Can't please everybody... but who cares about everyone else. I can't even please myself. I hate following the pattern. But seems I have no choice...
I have to write a novel next semester. That is to say... 50,000 words of a novel THIS FALL! That's roughly 8,000 words a week. I'm freaking out and I have no way to know how to tackle this project. Many other students that will be in the class have already been working on their novel. I'm only 20 years old and I'll be able to say I have a novel under my belt? That's insane. I just hope I don't get too overwhelmed and give up. I'm also taking an acting class, asian philosophy, and films and context. I will be working minimum 20 hours a week to try and pay my bills. How am I ever going to make the time to write a freaking novel?
My mom has decided to write a novel too... but she's doing 50,000 words in a month! She bought this book that tells her how to do it. I think I would commit suicide.
I know I tend to look at the big picture instead of taking it one step at a time, and I do have many different ideas for a novel, but I can't decide which one to choose. I know my writing teacher will be able to help and mentor me, but Mel Odom writes novels in 3-4 month periods all the time. I just don't know...
7 comments:
Then again, maybe I should stop complaining and just do the damn thing.
Dreamer,
I happen to work with a published novelist. With a full time job and three kids, he is poised to publish his second book and is well into writing a third. He talks of writing as a disciplined process. He has a plan for how much he needs to write and sets aside time for it daily. Pennies make dollars.
Working to pay for your own education is a worthy pursuit. In my late teens and early twenties, I sometimes worked two jobs and carried a full-time course load. It's feasible.
In what genre(s) do you work?
I work for a Human Resource consulting company... and I think I'm about to get another job as well to pay for my new apartment. I'm also trying to get an internship at an advertising company.
We'll see how everything goes.
I tend to stress myself out a lot when I get in sticky or rough situations.
I like to write mystery/suspense fiction the best. I've written a few short stories that I might try to turn into a novel. I don't even know what my novel will be about yet. I'm going to have to decide sometime soon though.
"mystery/suspense fiction": With the likes of Rilke and Woolf among your favorite authors, and films like Amelie and Eternal Sunshine... in your profile, I'm a little surprised at your genre of choice. Who do you read in mystery/suspense (not that I know anything about either)?
oh yes, well i guess i failed to mention that i grew up watching hitchcock flicks. when i was little, i always read books with titles that i thought would scare me, and then of course not be able to sleep. i always went ghost hunting... things like that.
i will read almost anything. right now i'm working on The Picture of Dorian Gray. i think mystery/suspense is my ticket though. i absolutely love to write it. maybe i'm just confident in writing it. i've tried to write romance and what not, but i always end up making it suspenseful. i would choose to write poetry and make a living off of it if i could. of course, stories and poetry are too very different things to write.
i love reading rilke b/c of his romantic and very problematic poetry.... he inspires me.
Dreamer,
I enjoy writing poetry as well, though for my part, I tend to think of it as cross-training for the other writing I do. I happen upon phrases and even individual words that I turn around and around until can work them into some piece of prose I'm writing.
If you're interested in some fantasitic contemporary poetry, try Noah Eli Gordon's The Area of Sound Called Subtone. Also, The Poetics of Space is a good read on poetics.
...Ghost hunting and The Picture of Dorian Gray... If you haven't already read them, I recommend The Stolen Child, The Limits of Enchantment, and A Brief History of the Dead. All three fall squarely into the realm of speculative fiction, but are very much about relationships and include some elements of suspense. As a writing student, you might particularly enjoy A Brief History of the Dead, as it follows a single story from several different perspectives and does some interesting things with voice. The Limits of Enchantment may appeal to your inner romance writer. The Stolen Child presents a sort of mystery that begins to envelope one of the protagonists as the story develops, even though it may initially seem that he and the reader are already in on the secret. This book also does a remarkable job of addressing the phenomenon of growing up, exploring identity, and manipulating the perception of time.
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