It won't be done by November 30. I'm surprised how little that bothers me.
Good. Some people don't do well with deadlines. I tend to push to the very last minute... in general, it works for me. For some it doesn't. With wanting your novel to be *jsut right* rushing to finish by a deadline is not going to help the situation.
While you hate writing dialague (I do, tgoo, it's just awkward), I can see you writing a screenplay more than I can a novel.
If it helps, one of the tricks I use is to map out a skeleton first. Then I take it one chunk at a time, breaking each chunk down into its own skeleton. Here's an example:
In my rough draft I would write things like... BOB HATES JIMMY JIMMY WANTS TO MARRY BOB'S BROTHER BOB IS A HOMOPHOBE THE INTERGALACTIC SPACE CRUISER FEDERATION WANTS TO RECRUIT BOB AND JIMMY TOGETHER
Then I would space it out and fill it in... BOB HATES JIMMY Bob and Jimmy were enemies blah blah blah filler filler description description yada yada yada...
As I think of new ideas or stuff I want to go back and add to the story, I just insert a new bone to the skeleton. I can come back to it whenever I want and flesh it. For me, it helps to know that I've got those markers sticking out in my text. It means that I have perfecting to do in those areas, but I can worry about them later. I perfect and perfect until the entire skeleton turns into one flowing living being.
Re: randomly stumbled across your ljjustnathanJune 6 2006, 00:37:44 UTC
I'm Bruce's brother; if we had actually met there'd be no problem in telling that as he is my tiny sinister doppleganger. I don't have many people I don't know on my friends list so don't be offended if I don't add but I might. We'll see.
I will say that we do share that whole not finishing things trait. I am really bad about but I'm hoping one of these days to actually do something. I just get too down on myself and decide that my stuff is crap and not worth pursuing.
Comments 3
Good. Some people don't do well with deadlines. I tend to push to the very last minute... in general, it works for me. For some it doesn't. With wanting your novel to be *jsut right* rushing to finish by a deadline is not going to help the situation.
While you hate writing dialague (I do, tgoo, it's just awkward), I can see you writing a screenplay more than I can a novel.
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In my rough draft I would write things like...
BOB HATES JIMMY
JIMMY WANTS TO MARRY BOB'S BROTHER
BOB IS A HOMOPHOBE
THE INTERGALACTIC SPACE CRUISER FEDERATION WANTS TO RECRUIT BOB AND JIMMY TOGETHER
Then I would space it out and fill it in...
BOB HATES JIMMY
Bob and Jimmy were enemies blah blah blah filler filler description description yada yada yada...
As I think of new ideas or stuff I want to go back and add to the story, I just insert a new bone to the skeleton. I can come back to it whenever I want and flesh it. For me, it helps to know that I've got those markers sticking out in my text. It means that I have perfecting to do in those areas, but I can worry about them later. I perfect and perfect until the entire skeleton turns into one flowing living being.
It works for me anyway...
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
I will say that we do share that whole not finishing things trait. I am really bad about but I'm hoping one of these days to actually do something. I just get too down on myself and decide that my stuff is crap and not worth pursuing.
Reply
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