Annette's Blog 
No Comments Writing a Novel in a Month
Writing a novel in a month is not easy as I’m discovering just one week into the challenge. But writing two books in a month as per my self-imposed writing challenge is a real test of my dedication so far. The problem has been that although I have had the storyline in my mind for some time, the more I have delved into the plot so that I can bring the characters to life, the greater my imagination has stretched and this alone has pulled me in a variety of directions.
Whilst it’s always a good thing I think, to give time and effort to your writing, I don’t really have the time to do too much of that, but I can’t really afford not to either. My initial plan of writing so many words per day is proving more difficult than originally imagined and this is because ‘life’ gets in the way. Now I have been pretty dedicated in my approach, in fact have pretty much shut myself away from the world as much as possible and only really emerged for one day last week. But of course, there are distractions everywhere and because the creative writing challenge that I have set is so tough, one of the biggest distractions- if I allow it, would be me because it is a greater pressure when you know your ultimate goal and professional reputation is on the line.
Fear is a big factor within writing realms. Even if you are out of the spotlight and have no-one stood over you- counting down the days on the calendar, any self-imposed creative goal puts pressure on the individual to deliver. I have been teaching creative writing techniques for years and many of my students were unpublished at that time and I categorically told them that they had to send their work out into the big wide world for review, but I can certainly understand the fear that held them back. But in writing terms, if you don’t take the plunge and let other people see your work, you never improve and you never get known.
As regards my characters, they are coming to life and I have found the best way to breathe life into them is to think about them and how they react, trying to hear their voices, and sense their development before going to sleep. You know that moment when your brain is still buzzing from a busy day and sleep is evasive, I have found that a way to quieten it is to allow the characters to interact and to play out a few potential scenarios so that I have a plan that can be incorporated for the next day. In the coming days, I have to take the plot forward and to pick up the pace, that’s my plan of action and whilst I am shut away in my house furiously typing, it enables me to get that bit closer to success and to completing my ‘writing my novel in a month’ challenge.
Annette Young
Did you miss the first blog post in the series? Read it here.
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