Writing a novel?
POSTED BY: NervousPete
UPDATED: Thursday, May 6, 2004 16:10
VIEWED: 8681
PAGE 1 of 4
I'm currently writing a novel that I am tremendously excited about.
Oh, one thing before I start... Lyryn, lass, if you're reading this, I'm just taking a short break from the writing! I've done 1,500 words this weekend, honestly! Don't hurt me!
Oh, and thanks for buying me the Firefly DVD and all... thank you, Lyryn, thank you.
There, now that my proof-reader is happy, I can continue.
Is there anyone else on this board writing a novel, other than fan-fic? I've noticed that the fan-fic here is quite a cut above other efforts on other sites, and I wonder if any of the writers have their own secret projects underway?
My viewing of Firefly came too late to even remotely inspire or alter my vision of my novel, thank God, though I am somewhat a fashion victim when it comes to being influenced by authors whom I admire. It's a fantasy, you see, but one that attempts to ignore all the rules and customs of Tolkien and its ilk. No other intelligent creatures other than humans... (thanks Firefly for seconding me on that) no magic or heroics. No ponderous language or trite quests. Rather a sort of combination of Patrick O'Brien meets Michael Moorcock, meets Angela Carter, meets Ray Bradbury, meets Iain M Banks, meets Emily Bronte, meets Neil Gaiman, meets Alan Moore, meets H P Lovecraft, meets Hilary Mantel, meets John Le Carre. Hopefully.
26,000 wods so far. *Phew* And a kick-ass plot and characters that go in a direction hitherto unattempted in fantasy and sci-fi. Hopefully.
God, I hope this works.
It's working title is, 'Ugly Beautiful' and it features a young woman befriending a very strange and very dangerous lady who makes River look a little lucid and rather ineffectual on the old 'I can kill you quite easily' front. Set in a world that hovers around the Napoleonic level of technology, with a 1930's sense of fashion, culture, medicine and hygeine. There are several deaths, a rich young artist called Henry Lewis who desperately fancies a woman called Sophe Harlow (who is a secret agent) and a rather frightening threat to peace. And a lot of fun bits plus, hopefully, some 'Whedon wit'.
So, anyone else out there writing a novel or script? How difficult are you finding it? Has Firefly inspired your work? What hopes do you have for it? Use this thread to let the world know with annoyingly teasing details.
Cheers,
Pete
P.S: I'm going back to work now, Lyryn! Honestly!
"If you can keep your head whilst others... eurgh! Ack! I've spilt my ink! Ugh! Ink on my trousers! Agh! Ink on my shirt! My only hope! The window! Aieeeeee!" (Falls to death)
- Jonathan Nash
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Pete,
The question isn't when am I writing a novel, it's when am I not writing a novel? (Actually, the real question is when will I finish one already, but that's a whole different subject.) I've always got at least one going, though it's slow going because almost all of my writing time gets eaten up by graduate level papers right now.
I can't say I've been especially Firefly inspired, though I do try (when I'm working on modern world stuff) to have a character who likes Firefly or Buffy or whatever, so that if I ever publish anything I can get a plug in for my favorite shows.
I find characters easy, plots difficult, and have to watch myself so that everyone doesn't talk like I do.
Your story sounds interesting. Good luck with it.
Delia
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by NervousPete:
Is there anyone else on this board writing a novel, other than fan-fic?
I'm working on my 2nd novel, "Meal Ticket". Wish me luck.
"Just keep walkin, preacher man."
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
LUCK! LUCK! LUCK! 
~A~
...I'm still free,
You can't take the sky from me.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
The concept for your novel sounds very intriguing, NervousPete. Best of luck with it!
I'm also working on a novel--my first attempt at one after writing only short stories for a while (two of which have been published...go me with the shameless plug!) 
Actually, I should say I'm working on three novels. The one I'm currently writing is the first of a trilogy, so it's constantly informing my ideas for what will come in the novels to follow. The funny part is that I really meant to write a single novel because, as a notoriously slow reader, I have trouble keeping up with the plethora of series out there in the book world. But I couldn't get to sleep one night and made the mistake of wondering what some of my characters would do after the story's end. Next thing I knew, I had a sequel.
Mine is also a fantasy without intelligent non-human creatures. It does make with the magic and the prophecies, but I'm trying to give them as original a spin as I can. I'm aiming for characters who are a lot more morally ambiguous than those of the Tolkien ilk. I'm also dealing with what a lot of popular fantasy (though not all) seems to ignore--characters with sex lives. And while there's much that I love about Tolkien, I am avoiding the pretentious lanuage of his and other works as avidly as the Serenity crew would avoid Reavers. I want my characters to talk to each other, not speechify. It's good to know someone else is aiming for the same in the language department.
Even though my two main characters are male, one of my major goals with my novel is to create female characters who aren't cliched and have some dimension and complexity to them. Too much of the fantasy I've read has female characters who are either nonexistent or one-dimensional, or they are written with the idea in mind that "strong" women are pushy and bitchy...either that, or whiney princess types who show their supposed strength by irresponsibly running away from home to seek adventure with the hero. And they're always beautiful. It gets old.
