However, in this post, I'm investing in the literal statement of my title. The internet is at its best when it releases information previously locked up in obscure corners of the planet.
While browsing drawing ideas on Pinterest, I stumbled across this one-page outline for writing your own novel by following a very specific structure. I mean, I knew authors did something like this when outlining plots for their novels, but I've never seen anything this prescriptive before (although, I've never really looked into plotting a novel).
The other interesting wrinkle to this spreadsheet is that it outlines the number of words per section and the total word count for the entire work. This spreadsheet aims for a novel of about 50,000 words (about 200 pages).
The point of the spreadsheet - which I think is noble and pretty ingenious - is to plot everything out in a relatively short amount of time and then begin the hard task of writing.
I, however, never having composed a novel (nor even attempted to do so), intend to flip this on its head.
Each week, I'll try to post one of the 1,000-word sections to compose a novel that will total approximately 50,000 words. While my goal is to make the entire thing coherent, I'm not making any promises. I'd like to do research, but that may prove to be too burdensome as well. I know it's easy enough to crank out 1,000 words a week (I probably do something far greater at work via my email correspondence), but it's difficult to (a) do so creatively and (b) do so creatively in a fashion that spans a functional 200-page novel. But, who knows, if it's close enough, I can always go back and edit the novel or rewrite portions of it to make it something more complete.
My intention is to write a hard-boiled detective novel as a period piece. I know next to nothing about the genre, but have always thoroughly enjoyed movies like The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man (though the latter is less hard-boiled and closer to screwball but still falls firmly in the noir camp).
And, realistically speaking, this is a blog - and a not well-read one at that. If I make it to even the third week (incoherent mess or not), I'll still consider it a victory.
First up?
The Stasis stage, with a few prompts along these lines:
- A scene that shows how [NAME] lacks [WANT/GOAL/NEED].
- A scene that shows how [NAME] is [STASIS STATE].
- A scene that shows how [NAME]’s world is [STASIS STATE].
And, in case you're wondering, the content above? 477 words.
