First Chapter/Paragraph/sentance/word.

[Quokka]

I've been wanting to write for years, started on and off a few times and always had thoughts/characters and plots mulling about in the back of my mind.

A while back I finally sat down and started something that didn't get deleted within a week. Its just an 'as the mood takes me' kinda thing and I'm not so much worried about being published, just keen to see how i do.

My problem is, I've got a few chapters now and lots more notes, that I'm more or less happy with (atleast for now) but every time i re-read it I find I'm constantly changing the begining and as the thread title suggests the closer to the start my writing is, the less able I am to leave it be. This doesn't really bother me and i am progressing but by now I'm sure I'm starting to go around in circles with it, lol.

Do any of you find the same thing? different sections? do you go back and edit much as you work or do you just keep moving forward? I guess I'm just curious about different writing styles.

 

[Tsujigiri]

It's a matter of self descipline realy. Once you have a plan for the direction of your book, and research completed if it's non-fiction (or some fiction come to that) then try and write the first draft without any major revisions.

It never happens quite that way, but that's what you should aim for. I tend to find that one the characters in fiction come alive then they change the flow of the plot.
In non-fiction it's much easier, you structure your book and follow that structure, but non-fiction tends to be a little more academic than fiction.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Don't try to edit too much until you've finished the story, or a good chunk of it. I know people who never do take their ideas through because they get stuck in trying to get every word and comma just right when they're still just a paragraph in or so in. Write the whole damn thing, or a substantial chunk, with a clear of idea of what lies ahead, before getting into your first edit.

I'm concentrating on shorter pieces now (within 1,000 words) and I find that I either write the whole thing in one sitting, or sometimes two, and only then go back to edit it.

I tried writing longer stuff for a quite a while, but I find the short-short feels like my natural register, and am now exploring it as fully as I can. Not everyone writes the same, and it's important to find what comes nautrally, and then work on building from there. I think.

 

[Quokka]

Thanks for the advice. Part of my problem is that i really enjoy the editing, but i think your right Disipline is whats needed now, lol. Im about 30, 000 or so into it at the moment, with about the same well planned. At a very vague guess Id say that's about a third of the way through. I know it varies ALOT but what would a ballpark figure be for a novel? We're likely talking a few years before its an issue but is that still in the range of a single novel or more likely 2-3, I've seriously no idea?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Re: First Chapter/Paragraph/sentence/word.

Officially, it's a novel at 40,000 words. Around 100,000 words is what most publishers seem to be looking for, though they do publish shorter and longer. That's assuming you are writing for adult readers. YA is generally shorter.

Since I often fall prey to the editing when I should just be writing syndrome, I'll say nothing in regard to that.

 

[Michael]

After I self-published my first book, I started to plan outlines according to the character's POV I want for each chapter. I usually write something first, of course, like a chapter or two, then start on the outline, and that hasn't changed. I will also jump back forth between them, developing each as I go, and try to finish a draft before editing. It does not always work this way in practice. Sometimes I need to read a little to stay focused and I will edit then.

 

[Brian G Turner]

The trouble I find with editing is that the changes you make after 10,000 words will often be different than when at 50,000 words.

So my personal advice would be to focus on writing a complete novel first - and only then go back and really get involved with the editing.

Otherwise you do a round of editing after 10,000 words - but then have to do a new set after 50,000 words to account for changes in direction after then. And so on...

Small editing is fine, but try not to get too carried away if you can help it.