Planning the novel

I know this novel will be a work of fiction. I’ll have made it all up. No characters will be like anyone I know living or dead and the story will be completely fictitious so don’t consider bringing a claim, even if you’re distant family and you think there’s a part of you in there.

It crosses my mind that the more I write in this blog, the less I’m writing my new novel. For every 500 words on this blog I could be 500 words closer to my 75,000 target. However, if everyone that reads this blog tells a hundred others, then I might have one or two people waiting to buy the book as soon as it’s finished. Am I getting ahead of myself in the marketing plan before I even know what the book is about?

There’s two types of planning at this stage; the practicalities and the story.

The practicalities tell me that the book should be around 300 pages long. That means that each page will require some 250 words, totalling a book word count of 75,000. I might end up adding a few more or even writing a few less; it all depends upon where the story takes me.

The next calculator result is that with chapters averaging around ten pages, then I have to make thirty chapters fit the process. I personally like ten page chapters. It means I can pick up a book and read just ten pages and be able to put it down fairly soon if I have other deadlines to meet, like going to the school to pick up my daughter or waiting for a football match to begin on television. If I’m tired, ten pages can be an easy read. If a book is compelling I might sneak into another chapter and miss the kick off, but that’s rare.

On other occasions, I can sit down, relax and take in a number of chapters in one go; it’s up to me and my family! If I’m faced with a 50 page chapter then I might decide to keep the book closed and watch the pre-match discussion.

So now I know I need 2,500 words for a chapter. That’s not set in stone. Some will be shorter and several will be a good deal longer. It’s just a guide.

Now we get to really punch the calculator buttons. If I write 3 pages a day, note down six days a week (okay, make that five because six might be pushing it too far) then I need to get to 3750 words a week. (Reminder to self to set up an Excel spreadsheet.) With some articles that can be a day’s work, but when you’re so careful in selecting every word, a week sounds favourable. Hey, I can even write more and not have to worry. I might even take a day off if I’m not behind.

Twenty weeks. That’s how long a first draft should take me should I keep on target.

Some people will say that 750 words a day isn’t many, but I do have a number of other projects on stream at the moment, Christmas is coming and I only need to have one of the other projects requiring an urgent finish and I’ll be behind.

The way I work involves spending the first hour or so going over the previous day’s work and making changes where necessary. I edit as I go along as well, so 750 words suddenly becomes a tall order.

Twenty weeks starting on March 1st takes me to the start of July 2010. If I add in story planning and research, then please give me to the end of July and we’ll have a first draft available.

I like deadlines. Nothing like a deadline to set the mind working. So what will the story be about?

I’m busy this weekend so I’m starting Monday.

Screenplay finish line

I can see the finish line, the fade out, on my latest screenplay. It’s not so far away, just now. I’m about to write the last 10%, the last few scenes, the end of the movie.

The part before the credits; the final part where most of the audience gets up and leaves the cinema. Only the cinema buffs stay behind to see who completed the editing, who mastered the lighting. Almost no-one, yes no-one, cares who actually wrote the movie. If it’s great, the director and the actors did a great job. If the movie bombs, it’s all down to the screen writer. Why did they write such a poor movie?

I’ve known the ending for some time, in fact since I started writing at the beginning. It’s always best to plan out the stages so you know where you’re going with a screenplay, but at the same time allowing yourself enough movement should you wish to change an emphasis or the direction your characters are taking.

Without the screenplay the movie goes no-where. Ask yourself, how many screenplay writers can you name – ten, five one, none? Why is this? Surely they perform the most important part of the movie?

There is a bonus to being a no-name. You can walk down any street you want and you won’t get mobbed. You can go into any Walmart and collect your own groceries. You can collect the kids from school without having to give autographs from behind your minders.

Now that gives me an idea for my next screenplay…

Procrastination – I could write about it forever.

It’s just so easy isn’t it – why do today what we can put off until tomorrow. It’s not that we mind doing it – whatever ‘it’ is; it might even be something we look forward to doing. Better put it off and do nothing just now, otherwise we might not have anything to do tomorrow.

Now look at that, I’ve used the term ‘we’ rather than’ I’. It’s easier to share the blame, do nothing now attitude if we’re sharing it with others. After all, it couldn’t be me that’s holding ‘me’ back from completing that task.

We’ve all heard the term “to procrastinate” but what does it really mean? Wiktionary says it’s ‘The act of postponing, delaying or putting off, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.’ That wasn’t too difficult was it? The art of putting something off; that’s doesn’t sound too bad. You can delay and postpone, that sounds even easier. You always meant to come back to it and finish that task one day, you just don’t need to tell yourself which day you’ll do it.

