Category: Novel Writing

Novel Writing

Studying the four-part story structure

Mandy Webster
William Faulkner's Underwood Universal Portabl...
I wonder if someone will one day turn my crappy apartment into a shrine to my writing? | William Faulkner’s Underwood Universal Portable sits in his office at Rowan Oak, which is now maintained by the University of Mississippi in Oxford as a museum. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The second half of my novel is shaping up to be the toughest to figure out. The first half seemed to flow straight out of my subconscious mind and onto the page without much thought or effort on my part. Which is strange, considering I had no idea where I was going with my story at the time.

Now that I know where I want to go, I can’t seem to figure out how to get there. A recent Writer’s Digest blog post titled, How to Structure a Killer Novel Ending got me thinking about my story’s structure again.

In the early stages of writing my novel, I considered my overall structure many times and in various forms. It’s something I might not have done if not for the fact that I was taking an advanced novel writing course and was forced to do so by my professor. I am glad she did though, because that intense examination of structure really helped me get my story moving. Continue reading “Studying the four-part story structure” →

Memoir, Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 4

Mandy Webster
word count work in progress
This is the actual word count for my work in progress.

I haven’t added many words to my novel this week, as I have spent much of this writing week engaged in weaving. It’s all because of this one very important character who suddenly popped up around page 150. I think he is important enough that he needs to show up sooner. So, I’ve been reading my way through my first 150 pages looking for opportunities to include him in the action.

On one hand, I think this could be a second draft activity, as it is keeping me from writing forward in my story. On the other hand, this character is important enough to the overall story that I think I need to spend some time getting to know him and seeing how he interacts with my protagonist. Thus, the time spent weaving him in. Continue reading “Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 4” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 3 (I wrote something. I actually wrote something!)

Mandy Webster
The writing life - a stack of notebooks
My current stack of notebooks includes a pretty fairy journal. Follow me on Instagram for more pretty pictures.

We are now three full weeks into the Write Your Novel this Summer writing challenge, and I can finally report that I have written something! This week, I finally managed to break through my writer’s block and am gaining some momentum. Here’s a quick look at what I have accomplished:

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Summer writing challenge check in: Week 2

Mandy Webster
overcoming writer's block - crumpled paper on ...
This wad of paper pretty much sums up all aspects of my life at the moment. | overcoming writer’s block – crumpled paper on wooden floor – crushed paper (Photo credit: photosteve101)

I am setting a horrible example for my summer writing challenge participants. I just can’t seem to get anything written. At least not on my novel. I’ve been dealing with some personal issues (on top of the whole job fiasco, as if I didn’t have enough to feel depressed about,) and it seems like every time I put a pen to paper, that’s all I can write about. This doesn’t bode well for me finishing my novel by the end of the summer.

So, my accomplishments this week: there was one. I wrote a tragedy arc for one of my characters to try to stoke the writing fires. That didn’t get me far. I’m thinking of writing a tragedy arc for myself next. It might be fun to plot my own demise. Continue reading “Summer writing challenge check in: Week 2” →

Novel Writing

The stages of tragedy: Drak’s story

Mandy Webster
stages of tragedy
My tragic story arc is based on the stages outlined by Liz Bureman in a recent blog post titled, “The 7 Basic Plots: Tragedy.”

I am still pretty much stuck on my novel at the moment, so I decided it was time to try some writing exercises. For today’s exercise, I wrote a tragedy arc for one of my main antagonists, King Mentor Drak. This arc is based on a recent blog post by Liz Bureman over at The Write Practice.

Drak’s story begins long before the start of my current novel and will eventually be covered in the prequel I am planning to write next. (M’s grandmothers, Elde and Fayne, will be the protagonists in the prequel.) Here’s a bit of Drak’s story as I have laid it out using Bureman’s tragedy arc.

Anticipation Stage

“The tragic hero gets it into his or her head that something is missing, and they want it. This might be power, fame, a specific love interest, or something else, but the protagonist has their motivation for the disaster dominoes that are about to fall.” Continue reading “The stages of tragedy: Drak’s story” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Write Your Novel this Summer: It’s time for our first check in!

Mandy Webster
kitty
Kitty says, “Stop looking at me and get back to writing!”

Well, it has officially been one full week since the start of our summer writing challenge. I plan to check in once a week on Fridays throughout the entire summer. Since I really haven’t accomplished anything yet, this week I will simply report on my starting point.

