Writing Motivation: The Perfect Novel

Hey guys!

I wanted to talk about something that I’ve recently realised. That is; Obsession over creating the perfect novel.

I have one story, not the current story but definitely one that I will hopefully go back to, that has about a dozen half finished drafts. Why? Because I was adamant on creating the perfect novel. The perfectionist in me was sucking up as much knowledge as possible from every source available, trying to apply everything at once to the writing. And it was overwhelming. And it wasn’t working.

So today I’m going to tell you guys something. Remember that this is my opinion, and that you can’t take it as gospel, but it’s something I’m attempting to come to terms with.

You can’t write the perfect novel.

It won’t happen.

Let’s talk about some of the most famous stories today. Harry Potter, for one example. There are millions and millions of fans who absolutely adore the boy wizard. Why? Because it’s wonderful!

But. There are plotholes. Hermoine’s time turner, for example, has caused major problems. Even with all of J.K. Rowling’s planning, she still managed to make SOME mistakes.

Then we have Twilight. Millions of people adore it. About a million others, however, see the flaws in the relationship, the plot, the entire thing.

I have, to date, written about six novellas, and a couple of first drafted novels. But this is my first time revising a finished first draft. I have never revised before. I know a lot, but at the same time I know so little about it. And in the last few days I’ve caught myself trying to turn this thing into the ultimate perfection thing. Trying to find ways to make sure there won’t be any screw ups, nothing for people to point fingers at.

However. What I, and I think so many other writers, don’t realise, is that writing is an expression of creativity. Yes, there are things we can do to make it more appealing to a larger variety of people. But we can’t perfect everything.

Let’s compare writing a novel to being a ballerina. There are a million different ways to write a novel, and some people will like it and some people won’t. With being a ballerina, there is only ONE way to do a plie. Of course, it is still a fairly creative form of expression, but you have a set way of doing every little thing. Every toe turn, every point.

Imagine if we applied all those rules to writing.

That’s right. Every book would be the same. Wouldn’t that be boring as hell?

Another thing that I’ve been coming to terms with is that some people aren’t going to like my book. I’ve recently looked up reviews for one indie book that I wasn’t fussed on. I found that it has an incredible rating on goodreads, but there are people that agree with me. Someone ripped apart the entire book and picked out every little thing they hated about it.

 

Ask yourself. What am I trying to accomplish here? If you’re trying to write a book that everyone will love and pat you on the back for and praise you on, I’m afraid your motives aren’t the right ones.

But if you’re writing this story because you care about the characters, the story, because you love writing, then yes. Do it. And if you feel like you’d like to publish, you’d like to submit this to the rest of the world to read, do it. There will be people who don’t like it. But there might also be one person in the world who enjoys it.

Bottom line is write  because you love writing. Not to publish and get praise or become the next best seller. Write to tell a story, don’t try and make everything perfect. Try to make it as perfect as YOU can make it, sure, and tell your story in the best way, but don’t get so caught up and overwhelmed in the tweaking that you never finish. Writing a story is meant to be something you love, and an incredible experience. Not a burden, or something to loathe.

So you made it to the end of the post. Thanks a lot for reading, I’m sorry this wasn’t a hundred percent useful, but if you enjoyed it or got something out of it, please like it and drop a comment. If you would like to see more of this content, hit the follow button, it’s free. Follow me on the social medias. Admittedly I’m still trying to fix up the site to have more social media buttons, so there’s only the twitter one there right now, but I have links to my other social medias in the About page.

I hope you have a great day, get lots of writing done, and I will see you next time. Goodbyyeeee!

Pop Culture References in Fiction

The longer title would be; Should I use pop culture references in fiction?

My quick-and-easy-you-just-came-here-for-the-title answer is; No.

Now for the longer answer. Which is; Maybe.

(See what I did there with letters? What’s that? I’m a weirdo? . . . your face is a weirdo.)

I need to quickly mention that this is just my opinion. There aren’t any rules for writing, but if you’re trying to decide whether or not to use pop culture references in your writing, it’s good to try and get a lot of opinions and then make an informed decision.

So, Jess. Should I put pop culture references in my novel?

Depends. First of all, on the time. When is your novel set? If you’re writing a story on an Egyptian princess and she starts dancing around her castle to Ariana Grande via Beats By Dr.Dre, you, my friend, have made a bad decision. Unless this is a comedy. But a lot of things can be overlooked for a comedy.

Is your novel set in the future, where there are evil societys rising up and making teenagers beat each other to death? In this case, I don’t recommend making pop culture references.

Making a pop culture reference pulls the reader into THIS CURRENT WORLD. I once read a (coughripoffofthehungergamescough) dystopian where they mentioned a couple of books from present day. The Hunger Games was one of them.

Oh. I don’t think I’ve ever eye rolled so severely.

Because you, as the writer, are transporting the reader to a FICTIONAL world. And if you remind them of the real world, they instantly get transported straight out of that world you’ve created.

Now. When are pop culture references okay to make? In contemporaries? Maybe. But you need to carefully consider the reference you are making, why you are making it, and whether or not it will date the book. John Green, Meg Cabot, Cat Patrick, I’ve read some their books that are (mostly) contemporary, and set in present day, so of course there were a few pop culture references. They seemed well-placed, in my opinion, but have you ever read a book when a reference goes over your head?

