Progress on the Novel - Notable Milestone Hit!
I'm overdue for a post! I guess I've been far too busy writing my sci-fi novel. I'm really close to twelve thousand words, five chapters more or less complete. Overall the progress is going well and I'm sticking fairly close to the plan, with a little bit of deviation. Although I'm not surprised at this. The plan is merely a guide to keep the story, the plot, timeline, etc. on general track. However, as I write, I find new methods to deal with the winding road that my protagonist endures. Things like how he reacts to situations or how how I introduce new characters. Interestingly though, the deviations still haven't affected the scenes much. I see this as a good sign that the plan holds it own fairly well; it did take my nearly two months to construct it.
And the surprises don't end with this wonderful process of writing. I've already researched many different topics related to my novel, from those scientific to those related to grammar (ok, a lot of the latter, just to ensure I've got punctuation in the right spots and I'm using "into" and "in to" the way they should be, amongst others). So where's the surprise, well there's going to be a love interest for my protagonist, and I wanted to provide a suitable description of the lady. So, no big deal right? I mean as an instructor by day, I've seen hundreds of faces over the years. Men, women, big people, small people, people of various origins... this should be a snap. Yea, not so much. So to my surprise, I found myself Googling things like types of noses, and jawlines, shapes of eyes, and so on.
In the end, it helped greatly (when does a bit of research not help?). With a clearer and more focused description, I'm expecting my readers in the future to have a better mental image of my characters. Of course there's still plenty of room for imagination, as in the end, you definitely don't want to take that away from anyone. The reader's mind's eye is crucial to enjoying a story. Their perception of my story, of any story, puts people in a happy place and keeps them turning (or swiping) the pages.
So with every spare moment I write. I estimate that if I keep this pace up, in about three months I will finished a fairly substantial novel. I can hardly wait!
Stay safe and healthy!
Until next time.
And the surprises don't end with this wonderful process of writing. I've already researched many different topics related to my novel, from those scientific to those related to grammar (ok, a lot of the latter, just to ensure I've got punctuation in the right spots and I'm using "into" and "in to" the way they should be, amongst others). So where's the surprise, well there's going to be a love interest for my protagonist, and I wanted to provide a suitable description of the lady. So, no big deal right? I mean as an instructor by day, I've seen hundreds of faces over the years. Men, women, big people, small people, people of various origins... this should be a snap. Yea, not so much. So to my surprise, I found myself Googling things like types of noses, and jawlines, shapes of eyes, and so on.
In the end, it helped greatly (when does a bit of research not help?). With a clearer and more focused description, I'm expecting my readers in the future to have a better mental image of my characters. Of course there's still plenty of room for imagination, as in the end, you definitely don't want to take that away from anyone. The reader's mind's eye is crucial to enjoying a story. Their perception of my story, of any story, puts people in a happy place and keeps them turning (or swiping) the pages.
So with every spare moment I write. I estimate that if I keep this pace up, in about three months I will finished a fairly substantial novel. I can hardly wait!
Stay safe and healthy!
Until next time.
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