My novel is actually a major revamping of a novella-length story I wrote back in high school. I began reworking it in college, put it on the back burner for a while, then finally got my ass back into gear a few months ago. The writing itself isn't difficult for me--it's finding the time to write. I work full-time and also do a lot of theater work, so my free time is at a minimum. I invested in a word processor a few years ago that has been invaluable in allowing me to write at lunch and on the train to and from work. It doesn't have the distractions of a laptop (we all know how evil solitaire is), so I have no good excuse not to get as much writing done as possible.
Firefly has inspired my work in that it's good writing with incredible characters. Watching that in action always inspires me to write, even if it has no relation plot-wise to what I'm working on. I watch Firefly and think, "I want to write characters like that!" Not the Firefly characters in particular, but ones as realistic and intriguing as them.
I also think Nathan Filion would be perfect for one of the characters who is going to show up in the second book of my trilogy (assuming I get that far). I often write characters with a certain actor in mind. It helps because I'm very visual about writing. I have to picture the scene in my head as if it were a film before I can write it down.
Quote:
Originally posted by Knibblet:
I'm working on my 2nd novel, "Meal Ticket". Wish me luck.
Good luck!
"Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?"
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I as well am writing a novel. Have been for several years. The specifics have undergone so many revamps and changes that it's hard for me to keep up with myself. The basic storyline's the same, though. Fun going, but a long effort.
Good luck on yours!!
______________________
But if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
So, anyone else out there writing a novel or script? How difficult are you finding it? Has Firefly inspired your work?
It would be dishonest to say I'm writing a novel, but I do have a notebook full of... well, notes for a particular story I've been actively neglecting for years.
At first, firefly reminded me of my own story:
a somewhat misfit group of smugglers.
a captain with serious authority issues as a result of a dramatically painful past.
A first officer from that past he truly trusts.
An overbearing central government of allied planets
A cute bubbly mechanic
A doomed romance between the Cpt and a crewmember
A cowboy hat
And a few other things...
Then I watched more Firefly and got to thinking how much more interesting some parts of this story might be if there were no aliens. It would necessitate some changes, and it would push the storyline hundreds of years further into the future than I originally envisioned but... well then it would start to look like a rather warped FF fanfic.
So at this point, I think I'm just going to neglect this story a little while longer.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I'm working on short stories now (I understand it's marginally easier to get into publishng with SSs, and work up to novels). Actually, no; I write novellas, then frantically rip out scenes to try to get down back into "short story" length, 'cause editors don't buy novellas. 
Trouble is, the stories want to be a novel. All my stories take place in pretty much the same universe (except for the hard sci-fi ones, which tend to have a common 'verse of their own; I just haven't been writing them lately). Characters and events bleed over and interlock (one story tells of a character seeing a girl doing something illegal and wondering what she's doing, another story has the same girl frantically trying to gather medicine for her wounded bf, another story has the bf duelling on the astral plane with his enemy, etc).
Both of these universes are basically my grabbing whatever I like about others' stories and putting it all into a blender. There's bits of Buffy/Angel mixed in with various animés, some Legend of Zelda-style high fantasy adventuring, some historical drama, etc.
My female lead is a cross between Buffy (looks), Spike (snarky attitude), and Willow (magical powerhouse). Also, she's a shape-shifting dragon. Other characters include a Xander/Link hybrid, and a Spike/Giles/Harry Potter/Morpheus "sorcerer/hacker."
Obviously, I do use the whole high-fantasy set of non-humans and magic, but I like to think I treat it in a different way. My dragons and elves and faerie are just people. Some may be immortal and have strange powers, but they still experience all the normal stuff. The dragon works as a waitress, the sorcerer has a crappy apartment, the knight has girlfriend problems, etc.
No overt odes, really, but I put in little injokes from time to time. The setting is as "real world" as I can make it, and my characters are fans of much of the same things I am. Crystal (the dragon-girl) is an otaku; she drags her sorcerer boyfriend to all the animé-cons, and in return, he drags her to the sci-fi cons. Of course he'll have bought her a certain DVD set (off-camera, of course). . . One of them will almost certainly say "not so much" and/or "shiny" at some point.
Quote:Thank you; I was worried that I was the only one that did this.
Originally posted by Bibsy:
I often write characters with a certain actor in mind. It helps because I'm very visual about writing. I have to picture the scene in my head as if it were a film before I can write it down.
My lead villain is played by "Connor" from Angel.
-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by NervousPete:
SNIP!
So, anyone else out there writing a novel or script? How difficult are you finding it?
Difficult. DIFFICULT! *aarrrrrrrgh*
I love all your influences and like your approach. Certainly you have done the hardest thing; starting. Keep going! I'd post more but I just want to be positive and not depress you with my experience. lol!
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
wow, reading whedon,etc. influenced original novels would be really cool 
i have writing aspirations. i have one finished screenplay that is very influenced by buffydom, but still very different. and instead of playing with the horror genre, i play with ghost hunting folklore.
i don't usually write novels, but i'll be giving it a try when it comes to my mythopoeic stuff.
i'm also writing book for a musical which will be performed at the my collaborator's university (Columbia University) in november. it will be in a very large theater, room for everyone! he, he, you can be sure i'll be bombarding you all with more ads for this when the time comes.
am i finding it difficult? no, it's me, it's what i do. i just wish i had more finished products.
- emily
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME