I kidnapped my inner editor

Regarding NaNoWriMo – I have hit 12000 and something words. Needless to say I have quite a way to go, but I am chuffed with my progress so far as this is my first REAL attempt at actually completing a novel. I had one small, irritating rock in my shoe though. My inner editor.

Image: tropes.wikia.com

What I have decided to do is kidnap her, gag her and tie her to a chair. I then proceeded to take her down to the basement (yup, I am strong like that) and place her in the middle of the floor. After that I loaded a shotgun and placed it carefully in front of her, making damn sure she stared straight into the barrel that could instantly end her life. There is a leaking tap in my basement which I am now happy I never fixed, because I hope the incessant dripping of unfiltered water will drive her insane. Right behind the shotgun, I propped a clown doll on a chair, staring straight at her. The basement is dark, except for a dim light bulb clinging on for dear life right above the doll’s head.

Image: creepyblurps.com

I know, it seems harsh, but I was left with no choice. She constantly badgers me about my plot, my characters, my punctuation. Someone had to shut her up. I suggest you do the same, and if you don’t have a basement, mine is free.

Now I shall write in peace.

Happy Writing!

For those ‘not so good’ days

We all have them. I am having one today. I’m not feeling the writing love and I’m confused

as to where my novel is heading. I’m irritated! But we have to soldier on. Here is something

that might brighten up your day!

Has your story changed direction / genre midway?

Image: icopal.co.uk

This is interesting. I found Stephen King’s book On Writing unputdownable! The man is a legend. Of course the process for everyone differs, but getting the perspective of an acclaimed writer like himself never hurts. He mentioned something that stuck in my mind, about letting your story and characters evolve on their own. I am fairly new at this, and found it a bit confusing, as my idea was that we create the entire story and all the characters and how everything plays out (plot right?). He talks about how some of his novels ended completely different to the original idea (Misery) which was surprising as I only knew the one ending. Originally Paul Sheldon would not survive, and the cover for Misery’s Return would be made from Paul Sheldon’s skin, displayed somewhere in crazy Annie’s house. So we all know that didn’t happen. He mentions in his book that the characters evolved into something completely different and he ended it as they would end it.

After this glorious book I went back to writing. I am a tad behind schedule, about 2000 words, but getting there, then something happened. As I was describing a certain setting, a completely new story (same characters) entered my mind, almost like a “ah-ha” moment. It would change the genre of my book, but I cannot seem to let it go and consequently this idea has now snowballed in my head. I am feeling a little confused although I have a sneaky suspicion that I should follow my gut (that’s why we have them I suppose).

I guess what I wanted to ask was whether this has ever happened to you? And what did you do about it? Some advice, comments or even a “no you are crazy” will do.

Writer’s Regards 🙂

xxx

Editing Tips: Word Count

My first guest post. Here are some really great tips if you are researching the “getting published” process.

Shannon A. Thompson

Word count matters. As writers,we’ve all heard this. Although there are exceptions, this rule is especially true for beginning writers applying to publishers. Because of this, I thought I’d talk about it today since I know many of my readers are looking at publications opportunities.

1. Target Audience: This is a big one, because it often decides what the word count will be in a publisher. The numbers are decided based on average reading ability and popular novels. These numbers are considered the target range for that specific audience. I’ll get in more detail later on, but here are the main three I’ve come across in discussion with publishers:

• Children: Chapter Books: under 20,000
• Young-Adult: under 80,000
• Adult: 80,000+ (This genre is interesting, because it differs extremely within publishers and the genre you’re writing. A lot of publishers still encourage under 80,000 for first time, but they are often more…

View original post 775 more words