One month in …

Well, I promised I would track my journey to writing my next novel in a year so it’s time to fess up how that’s going so far.

First, I’ve made a rough plan for the year, which I’m sure will change as the months unfold and the huge process of putting a novel together gets underway, creating a momentum of its own. The purpose of the plan isn’t to hold me hostage, but to set goals that will help me stay on target. I’m approaching this process much as I would approach the loose planning of a novel; you sketch out the key plot points, the major movements, and write towards them. But, if something changes along the way, you reassess and reconfigure. It’s a tool to help, not constrain.

Plan for 2024

January:

Research the story world.

Character development for the main protagonist.

February:

Outline all the major plot points.

Flesh out protagonist and develop other characters.

Sketch out protagonist’s character arc.

March:

Write a minimum of 200 words every day.

Have at least 6000 words or three chapters by the end of month.

April:

Write a minimum of 3,500 words every week.

Reach the first plot point.

May:

Write a minimum of 5,000 words every week.

Reach the mid-point.

June:

Write a minimum of 5,000 words every week.

Reach the second plot point by end of month.

July:

Write a minimum of 5,000 words every week.

Write the final battle and resolution.

Reach ‘the end’ by end of month.

August:

PUT IT AWAY.

September:

Reread manuscript.

Structural edit – review and fix any plot problems.

October:

Write second draft incorporating any changes.

Add in new scenes.

Murder my darlings.

November:

Perform copy edit.

December:

Send out to Beta readers.

Review in light of feedback.

Polish, ready for submission.

January 2024:

Research the story world

Character development for the main protagonist

January has been an exceptionally busy month in the life of this writer. For the first half of it, I was up in Cardiff spending time with family while working with my regular writing clients online, as well as launching a new run of a ten-week online course on writing fiction. I got back to Cornwall in mid-January, just in time to co-host a weekend retreat, re-set my ongoing crit groups, and tackle a backlog of editing work.

If this had been January 2023, I would have forgiven myself at the end of the month for having done zilch, nada, nothing on my own writing. “Too busy, too much on, it’s understandable,” I’d have told myself. And I would have been right, because I’m really not into self-flagellation. But, in 2024, I can look at my January goal and say, “YES, I have achieved it.”

I’ve decided to use Scrivener as a writing tool to put this novel together, and I have been chipping away at character development for my protagonist and have begun researching the underlying backdrop for the story world. I also have a vague structure outline starting to form, and I’m excited about continuing to wrestle it all into some sort of shape. There’s plenty more to do in all of these areas, but I’ve definitely started, and I know by now that a novel is a marathon, not a sprint.

Without a plan, I’m pretty sure I would have reached the end of January with nothing in the bag. I don’t know how you feel about the novel writing process, but for me, it’s the hardest thing in the world to get started, but once you do, the self-addiction process soon gets you hooked. If you are struggling to fit writing into your life, perhaps making a plan could work for you? If you do decide to try it, be sure to keep it fairly loose and don’t be over ambitious. Constant failure to achieve unrealistic goals will be dispiriting. But, full disclosure here, there is another crucial factor that has been helping me to stay on track so far, and I promise to blog about that next. In the meantime, here’s to staying hopelessly hooked on writing.