This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
You can listen to Anna’s podcasted novel over on her websitewww.annabellwrites.com and follow her on twitter @annabell_writes
Tucked away on my hard drive, in my metaphorical drawer, is a load of manuscripts hovering around the 20K mark. It’s like a graveyard of ideas, half introduced characters and a lot of seemingly wasted hours. It is my writing nemesis.
I’m not counting my podcast novel in that, as I had people waiting eagerly to listen to each chapter so I was forced to get over the 20k hump or I’d look a bit an idiot. But with every other book I’ve tried to write since my first novel, I’ve struggled to get over it.
In the last year I’ve started three new novels, as well as a major rewrite of my first novel (magically I stopped that around, yep you’ve guessed it 23,000). The first idea I worked on wasn’t really translating into a book, it was like I’d written two different stories in one, so I separated them out, and then didn’t continue either. The second one I decided to write as I wanted to write more a humorous character driven chick lit, like a Sophie Kinsella or Carmen Reid type book. But it just felt like I was trying to hard to be like someone else.
I decided to then rewrite my first novel because after all that was finished, but it just needed a touch of sparkle. But I soon got bored of that one…
It was around this time that my husband jumped in and told me to stop flitting around and actually finish one of the books. He didn’t care which book it was, but I had to finish one, and he would absolutely not hear of another book idea until I had! No matter how amazing it sounded!
So head hung low I went back to my writing one of them when I had the most amazing idea for a new novel. I told my husband who rolled his eyes, and told me that it was a very good idea, but that I had to finish one of the others first, as having lots of quarter written books was not going to get me an agent or published.
It was such a great idea that I planned the book out so I didn’t forget a single bit of the story, chapter by chapter. And then I went back to writing one of the old books. Only after a few weeks I pulled out the chapter by chapter plan and I started writing the new novel in secret. And I only told the husband when I’d done 10,000 words – cue more eye rolling.
And go for it I did. And in a matter of a few weeks I’d hit 20,000 words, and once again I came up against my wall. I think its that point of the story where you’ve done the fun beginning and you’ve hopefully hooked your reader. You’re in that stage of getting your reader to love your character and to introduce the back story, with the build up to the main bit of the story. Even when I know where the books are going the climax of the story seems so far away at 20,000 words. Its like I’m desperate to get there but don’t want to write to get it!
But with a lot of rationing of peanut M&Ms and chocolate buttons, I made it to 30,000 words and from there I haven’t looked back. The curse was broken, and all of a sudden I’ve hit 40,000 words and it is all down hill from here. Who knows by the end of the year and a little bit of NaNoWriMo frenzy I might have a finished book…