Diary of Writing a Novel; Week Seven
Scrap all that, let’s start again.
Monday 16th April
I got zero words written today. The reasons were; having a disrupted desk/computer area, doctors appointments and catching up with my mum who has just returned from an amazing ceramics tour of Japan with a bunch of her friends. They didn’t go to Harry Potter World though. I am okay about my zero word count as I attended a fantastic writers workshop on dialogue on the weekend. During which I was inspired and had some ideas about some changes to the story arc. I also made such significant progress with the writing of the novel last week that I feel sure all will be well.
Tuesday 17th
Already things have crumbled. I turned on Scrivener first thing. G and I made a pact to swap our first 2,500 words on Wednesday at noon. So instead of writing today I have instead reread those words and decided they are all wrong. I also changed my mind about a major plot point on Sunday, and that has also required some attention this morning and has kind of mucked up a bunch of things I had already written. In other words, it all feels very messy this morning.
In good news, my agent rang with a voiceover job. For tomorrow morning. Sorry G, I will need to change the exchange time.
1020 words written.
Wednesday 18th
Got up early to get writing done before running off to do the voice over this morning. Turned computer on…little message in the middle of the screen.
“No Device detected.”
Not panicking I turn it off and then on again. Same message.
“Ben, what does no device detected mean?”
“Try turning it off and then on again.”
“Done that!”
“Then it means it is broken.”
While Ben does things with the computers opening them up, trying various ones and generally looking like I could be in trouble I go and check my Dropbox to make sure the 25,000 plus words I have written so far really have been backing up to Dropbox. Because although it said it each time I logged off I hadn’t actually checked. This seems like a good time to do that.
Of course, I can’t remember which Dropbox and then I can’t remember my password. So after not panicking and calmly trying all of them and resetting the password etc. I now cannot find the file that says “Scrivener”.
Ben has found a computer that will read my hard drive or some other IT black magic and restored my computer. I recheck Dropbox. It is all saved in “New Folder”. All of it. I wasn’t panicking though. Anyway, there will be no writing done this morning. I have to go to work now.
When I get home, the temporary computer has decided to die as well. In the end, I had to install Scrivener and Dropbox onto my old laptop and then hook up a decent keyboard. So after faffing around I finally I ended up doing my 1000 words and then putting my first 2,500 into some sort of shape to send to G. My tenses have somehow run away from me and become a mess. I never thought that something so simple could turn into a writhing monster that I would need to subdue. In the novel I break the fourth wall and talk to the reader as well as write about things that have happened and describe sensations as they are happening and my tenses have just got totally out of control. It feels unmanageable and working on a tiny screen with a slow reaction time is making it all that bit harder. I did not expect to have a problem with tenses.
Thursday 19th
Ben built me a new computer last night so this morning’s activities are installing Scrivener and Dropbox once again and then hopefully I will do some writing. G and I swapped our first chapters, and we are both nervous. I also have a book from another friend who will also be known as G to read later today. I didn’t even know he was writing one and now I find out he has finished it. Rude. Okay, the computer wants more things done to it, and of course, it will need a new wallpaper.
G’s chapter was excellent. I no longer want her to read mine as hers was a finished bit of writing mine is very much a first draft.
1084 words written.
Friday 20th
Not feeling great about my writing today. Feeling a bit lost and in my attempt to not be too flowery and cliched I had stripped my descriptions down to zero. I am second guessing this now.
I am also really not sure how to keep ploughing on with the novel. It feels like I am climbing a mountain and I am running out of steam. I have got a quarter written in a way, but that just shows me how much further I have to go in that not only do I have another 75,000 words to write but then I will have to make them the right words that go in the right direction. This is quite the humbling experience. I mean I never thought I would be brilliant at this hence why I am going for the flippant comedy angle rather than trying to write literature or even crime but even a silly comedy book about comedy is trickier than you might think.
1045 words written.
Saturday 21st
I have thought about all of the things that I have been thinking about, and I have come to the conclusion I am going to start again. The fact that apart from some mild panic I was not all that worried about losing everything I had written so far the other day and then really not wanting G to read it my first chapter were pretty clear indicators I wasn’t that attached to what I had written so far. I have been so worried about making sure my story was an exciting made up one with proper plot points and a disaster, not just a boring story about me that I kind of lost the point of it. I wanted to write about depression and stand up comedy with some funny sex scenes thrown in for good luck. Tomorrow I am going to start again from scratch.
Went to see Isle of Dogs today, it was very beautiful and a nice Japanese bookend to the week.
Weeks total 4149 of 29, 567 written so far
0 of my story.
