"When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature." - Ernest Hemingway
Yet again I am going to try it: Write a first draft of a novel in 1 month. By first draft I mean a 50k word draft.
I think I learned some important lessons last year: preparation, dedication and creating a novelling friendly environment, but before I get to that, I'd like to say this upfront: I decided to do my 50k words on part II of what I wrote last year, so the preparation part I did last year is salvageable.
So, lets's start with preparation and what works for me:
1. Know your characters (read the Hemingway quote up there). If you have interesting and fleshed out characters it will be easier to understand how they react to your plot.
2. Know your plot. It can be as simple as "I want to start here and finish there" and figuring the rest as you go along, but have a clear guideline.
3. Pick some ambient music. It's a way to drown out the world and the right music gets the right juices flowing, at least in my case. Currently listenin to everything by Two Steps From Hell.
The dedication part should be self explanatory, but...
1. Write.
2. Find you time to rest, to get away and put things in perspective, or else you are going to get bogged down and frustrated and start losing hope and inspiration
3. About inspiration... Inspiration takes work so after step 2 is done, get back to step one and work, instead of waiting for inspiration to kick you in the butt. It will kick you while writing: for every 1 great page you will write 20 crappy ones. Write the 100 crappy ones, get the 5 great ones. Restart, revise (on December 15, that would be my advice).
The "Writing friendly environment" is the hardest part. It is up to you to create it. I prefer to write alone. I am currently abroad and lice with 4 other people, that makes it hard. It also makes it hard that the people you live with make fun of your endeavour. We all know people like that (and some aren't even doing it in a a mean spirited kind of way), but, my 2 cents, just tell people it's your hobby. It works for me and they leave me alone for the most part, even when they call me weird - has if you don't know I am weird already.
Good writing. Let me know of you tips if you have any.
