So, I wrote 1,181 words in the novel today, just by focusing on it and getting it done, and I was really satisfied with the result! The more days I have like this, the more confident I am that this novel is working out well and that it might not completely suck by the time I finish it. However, I heard a piece of advice from Sanderson today in English 318 that made me think that I might be digging myself into a mess…
The advice he gave was “for your first or second novel, don’t write more than two viewpoint characters at the most!” He was pretty adamant about this, too. Unfortunately, in Lost Colony I have about four viewpoint characters, possibly more. I was thinking about introducing a couple more in the second half of the book, but I might scratch that idea because it’s already pretty complicated.
The thing is, I don’t think this story would be as good if it were from just one or two characters’ POV. The premise of the story is basically a clash of cultures, and different peoples’ interpretations of the same events are really key, to the plot, the setting, and understanding the characters.
I don’t think that he gave that piece of advice because he thinks that stories with multiple viewpoint characters are bad; I think he gave it because he doesn’t think we’re ready to handle it. And he might be right. I might not have the skills to polish up this story and make it really awesome at this time. It’s a little bit scary to think that, but I favor realism over idealism.
However, as I think about it, that doesn’t mean that everything is lost. Not at all. I can finish the rough draft now, maybe do a first rewrite, give it some time, work on some other projects, then come back to it and fix it when I do have the necessary skills. So even if I can’t do the multiple viewpoints very well at this time, I can finish the rough draft and let the project simmer for a while. That’s actually fairly encouraging to me.
This new goal of 1,000 words per night is pretty tough, but I did it tonight in a little under two hours! Went over to my friend Steve’s house, and despite the fact that all kinds of people were coming in and out of the room where I was writing (and despite the fact that yes, I was social and did interact with them) I exceeded the word count goal and finished this one scene, ready to move onto the next one. It was VERY satisfying to tackle this one scene that I’d been doubting for a while and, in a couple of hours, make it work and finish it. You’ve just gotta write, man.
So that’s my update for now. Don’t worry–I’ll write more about this week’s 318 class and Brandon Sanderson’s lesson on a future post! Not only that, but there are a few other things I’d like to post on. I’d like to dedicate a post to each of my main characters, explaining them a little, and I also need to review Neuromancer by William Gibson. Man, that was an amazing book! And, pretty soon, I’ll be finishing Old Man’s War and Red Mars.
Just gotta keep blogging!
