So, I said I’d never write a novel again. I said I’d never put myself through those hours of pouring out my thoughts only to be left with a 100,000 word piece of crap that I couldn’t even show to anyone because it stunk. At least that’s what I have been telling myself for the past 10 years since finishing my first (and only) novel. (And I have confirmation it stunk. I sucked up as much bravery as I could and put the first few chapters through an online critique forum. The reviewers confirmed I didn’t know how to write – I was crushed and completely gave up on writing for years.)
Well, now, I find those thoughts changing. Ten years is enough to make you forget, right? In January, I wrote a short story that I struggled to keep as short as possible – and it still turned into 10,000 words! I again pulled my courage and submitted it for review the same online critique forum. This time though, I had generally positive feedback with multiple people telling me I should expand it into a novel.
So there lies the dilemma. I have an idea that people would like to see expanded. I do have more story in my head that I could expand it… But struggle with putting the time and effort in to creating something that is terrible again. Writing is fun though, right? I love the way a story comes together, and when I get an ending that works – the feeling of accomplishment makes me keep going.
Despite my dread of the longer piece of fiction, In February I still found myself plotting out scenes, conflict, and characters. Almost as if the story wanted to be told.
And now, I can’t help but write a scene a day from the story… Perhaps in 100 days, I’ll have a novel on my hands.
I’m up to scene 11 today. We’ll see what it turns into.
Thanks for reading!
-Joy
Photo from www.morguefile.com
Joynell Schultz, Author 
Good for you – yay writing 🙂
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I think when you find you’ve written something terrible, that is the beginning. Next comes the editing and the cutting and the rewriting, until the terrible becomes something great. You can clearly write, and the characters want to be written, just be sure not to give up so soon.
I am saying this for myself also: a hurdle is not failure, even if you fall over it the first time.
Lots of luck 🙂
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I’m learning that many writers feel their first drafts are terrible. It’s learning how to fix them that is a challenge. Thanks for the positive comments! Good luck with your writing as well!
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Receiving (a) critique(s) for your novel can be hard, even more so when it’s the very first time. I can relate to that, because when I put one of my stories at a literature forum for the very first time and received the very first critique, it did hurt me. It was also the last time a critique has hurt me because I see them as a chance to learn the art of writing. Of course it’s not always easy, but as long as you enjoy writing and as long as you have ideas for this “short story” of yours, why not expand it into a novel? Why give up because you’ve sucked at writing 10 years ago? I sucked at writing 2 years ago and I still write simply because I enjoy it 🙂
By the way, what’s the name of that forum you mentioned? Is it a good one? And many thanks for following my humble blog 😀
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Thanks for the words of encouragement! I’m getting over my feelings from so many years ago. I agree, it doesn’t matter if my writing is no good, I enjoy it. Besides, I do see progress. I used to think that you either had the talent or you didn’t. Now I realize it’s a skill that is learned. (Though, some are truly talented!).
The critique forum I’ve been using is Critters.org. It’s free and really is fantastic for SF/H/F writers. I now find I love the feedback and am able to ignore it without hard feelings. My best reward was when one critiqued told me my writing was “juvenile” and then progressed to review another story I wrote a few months later and said it was one of the best pieces he’s read on the forum. This made me learn to take the feedback lightly and use it to improve what I feel is needed.
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That’s great 🙂 Another thing about critiques is that they’re also an opinion about your story coming from the reader, so, like you said, naturally it’s never the same. What works for one reader doesn’t work for the other.
I’m glad you still enjoy writing – that’s the main thing about it.
I’ll certainly check out critters.org!
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And thank you for following my German blog as well 🙂
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I think if someone tells you that you can’t do something, they’re just being stupid–because you can do whatever you put your mind to. Most first drafts are terrible; I think it’s part of the nature of first drafts to be so, because you’re just going to get the basic story down. After you’ve revised, that’s when the novel really starts to shine.
It’s awesome that you’re going to try again to write a novel, and it’s even better that you’re having fun doing it. Good luck! 🙂
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Thanks for the comments. I can’t believe I stopped writing for 10 years. It was always something I really enjoyed.
So I am writing a novel. I have 25,000 words done so far! I joined camp NaNoWriMo to encourage me to finish it in April.
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I don’t know if I could stop writing for 10 years, hehe…maybe if something drastic happened.
That’s awesome! Camp NaNo is a great way to help write a lot in a short amount of time. (Plus, Camp NaNo is where I first realized I love writing novels, so it holds a special place in my heart.)
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