Character Crunch

Over 4,000 words and I still keep deliberating on the plot! I dunno. Some days, I read what I wrote and it sounds good, other days, I want to hit delete on the last 10 pages. The main challenge I face here is building my characters so that they are believable. I have two characters sorted, because they are derived from people I know so it was easy. This third character is important but I don't know anyone like her. She is strong but she becomes very weak when strength needed her the most. I dunno. I've bought books by a couple of authors I admire (Khaled Hosseini, Ngozi Chiamanda, Kazuo Ishiguro) and want to emulate. Maybe I'll have a better idea after I read those books. There are also great books on writing novels and building real characters. So, I'll read those too. I may even try to picture method where I cut out photos from mags and newspapers; then try to describe the situation or person in them. There, in some mag somewhere may be this third character of mine. I hadn't banked on having to read so much in order to write......But, I know it'll be worth every word;)

Starting up my junk

I'm so excited! I finally put my first few words down for my novel! For ages, I had not idea where to start. And I didn't want to start at the beginning.

After attending a novelist workshop by Linda Gillard (amazing writer, by the way) a few weeks ago, I just had to jump in. I have set some targets for myself. I'll write at least 500 words at every laptop sitting. Although, I hope to be able to write on most days, I know my day job and life may only permit me 2 or 3 days a week. At this pace, a 100,000 word book will take a year or more. Towards the end, I know I will not sleep or eat. This is not a bad thing at all. No no. This is something to look forward to. So, my first sitting is great because I wrote over 600 words...and, they are pretty good. I have no clue what will happen on the next page but I know I was obsess about that till the next sitting. Fabulous!

How do i beat the clock?

It darned on me that time has flipped on me. There is little left to waste on obsessing so I will jump right in to my favourite obsession. I made up mind to write that novel. The obsession as haunted me for years and the voices of the characters have got louder and louder in my head. They beg me to bring them to life, to ignite their existence. So, as I take this journey, a journey that I have been assured will take up every last drop of energy in me, walk with me. It will be painful, I'll say it's too much for me and that I have no idea what I'm doing but most of all, I'll be loving every minute....

"Every once in a while I make a list of my obsessions. Some obsessions change and there are always more. Some are thankfully forgotten." Natalie Goldberg (1986)