Journey Of A Novel

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The 4th draft

Tanya V 25 January 2023

For the past couple of months I’ve proof read, corrected basic errors, read a few books, one being Elements of Style, and researched myths. In some respects I feel at a standstill as I integrate new information and perspectives. There’s a lot to digest.

Top of the list are plot points for development that need to be rooted in the story and within the protagonist. The points are plot based but also speak to the themes so in some sections I need to better weave together happenings and imagery.

Next on the list is the style that I have written in. I am happy with it so far, there is room for more though. I need to be brave, to make my mark on the feel of the read with intention, to put myself in there as a writer. What I have written gives glimpses of a cohesiveness that I can bring together, the challenge that I’m pondering is how. This is a part of the process that I had not foreseen. I write with a vision in mind that I do my best to convey with words. The intention that I practice is for the story to add up. The shift from story alone to voice, style and feel has sent me ‘back to the drawing board’ in some respects.

As I take the next steps into the 4th draft I do so aware of writers whose styles, voices, and choices are distinct. This is not to compare to or take cues from others, only to look at the diversity of creative expression to lead me away from any limiting beliefs that I harbour unconsciously in my own creative process.

A few examples are:

A visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson

In reference to characters the author’s introduction includes:

‘…an invention of my own and has no basis in fact. It pleases me though…’

100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman

Valis by Philip K. Dick

Feeling confused and researching camels

Tanya V 28 March 2021

It’s been slow going this week. Getting started has been a challenge for me with lots of distractions and an unclear vision in my mind of what’s next. I wrote 500 words to kick off chapter four and begin my protagonists’ journey through the chapter but I’ve faltered there. This chapter is an introspective chapter for my protagonist, for me to capture this I need to have clear symbolism and connecting elements travelling through the undercurrent of my writing to bring it all together. What the chapter ‘needs’ though I really can’t determine until I get into the writing; I have to get writing. The clear vision that carried me through chapter three though isn’t available to me for this chapter; chapter three was more directly based on a folklore tale whereas with chapter four I’m using very little of that approach.

Chapter four only gives a nod to the folklore tale leaving me to navigate the narrative and integrate my own writing in as I go. Along with this I’ve also written over 5000 words in previous writing bouts towards this section, so I’m reading and sifting and cataloguing in my mind what to do, where to put parts and how to proceed.

Sections that I have written for this chapter previously could be used in chapter seven which in some respects is the inverse of chapter four and the protagonists’ journey through it. Thinking about this takes my mind away from chapter four scattering my attention across the novel, its chapters, where I am at, where I’m heading, then again, I circle back in my mind to thinking – get writing! This all leaves me experiencing a state of confusion which my natural response to is avoidance, but I’m onto this fact and side-stepping avoidance as best I can because I have proved to myself so far that I respond well to time to think in a deliberate way about how to next proceed. With this in mind when I feel the fuzzy edges of confusion creeping in, I make a list of tasks – my current list is:

  1. Read previously written work for chapter four and seven
  2. Add new writing to pre-written work in chapter four
  3. Research deserts
  4. Research Camels
  5. Write without stopping for at least one hour today
  6. Write without stopping for at least one hour tomorrow

Having a clear vision of where I’m going is essential to me, without it a sense of hopelessness overwhelms and I’m lost to indecisiveness.

I’m reminding myself that I have already had periods where I don’t write, I regroup and then there’s an outpouring of words when my vision is clear. Processing time is important, I need to take the time to think it all through and then the words catch up on the page when I dive back into the flow.

Through chapter four my protagonist is finding their way into the unknown, and again as with previous chapters, the irony of me being in the same headspace isn’t lost on me.

Chapter two begins

Tanya V 20 March 2021

The groundwork has been established for chapter two, my protagonist is in forward motion and things are happening in my fictional world. It was difficult to get going, I did dither.

For the past week I’ve been shuffling through the chronology of my story in my head disagreeing with my decisions, disputing myself, and trying not to have reason-based conversations with myself out loud so I don’t appear cra cra… I was repeatedly cycling over points contemplating on how to best proceed with different scenarios in mind. I went back to the beginning in the end which helped me to reassess why I had made the choices about the narrative that I had long ago. This was all helpful, but gradually my process descended into a procrastination exercise.

Recognising this I came at it from a different angle and launched into research of the original folklore tale that I am using as the bones of the novel; this was very helpful. I was able to step out of my head and get off the merry-go-round of maybes that was plaguing my progress. I still have some more reading to do to solidify the direction that I’ve chosen to go in, but I was inspired to write before I could complete all of the reading that I’d assigned myself.

It felt so good to get back to writing.

Reading the research in parts is a more practical approach for me as it keeps the information fresh in my head. I find that when I do large amounts of research, I lose detail. To remedy this I keep notes in my chapter document to include certain points, I bullet point them below where I am writing and work them in as I progress. Over the years I have read lots about my chosen folklore tale so I’m familiar with most versions of it from different times and civilisations, but I’m less familiar with the version referenced in chapter two. New ground is being broken in terms of how I view my novel; for so long I thought that I knew what it would be but now I’m mixing it up and feeling good about it.

The decision that I made about my narrative and what will happen in chapter two requires a lot of new writing. The writing that I have done over the years towards my novel worked for a lot of chapter one’s content, and will for many subsequent chapters, but chapter two is all new. I’m excited to be writing fresh again, reworking past work into chapter one became tedious at times so it feels good to have a break from that approach for chapter two.