Monday, 16 January 2012

Ever Tried to Run Before you Could Walk?

There's an interesting post from David B. Coe on writerly ambition on the Magical Words blog. Interesting to me, particulary because I had just come to the opposite conclusion.

I may have mentioned that I consider myself a natural short story person. But this hasn't stopped me from having a stab at the longer length. I want to be able to do both. In an encouraging turn of events I am managing to write at a 10K-20K length. (I'll get there in the end.)

But novel length is still proving difficult. Recently, after reading a best selling urban fantasy, I came to the conclusion that my novel attempts were too ambitious: too many point of views, too much dancing in the time flow, too much metaphysics (metaphysics answer the big question about life. I mean what's it all about, really)?

So, I've come up with a wheeze to attempt a straight-forward first person, linear science fiction novel, with only a sprinkling of metaphysics and a smattering of sex, sort of urban science fiction.

So, I guess the trick is to match your creative ambition to your skill level, or just beyond it. What do you think readers? Do you push yourself creatively speaking? Ever tried to run before you could walk?
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20 comments:

  1. Anonymous16 January 2012 at 07:22

    As a kid, I started out writing novels, then moved into short stories in college -- guess I started running out of time! I'm noticing that in my current novel WiP I may be suffering from some of that overzealous ambition you mention. But I'm going to finish it, no matter what.

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  2. Elizabeth Twist16 January 2012 at 13:09

    Reading Shirley Jackson's *We Have Always Lived in the Castle* was a watershed moment for me. I realized that it probably requires a ton of discipline to write a smallish, concise, and razor-sharp novel with a single POV. I am not that disciplined or able (yet). Give me multi POV, metaphysics, and big action. These tools allow my clunkier talents to express themselves in a lumberjackian mode.

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  3. EC16 January 2012 at 17:11

    My novel was my first attempt at 'real writing,' before short stories, and I told myself weekly that I had no idea what the heck I was doing. But I enjoyed it, and so kept at it. It is very different than SS writing. I really have to dig into character development and flesh out the scenes that I'd normally just try to summarize eloquently in a SS.

    I agree with pushing yourself, just beyond skill level, always. Run now while ambition is present, then walk later when you need to. Best of luck.

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  4. Christine Rains16 January 2012 at 18:18

    I push myself a lot. It's the only way we'll get better. Sometimes I run ahead of myself and I've stumbled and fallen before. Yet I get right back up and start again.

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  5. Deborah Walker17 January 2012 at 02:43

    Thanks for the comments, guys. It seems that you're all pushing yourselves, creatively.

    @Erin, I think enjoyment is a big factor for me. I enjoy short stories, novels not so much. I'm in a very interesting position where I'm pushing myself length wise, but I'm impatient with the results.

    @Milo, thanks. And good luck, you're going to write a wonderful novel, I'm sure.

    @Christine, thanks for the encouragement. I'm enjoying the ride.

    @Elizabeth, I'll have to get that book. You're quite right, sometimes stories that look simple are the most difficult to create. Good point.

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  6. Simon Kewin17 January 2012 at 04:20

    I think you speak sense. There's no right or wrong way to write a novel, but that wheeze of yours sounds great as an approach to take.

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    1. Deborah Walker17 January 2012 at 09:40

      Thanks Simon. I've yet to find the right process for writing a novel. It will come, I'm sure. I've just got to try different things. Right, then. A smattering of sex, here I come.

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  7. Patsy17 January 2012 at 14:36

    I'm quite often over ambitious with regard to my writing. Sometimes it works - sometimes it doesn't, but then that's still the case when I attempt a piece within my comfort zone.

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  8. Lyn18 January 2012 at 19:19

    I'm with ya. I'm working my way to the novella stage - I have a series of 4 x 20k word interrelated novellas that I want to write and publish serially and then as an omnibus (well, a novel, lol) once all 4 are done. But...most of my short stories clock in at about 2300 words at the most! haha :)

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    1. Lyn18 January 2012 at 19:20

      Oh, and one thing that has helped is the practice of turning a micro fiction to a flash fiction and then that flash fiction into a short story...so maybe I can turn a short story into a novella and a novella into a novel. Enders Game, after all, was originally a novella, so heh.

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    2. Deborah Walker19 January 2012 at 05:59

      Lyn, when I first started I couldn't get to 1000 words. So it's amazing how one can build up length. I think novella to novel is the way to go for me.

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  9. Trisha18 January 2012 at 23:43

    I think I'm always running before I've started walking, honestly. I always give myself HEAPS to work on at any given time. I distinctly recall ripping the centre chapters out of a novel once and then going, "Huh...now how the heck do I fill in that big hole in the middle?"

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    1. Deborah Walker19 January 2012 at 06:00

      Trisha, cool. There's no problem at all in pushing yourself, in fact the opposite.What frustrates me is not finishing.

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    2. Michael McClung19 January 2012 at 06:24

      If I let myself be frustrated by not finishing, I'd be in a mental institution :D

      Speaking of finishing, I should probably get back to work...

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    3. Deborah Walker19 January 2012 at 10:47

      *smiles* we all have our process, Michael.

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  10. Cate Gardner19 January 2012 at 10:40

    I've written a few novels but still haven't found the secret ingredient in how to make them work. If your wheeze works out, then I want step by step instructions ;)

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    1. Deborah Walker19 January 2012 at 10:48

      I think the trick of it is probably maintaining enthusiasm, Cate. This new wheeze is bright and shiny. So far, so good.

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  11. Margo Kelly20 January 2012 at 06:11

    Walking and running vs. short stories and novels

    Hmm ...

    I'm not sure it's an equal comparison, simply because I've written two novels, and I don't think I have the talent to write short stories. I think they are MUCH harder to do well. So, maybe some writers are more naturally talented at writing short stories, and some are more naturally talented at writing novels.

    Pursue what makes you happy and read lots of great books on the craft of writing.

    Happy writing!

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  12. Rusty Carl20 January 2012 at 19:53

    I've heard from lots of folks that if you aren't really pushing yourself - right at the brink of something that you can't pull off - then you aren't going to get better. I hope that's true. Because each novel I attempt seems to get a bit more complicated, experimental, and abstract than the last.

    I was rereading a novella of mine than I'm going to self publish as soon as I get it cleaned up and found my characters sitting around and arguing about the meaning of life, of destiny, of God and I was thinking of how much I love reading that sort of stuff (even if what I wrote is a bit simple, it's still what I love). So your too ambitious novel sounds amazing.

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  13. Lydia Kang21 January 2012 at 13:13

    Yes, I've definitely run before walking. I've had expectations that were totally unrealistic. Luckily, that changed and I buckled down and worked harder.

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