I started the summer writing challenge with a total of 65,128 words written. That’s about 240 double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt font pages.

While figuring out where to jump back into my story this week, I read my last few chapters and did a bit of surface editing here and there. I have also done a bit of freewriting, which I will not add into my word count. I am still in the freewriting stage at the moment, trying to get back on track with my story. Hopefully by next week I will be cranking out some actual chapters again. Continue reading “Write Your Novel this Summer: It’s time for our first check in!” →

Novel Writing

I am back to the writing board and struggling to move my story forward

Mandy Webster
Sitting here watching the flowers grow when I should be writing
I hate to admit it, but yesterday I spent more time sitting here watching the flowers grow outside my office window than I spent writing.

Yesterday I began working on my novel again. I didn’t realize how long it had been since I’d looked at it. I first had to dig around in my computer files to make sure I was working with the latest version of my document. Next, I had to find the notebook I was writing in so I could figure out where I left off. Then I had to read the last few chapters to remind myself what was going on when I last looked at it. After that, I needed to figure out where my story needs to go next to keep it moving forward. Then I spent the rest of the day alternating between staring at my computer screen and staring at my notebook (and staring out the window.) Continue reading “I am back to the writing board and struggling to move my story forward” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

There is no better day to start writing your novel than today.

Mandy Webster
Writing table of Marie-Antoinette by Riesener ...
It’s time to sit down at that desk and get some writing done! | Writing table of Marie-Antoinette by Riesener (1783), Petit appartement de la reine, Palace of Versailles. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

June 21st was the first day of summer and officially the first day of the Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge. I meant to do a big kickoff on the 21st, but as I mentioned in my last post, life kinda got in the way. I’ve spent the past few days since I returned from my disappointing journey unpacking and trying to put my life back together. I still have a bit of unpacking and organizing to do, but I have decided today is the day I need to get back to writing. If I don’t do it now, I’ll just keep putting it off, and summer will be over before I know it.

I doubt I’m the only person who got sidetracked and didn’t jump right into my novel on the first day of summer. I’m here to tell you it’s okay if you haven’t started yet. Just because you missed the first several days of the challenge, that doesn’t mean you now have to wait until next year. But you should force yourself to sit down and start as soon as possible. How does today work for you? Continue reading “There is no better day to start writing your novel than today.” →

Novel Writing, Writing Prompts

Writing the rebirth plot arc: Rathilde

Mandy Webster
School Building
This building is very much what I imagine the Good Citizen Center to look like in my WIP. | School Building (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In a recent blog post titled, “The 7 Basic Plots: Rebirth,” Liz Bureman of The Write Practice discusses the structure of the rebirth plot type and challenges the reader to “write a rebirth arc for a classic villain in literature or film for fifteen minutes.” Rather than writing about a classic villain, I thought it would be interesting to write a rebirth arc for an antagonist in my own work in progress (WIP) and share it on my blog.

For this exercise, I decided to focus on Rathilde, a minor antagonist who does not play a huge role in this novel but will be a formidable figure in the third book of my planned trilogy. Rathilde actually attempts to help my protagonist in book one, but is unsuccessful and goes on her merry way to wreak havoc elsewhere while my protagonist lives through her own private hell.

I doubt that any of what you are about to read will make it into my current WIP, but it will give you a little insight into what I am writing. You will also have some insider knowledge when you finally get the chance to read my published novel (someday.) Here is my rebirth arc for Rathilde, according to the steps outlined by Bureman: Continue reading “Writing the rebirth plot arc: Rathilde” →

Novel Writing

I’m dreaming up my next novel project

Mandy Webster
I... Dreaming
Does anyone really want to hear stories from my dreams? | I… Dreaming (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last night, I dreamed I was reading a novel synopsis on the cover of a book. I woke at 2 a.m. with the words of that synopsis echoing in my head. I lay in a half-sleep thinking, “That sounds like a good book, I should really read that one.” Then it occurred to me the synopsis had come from my head, not from any now-published novel, and it hit me: I’d better write that down!

I tapped my tappable bedside lamp for some light, reached for my bedside pen and notebook, and started scribbling the words from that dreamed synopsis before they could dissipate into the night. I filled one notebook page then, thinking I was done, put it aside and shut off my lamp. I thought I would drift back to sleep. Continue reading “I’m dreaming up my next novel project” →