of the novel I’m writing. It’s been a useful exercise, just as I hoped it would be. Until this week, I haven’t gone back to read any of the book so far. Instead I focused on writing new words, pushing the story ahead. Now that I need to structure the final half, I wanted to look over what has happened in the first half, to pick out all the threads and carry them forward to the end.

So far I’ve got six pages of notes, some definite ideas about how to proceed, and over a hundred pages of semi-edited prose to review again when I’m finished. I’ll take another day or two to continue brainstorming, and then get back to new words.

This novel is a learning experience for me. I’ve only completed one novel in my life. I’ve started a few more, only to find that I was writing something that was either 1) a story I wanted to write, but which was outside my abilities at that moment, or 2) not a story I wanted to write at all, though I hadn’t realized it when I began. I learn something new every time, and so far this book has been both a story I want to write and something that seems to match my ability, at least if I stretch myself. But at the same time, novel structure is still very new to me. I guess all writers continue to learn as they go, but the curve is pretty steep when you’re starting out.

I’ve written a lot over the years, mostly non-fiction, but also maybe a dozen short stories as well as the novels I’ve written or attempted. And my promise to myself now, when I have this time to write and no pressure to do anything else, is to write and finish new works consistently. So I will press on with this story.

This book, by the way, is not set in any fantasy world I’ve designed previously. I have at least three worlds I hope to return to in the years ahead. But this is a contemporary fantasy, set in the present day world, where there happens to be magic, spirits, and people who work with magic and spirits. And of course all manner of trouble that both people and magic can cause. I hope in the end it will be something you might find worth reading.