This is what dating the book does. And unless this is the desired effect, you probably don’t want to do this. I once read a book where the girl was gushing over how her crush looked ‘almost exactly like Prince William’.

Think about that for a minute.

That book must have been released a while back. Because now, I don’t think about how attractive Prince William is when I hear his name. I think about the wonderful FAMILY he has, and his receding hairline. Probably not something that the author considered when she wrote that line.

So, should you make pop culture references? It’s up to you. I’ve just pointed out some things you should definitely consider when going about making pop culture references.

As a side note, there is also the problem of whether or not you’re obliged to make pop culture references in a contemporary. Honestly, I know there were probably pop culture references in Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns, but I don’t remember them. My current contemporary, Blue Skittles (the code name for my current work in progress, for those who missed the last post) is currently void of any pop culture references, and I doubt I’m going to put them in at all.

So there you have it. Pop Culture references can either enchance or ruin your story, so it’s an important thing to consider.

Now. Let’s play the HOW MANY TIMES DID JESS WRITE THE WORDS POP CULTURE IN THIS POST GAME!

The answer? Fourteen.

Let’s round it off and make it fifteen. POP CULTURE!

It doesn’t even feel like a real word to me anymore. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post. Leave it a like and a comment. I will see you guys the next time I post, and . . . yes. I hope you all have a great day and please someone tell me how to end blog posts.

(It’s starting to sound like a running gag now, but I really can’t end blog posts.)

A Finished First Draft and Tips for Underwriters

Jessie Grace The Underwriter and the Finished First Draft

Also known as Jessie Grace and the nightmare of WHAT THE HELL DO I DO NOW HOW DO I REVISE.

But for now I’m just going to eat celebratory chocolate and blog.

It has taken me three and a half weeks to complete said novel and I have finally reached 50,000 words on it. And yes, it is finished. The first draft is, anyway.

I’m an underwriter, and I consider this a fairly impressive achievement. Most of the time I have struggled with word count goals but finally (FINALLY) I have a coherent (enough. coherent enough) novel and I can finally revise it.

Whilst I have written maybe six novels, each one is some kind of version of awful, because of my lack of outlining. This is the first one completed that used an outline I am actually proud of. And I don’t even have a title for it so we’re going to give it a code name to refer to on this blog which is . . . BLUE SKITTLES.

Yes. I am now going to refer to my novel as Blue Skittles until I have an actual  name for it. Now I think I should tell you guys a little bit about Blue Skittles, because while I am very protective of my stories and telling people about them, I think that you guys deserve to know at least a little bit about it.Blue Skittles is a contemporary.

There. That’s literally all I’m telling you. You’re welcome.

So, back to how an underwriter completed a 50,000 word novel. Also yes I am aware that there are very little novels that are just 50,000 words, and yes I will be expanding on it in revisions, but for now this is still an incredible achievement.

Okay. So, you’re an underwriter.You try writing novels but they always turn into short stories. You just want to be taken seriously. So here are my tips for how to up that word count.

One; Outline

I think every single on of my blog posts has included a promise to write on my outlining process, but I swear. I will be putting one up soon. Really.

Outlining can be great for making your word count grow. Please note, outlining isn’t for everyone, but if you’re struggling, you’ve got nothing to lose trying it out. You can divide the novel up into outlined chapters and then divide the number of chapters by the word count goal for the novel. Math. Science. Wait, not science. Math. So for example, if your novel has thirty chapters and you want to reach 50,000 words, you only need to write 1,667 words per chapter.

Two; Sub Plots

Sub plots add depth to your novel and are a good way to give the reader a break from the events of the main plot. Just make sure that the sub plots aren’t meaningless, and that they somehow tie up at the climax of your story. Admittedly I’m not a pro at sub plots (ha, I’m not a pro at anything) So I don’t think I’m well versed enough to lecture you on sub plots, therefore I am going to encourage you to use the power of google.

Three; Describe. Everything.

One thing that I’ve found is that I am fairly good at short and sweet descriptions. But as an experiment I ‘overwrote’ a scene and it turned out to be a lot better than  the underwritten kind. Even if half the description gets scrapped, it’s still useful stuff.

What if you’ve tried all of these and nothing helped?

You. My friend. Need to overwrite.

Overwrite everything. Overwrite dialogue. Descriptions. Everything. You can always cut a lot of the words that are irrelevant, but it can still be useful to have too much than too little (in my opinion). Also try to flesh out a lot of the scenes.

Okay, those are my ratchet tips for how underwriters can write novels. Just stick with it.

If anyone has links to any good revision resources, I would like to see them. And yes I am still going to document my continued struggle with writing and finishing a novel. No matter how bumpy and awful it may be, I want you guys to see the ups and downs, and I hope this will help some aspiring writer out there.

Also, I just quickly wanted to say that I have got five followers on my blog, six on my twitter, and I think four on my Facebook page. There are links to my social medias in the About page. I know these numbers aren’t a lot, but as someone who was at zero everything five months ago, they really mean a lot to me. Trying to market myself as a writer has been pretty scary, and I’m really grateful for you guys. Also if you are new, please follow, we have lots of fun here.

Hopefully I will have another blog up soon. Until then, goodbyyeeee.

(no, seriously, how the hell do you end a blog post?)