A lot of people begin penning a novel, but not too many ever finish. So why is this?
It's mainly because completing a manuscript from beginning to end is a monumental task, and it is not hard to feel overwhelmed. When you ponder the myriad of elements that have to coalesce in order to make a successful work of fiction, it is possible to become paralyzed by uncertainty.
So how are you going to keep going?
By preparing a strategy, and then moving forward purposefully, one step at a time.
When you break a massive project into small, bite-sized elements, it can seem less intimidating. An effective plan of action for achieving this is to create a list of every single step involved in the undertaking, and to mark them off as you proceed. When you have a list of stages written, you understand specifically where to start, and what to do next. This ends the paralysis.
It's also important to set a timetable and to determine a weekly target word count. But avoid being over driven. Some novelists unknowingly sabotage themselves by setting impractical goals. It's a very common problem, and it creates an additional mental obstacle to carrying out the novel.
My personal approach is to set a somewhat small objective for every week. When I accomplish it, I allow myself permission to engage in other pursuits.
My standard plan is to spend a single week researching and planning the section, and then the following week penning it. This approach makes it possible for me to establish a strong rhythm, and prevents the routine from being tedious.
For me personally this approach performs wonderfully. It helped me to finish my first manuscript in a little over a year. I recognized that if I finished just one 8-10 page chapter just about every two weeks, I would've produced approximately 250 pages by the close of the year. The completed manuscript ended up being closer to 300 pages.
Psychologically, this freed me from an enormous burden. I knew that as long as I satisfied my minimum weekly goals, I would eventually have a complete manuscript. Likewise, this freed me to take part in some other activities without an internal voice reminding me that I should really be writing. This ended up being tremendously liberating, and really improved my creative thinking.
Just be sure to keep your weekly objective manageable. Feeling that you ought to attain a huge word count can take the enjoyment out of writing, and make it seem tedious. If you keep making progress at an established but workable stride, your draft will get completed. After which it you can begin the process of revising, and that is where the story truly takes shape.
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