Starting a Novel...for the 5th Time

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I've had many, many, many false starts on writing a novel. I think it stems mostly from my ADHD, but it could also do with the fact that I have difficulty staying the course on long-term projects.

To answer your question:

Outline EVERYTHING. First, develop your story in about 2 pages. Define briefly how your main characters are going to impact the story, define their characters (I did this in about 1 page for each) and then use those pages as cheat sheets. When you write your character into a situation, check your cheat sheets to remind yourself of that character's outlook on life to best decide how that character should react.

If you feel the need, expand your 2 page story developement to as many pages as you feel necessary to keep your train of thought. Then lay your words over your outline.

I've talked with several friends who are either published or attempting to be published. Their outlines and notes completely fill spiral notebooks. They are full of notes on possible conflict ideas, of snatches of communication between two characters that they thought up while doing something else, etc etc.

Good luck!

I can do notes but the outline thing, again, I just can't make it work. It's like a giant mess of words that don't make sense after a week or so.

I might have to get me a notebook and go from there. I have all these little pieces of paper all over my comuter desk with notes and ideas...they get lost easily. I need a better plan than that.

Just FYI....I am writing a suspense/thriller and the first couple I started with this genre were less than thrilling. I am not sure if I am cut out for this type of novel but what the hell.

Don't give up!

If the outline isn't working out for you, then just take notes. If nothing else, your notes will give you ideas for when you write yourself into a corner.

Let us know how it goes!

I won't. It's just fruatrating. Writing is damn hard work and I personally was much better at poetry because, like I said before, it's instant gratification. It's done and there ready for edit in one day where as a novel can take months, even years before you are ready for a final edit. I am finally getting my brain back from this damned disease and the fog is lifting so for the first time in who knows how long, I can focus longer than 5 minutes. I haven't read a book in over a year because I couldn't concentrate long enough on even a trashy romance novel. It is one of my life goals to write a book. Maybe not get published but to write one and have one printed, even if its just one copy I had made for just me.

Same here. We shall suffer in unison.

Have you tried putting your concepts in short-story format? Getting a few of those done, and possibly even published could be a great boost for you, and give you practice for the longer haul.

It really helps if you pick a specific time of day to sit down and concentrate on it. Most people have a time of day in which they are most alert. Let's say it's mornings for you - everyday sit down at 7 AM with your notes and computer (or notebook or whatever) and just spend a hour working on the novel. Even if you do little more than some editing or just thinking the plot the time should just be about your book. Make it a ritual, brew a cup of tea, take the phone off the hook, use a favorite pen etc. Some days you might not get anywhere, but with time you will get into routine that will help you focus.

Oo, good idea. I might just do that.

I'm starting a novel myself and a writerfriend of mine suggested that I begin with a synopsis. Not only does it help you to lay out the basic plotline, it's also what an agent usually reads first to determine your writing style and also whether there's a real story there or not.

I am sort of torn about the means I use to write. I like to actually write it out on paper but then getting it onto the computer is another step and the scribbles and sheer volumes of paper used is irritating, so I used a computer. Editing is SO much easier. I don't really have a set time to pick each day. Morning is not good for me. During the day I am working and at night I am so wiped out I can't function well enough to write. I sit at a computer all day so it's right there in front of me if I want it. I do need to be in silence to work. Music is a distraction. So should I feel the need to write I have to turn off all sound.

Excuses...excuses...

I've started eoe, but I've only got 5 typed pages. Nothing to write home about yet. I got started pretty easily on this one but it's the next step that is killer.....keeping the story going.

I'm stuck in the midst of a particularly painful episode (my novel is based on a true personal story) that I'm just not ready to tackle yet.

It may seem strange, nay, odd, nay, insane..yes that's it...insane; but, I completed the first novel by writing the last few pages. By having something to work towards, the final outcome, I had the ability to piece together the preceding parts.


Hey, it worked for me.

Sturgis, JK Rowling of Harry Potter fame said she did a similar thing. She had her end all written and then went back to create the story that would work to her conculsion. The public still hasn't seen what she wrote first.

That's actually not so insane. As a matter of fact, it's pretty clever.

Bella, I'm so happy you're feeling better. So, you're writing a novel. I was a newspaper reporter during the 1970s, again in 1990s, and attended many seminars and speeches on what is being discussed here. As a freelance, I loved my days too much to write so would get up bout 3 a.m. and write all those stories that I had gathered notes for all week. That worked well for me -- complete silence, I understand.

Some people are very neat, meticulous, but some of us write notes everywhere and on anything. It's kind of amazing that, when you're ready to start, all those notes make sense. What's important is to keep them, don't throw away anything. Carry a pencil and pad everywhere in case those creative thoughts pop into your head because they slip away so easily.

I loved being a reporter because of the deadline. Do or die, that's it, or don't-and-have-no-job. It's tough, yes, but maybe you can think about how much your life is going to improve when you get this thing going and get excited, really excited. It's the excitement that keeps us going. When it starts making sense you are going to love it so much you'll just, well, get completely well. Life can work that way.

I wish you would take some time off, give yourself a break and read The Mercy of Thin Air by ronlyn dominigue, her first book. God Almighty you won't believe this book and the way she flicks time sequences to hell and back, never mind the subject matter which takes your breath away. There is no beginning, middle or end. It was picked as best new author by bookofmonth club.

It helps to have a support group, whatever that may mean to you. But, you can do it, write that book. You know you can because it is there right in your mind, just waiting.

Take care.

I haven't read all the responses, Bella, but the first thought that came to mind the second I saw your headline was, "Why would anyone start the same novel four or five different times?"

Merry Andrew's dictum:
Never ever start a novel more than once. Don't worry about it. So the opening paragraph sucks. So the first chapter is useful only as toilet paper. So what? If you brood on that problem, you'll never get beyond chapter two or three. You will never finish writing that book if you worry about how the first sentence sounds. This is not the time to be concerned about those niceties.

Please don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that first sentence, first paragraph, first chapter aren't important. They are of overwhelming, paramount importance. What I'm saying is that the time to give them careful thought is after you've written the last sentence. That's when you go back and begin the edit/rewrite phase. You may have to throw out the entire first two or three chapters and rewrite the whole begining. The point is, you don't do that until the book is finished. You do and you'll never finish it.

Trust me. I speak from experience.