Tuesday 3 September 2013

HOW TO NOT LOOSE INTEREST WHILE WRITING A NOVEL




 You've just gone half-way writing that 70,000-word Sci-fi novel and you begin to feel nauseous about the characters, the plots, the theme, everything! Going back to finish the task up now becomes a really big herculean task for you.
       Don't fret now. It's a normal trend among writers especially the big guns in the literary world. Stephen King, for instance, had dumped the incomplete manuscripts of his first novel,Carrie in his trash can after loosing interest in writing it until his wife, Tabitha, had gingered him to write it again. Then, a $400,000 contract followed up after it was finally published in 1974.
     So, clearly, you're still on track to making the bestseller author list. There could be a lot of reasons for loosing interest. You just have to identify the problem and search frantically for its solution to enable you round off that future best seller of yours.   
     Here are a list of the major problems causing lack of interest in most future writers and their solutions (Not all of the problems are exhausted in this article):

NOT YOUR NICHE
  
First off, If you're in it just for the money, then, trust me, there are other less time-consuming ways of earning money. Some people are into the romance genre only because books in this category tend to be in higher demand compared to fiction or other genres. If Romance ain't your thing, I suggest you quit, because it will only be a matter of time before the task wears and breaks you.
      Discover your passion and keep on writing on it since you tend to express yourself more when it comes to your specialty.


THOSE NEW IDEAS. EH?

 At a point, you run out of ideas and then some days later, totally different ideas keep streaming into your brain. Then you decide to dump the first draft and go for a companion draft.
      New ideas are highly welcome most of the time, but sometimes, they could be redundant. The way to avoid is is to draw out what i call a 'vomit' draft before you start. This is where you pour out all your ideas on the subject you're writing about. Then sieve and organize them in your working draft which you will always refer to while writing. Then if new ideas come up, you could always cross-reference them with the 'vomit draft' and see where they fit in. If not, discard! But, be careful when making choices about new ideas for they seem to be tough decisions to make.


LOVE YOUR CHARACTERS

If you've totally hated your draft, then you could learn to love the characters. Then, by so doing, you could pick up interest again. Imagine the whole plot happening in real time. Talk to your characters as you would a close friend. Find out more about them, something you hadn't known. You could get a book and record the bio of each important character. Also, make the characters interact with themselves. Feel the story revolving around you. Maybe, you could give yourself  different roles and right down your feelings about each. In just a matter of time, you'll come around (This usually works for me. It's what keeps me going)



ENGAGE IN OTHER STUFF!


Don't be too into it. Writing 2-3 hours is okay for starters. Then, with time you could increase the number of hours you spend writing. It varies for everyone. So, you have to know what works for you, and stick to it well enough. Once you overstep, the whole process could get really boring and messy. When you're not writing, get enough relaxation. You could even pick other books to read to improve your writing skills.


NEVER LACK INFORMATION

Stories exist because of availability of information. Make wide researches and read enough articles about the subject you want to write on. Having a whole lot of information at your disposal makes the process a whole lot easier and interesting. Even though it seems stressful, im the end, it always pays off. An example of an extensive researcher cum writer is Dan Brown. He went to the extent of having an audience with the pope before writing Angels and Demons.

Did you like this article?

There are many more where this came from. You just have to stay through the ride to reap the benefits!

Teddy Gaynes

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