Writerly Stuff

My First Post...and Hopefully Not the Last

It's easier said than done to write a publishable novel. But I'm diligently setting up to write one (all right, I've taken a stab at writing the first chapter, but hadn't thought it all out ahead of time ::sigh::). It's urban fantasy, and it's probably the most complex plot I've attempted (I'll admit here that I got the idea from Rachel Vater's excellent blog (see the sidebar for the link).

Now, my problem is actually finishing a novel-length story. The last one I started and revised the heck out of...well, let's just say I was chugging along when I hit a pothole in the middle of the road. I just couldn't come up with anything to propel the story any further about the 8th chapter in (give or take). Damn.

That's why with this one I'm actually thinking things through before starting in on it. Working title: Cats of Manhattan. Yeah, I know it sucks, but I once read in some how-to book (or was it writing software?) that one of the first things to do when writing a novel or short story is to give it a title. Must be some psychological thing (you must know that a lot of commercially-published writers and wannabes like me need all the psychological help they can get where writing is concerned).

At this point, I'm hoping this blog will keep me writing and thinking...and occasionally I may throw some writerly advice into the mix. Take that last with a cliched grain of salt - as I'm unpubbed in the novel arena. However, I have learned quite a bit about the publishing biz on different websites, so maybe my advice won't be too off the mark.

Later.

~Nancy