Hold on a moment there Wiktionary, that last part ‘habitual carelessness and laziness’ hit hard, didn’t it? Who could it be talking about? I’m a busy person; I carry out lots of tasks. I’m certainly not careless or lazy, so I’m safe in the understanding that it couldn’t indicate me. I put off those tasks for very good reason and I don’t need to say why.

The good thing about procrastination is that you can keep on requesting its appearance. It can go on and on and you might never do what you intended. That, also, is the rub. You might never finish something you really would love to complete.

I’m my own prime example. I had a great idea for a screenplay. I ran it around my head for days. I almost had the whole script written. Then I met someone special. I told her about my screenplay. She expressed delight with the idea. I had to start writing it real soon.

After we married we quickly moved to stage two, with a lovely daughter arriving (how did that happen?) We also moved home a few times, but I kept telling everyone that my screenplay was nearly ready.

I learnt more about screenwriting. This forced me to change my script and adopt some industry standards I hadn’t known about. I finally purchased some industry standard software to write my screenplay. Again, anything rather than just actually writing the script itself.

Ten years have passed and the screenplay is 90% written. That’s the first draft 90% written, amusingly on software called ‘Final Draft’. I know that when the first draft is complete, the process of re-writing will begin and could take several weeks, but not months.

I have a set plan and work on the screenplay for a certain number of hours per day. I know when it will be finished – oh so close now.

My procrastination has proved very useful. The screenplay coming out at this end of my delay period, is much better than the one that would have formed, ten years ago and my home life is much more rich with love and ideas, than before.

I no longer procrastinate. I haven’t the time. I need to do it today. I have so many other ideas I want to get down on paper.

Too many ideas

As a writer, can you have too many ideas? As it turns out – yes you can.

I know that most writers will initially say that they can’t have too many ideas. You get an idea, you make notes and you file it away for when you need it. This does, of course, mean than you have to encompass a note making filing system that is both accessible and effective. Who hasn’t been there and got the t-shirt in the ‘I know I wrote it down, but where did I put it’ syndrome?

The problem with ideas is having too many at the wrong time. By this I mean you’re thundering through a brilliant piece of writing, but you know it’s time to take a short break from the screen and favourite seat. You wander a few yards, look out over your favourite view and bang the new idea hits you right between your eyes. You go to make a coffee while exploring the idea further. During that fifteen minute break you’ve almost written the new piece in your head as your mind wanders.

Time to get up and make some notes. By the time you write you may already have lost some of your best thoughts, but hey; they’ll come back when you write the piece properly, won’t they? Now, do you go back to the section you were writing or do you plough headlong into the new idea, intending to do the real planning later on, afterwards?

This is my dilemma right now. I’m halfway through a radio play that I’ve spent time planning out in exact detail. I’m half way through writing the content and it’s flowing so well that I shouldn’t really stop. I might be ready for the first stage of re-writing in a day or so. Or do I start on this great new idea? It’s relevant for today’s market. It might move quickly through the radio systems of first read, second read, planning for production, casting, recording and the part we all strive for, airplay. My other play could be good for anytime. Which way should I hedge my bets?

Just as well I don’t get writer’s block; but then that doesn’t exist, does it?

eBook almost complete

My eBook about screenplay writing for the novice, is almost ready.

The words are complete; I’m just down to deciding the final running order of the contents. This has been a difficult task. While it may be obvious to place ‘A’ before ‘B’ and then ‘C’ it’s not as simple as all that. Sometimes it may be easier if you know a little more about one subject before you tackle another although logic tells you that you really won’t need to know about it until much later. However, we’re all creatures of habit and when faced with a non-fiction book, many of us like to sneak a peek at the latter stages to see what level of interest we’ll need to maintain. We couldn’t do this with a novel because we’d spoil the story.

Even though I planned the book and set up a contents list early on, it’s (slightly) changed many times as I’ve been extending some sections making others either out of place or with no actual place.

So back to those finish issues…

Does the world know I’m here?

I’m always amazed at how many people leave the original word-press post completely alone, unedited. It might even stay there for years. What if someone had thought to place an advert there? All bloggers in word-press would have seen the advert posted millions of times. What if you’d had a cent for every posting? What if you had a cent for every word you’d ever written?

Hey-ho; it’s all just a choice and we all know that humans like choice; screenwriting and mere mortals alike.