The Process of Writing the Novel

[charmingbillie]

So, I'm working on my second novel (not like I've finished my first novel, but whatever) and I'm thinking a bit about the process--about my process, because there isn't a process for writing a novel.  Right now, I'm starting to get a handle on The Way I Want to Write the Novel and The Way That Might Work a Little Better (someday I hope to add The Way That Might Actually Work, but I think there might be several more Ways That Might Work a Little Better first).

First, know that I'm not an outliner, though I have been known to do a bit of planning and I have a certain structure that I try to follow.  My novels start with some characters that interest me in some sort of situation (my short stories more often than not start with either a title or a first line)

The Way That I Want to Write the Novel

• Put my head down and go
• Ignore when it goes off the rails
• Figure things out on the fly
• Go
• Go
• Go

Pros:

• Stuff gets written
• Some of it is really good stuff

Cons

• Novel goes seriously off the rails at some point
• I mean, seriously
• Some of it really sucks
• There are many moments of woe and despair

The Way That Might Work A Little Better

• Put my head down and go
• Realize that it is starting to go off the rails
• Write another fifty pages
• Say to myself, Self, perhaps I could STOP and re-read what I've written so far so that I can figure out where it has gone off the rails
• Convince myself to do this by promising that I can also fix scenes that end too abruptly and other small stuff
• Re-read
• Shove it back onto the rails via timely and, one hopes, in the end, good revision
• Write until it goes off the rails again (plus fifty pages or so)
• Repeat

Pros:

• Stuff still gets written
• Some of it is still pretty good
• I learn that I wrote that character revelation three times already and cut it down to once sometime before the end of the novel
• I spend less time saying, omg, this is the suckiest plot ever and fix some of the suck instead
• Less woe and despair (?)  Still to be tested.

Cons:
I will let you know when I finish the novel and figure out what I've got.