These Chains that Bind
I have finished my second complete read-through of my novel, "These Chains that Bind."
Every time I came across a typo, I cringed, but with as fast as I type and read, it's near impossible to catch all those tiny mistakes. The few I found will be altered, but I certainly hope if any typos are evident, the agents don't hold it against me, lol!
Other than that, I have to say, everything fell into place beautifully. As I read it over for the second time, I had specific things in mind that I was questioning from the first time I read it. I wanted to be sure everything flowed and all the plot points made sense and were not scattered all over the place. Why I was worried, I don't really know, but I have come to find that I could find no errors in the layout and am actually rather impressed with myself. Thank you, Jim Butcher, for the tips on writing a novel, otherwise mine would never have gotten done!
It's simple once you break the process down. Jim Butcher has a lovely set up that he shared on his LJ and I constructed a similar idea that could help me make progress in my novels. The main thing you have to do is set up stepping stones and give yourself a vague idea of where you're going. For me, personally, I cannot get too specific on where I am leading these people, otherwise the writing simply will not come out well and will not flow. I have to give myself a ghost outline of what I want to occur and give myself simple stepping stones to navigate me-- once I hit a stepping stone, anything can really happen. Sometimes these stepping stones lead me in places I hadn't anticipated on going. I love it when that happens.
Sometimes I feel like novels write themselves. I may spend hours upon hours plotting in a certain direction, only to write and be led somewhere else entirely. While this is fabulous, sometimes it can really lead you to a brick wall that's damn near impossible to break down. There have been occasions where I had to break out the jack-hammer to get any further.
Speaking of jack-hammering, I think I might spend the next few days writing some short stories. There are a lot of things that go on after "These Chains that Bind," but won't be appearing in the next novel. Filling in that gap sounds like fun. :]
Every time I came across a typo, I cringed, but with as fast as I type and read, it's near impossible to catch all those tiny mistakes. The few I found will be altered, but I certainly hope if any typos are evident, the agents don't hold it against me, lol!
Other than that, I have to say, everything fell into place beautifully. As I read it over for the second time, I had specific things in mind that I was questioning from the first time I read it. I wanted to be sure everything flowed and all the plot points made sense and were not scattered all over the place. Why I was worried, I don't really know, but I have come to find that I could find no errors in the layout and am actually rather impressed with myself. Thank you, Jim Butcher, for the tips on writing a novel, otherwise mine would never have gotten done!
It's simple once you break the process down. Jim Butcher has a lovely set up that he shared on his LJ and I constructed a similar idea that could help me make progress in my novels. The main thing you have to do is set up stepping stones and give yourself a vague idea of where you're going. For me, personally, I cannot get too specific on where I am leading these people, otherwise the writing simply will not come out well and will not flow. I have to give myself a ghost outline of what I want to occur and give myself simple stepping stones to navigate me-- once I hit a stepping stone, anything can really happen. Sometimes these stepping stones lead me in places I hadn't anticipated on going. I love it when that happens.
Sometimes I feel like novels write themselves. I may spend hours upon hours plotting in a certain direction, only to write and be led somewhere else entirely. While this is fabulous, sometimes it can really lead you to a brick wall that's damn near impossible to break down. There have been occasions where I had to break out the jack-hammer to get any further.
Speaking of jack-hammering, I think I might spend the next few days writing some short stories. There are a lot of things that go on after "These Chains that Bind," but won't be appearing in the next novel. Filling in that gap sounds like fun. :]