So, dear readers, If you’ve been keeping up with the IWG Books Team, you will know that not only one, but two of our Editors are going on the long journey to finishing a novel in 2014! One of these editors is of course, myself, and the other is my amazing Co-Editor, Gemma Williams.
One day last week I was procrastinating and going through YouTube as normal when I decided to ask myself the question “I wonder if there are any videos that give tips on how to write a novel?” So, I searched it, and I was so grateful for what came up on my screen next.
I came across a young youtuber called Mandi Lynn, Who not only is a published author in her last year of HIGH SCHOOL, but she is also becoming a YouTube star. (But enough about that, I’m saving that for another feature coming your way soon!)
After watching her videos, though, I was brimming with inspiration! And this kick-started my week of constantly thinking about my novel, titled ‘ERROR’.
I have been trying to write ‘ERROR’ ever since May 2013, and I got pretty close to a whopping 40,000 words (Due to NaNoWriMo, mostly.) but sadly, life got in the way and I just wasn’t feeling the story any more. Well, that’s maybe coming on a bit strong, what I mean is that the story was going in a direction that I didn’t like.
My main character, Beth Thomas, felt too whiney and way too much of a Mary Sue for my liking, and my bad guys weren’t necessarily evil enough. On top of this, I had no real plan when it came down to writing. I just wasn’t feeling it, in a nutshell.
But, by some miracle, watching videos on YouTube and listening to Fall Out Boy’s album, Save Rock and Roll (seriously, CHECK IT OUT if you haven’t already), I managed to pull myself out of my Writers Funk, and get totally stuck in with new ideas that will definitely (hopefully) make this novel what I intended it to be.
This might sound strange to you guys, but I taped enough paper together so that it would cover a large fraction of my wall, and then taped it to the wall.
Staring at a huge blank page covering my wall was daunting, yes. But I knew now what I needed to do. If I ever wanted to get this novel off the ground, I needed to map it all out.
And that, dear readers, is what I have begun to do (see picture for proof!). I live with my grandparents, and they think I’m crazy (but in a good way, I hope!), When they asked me what the hell was on my wall, I just told them that it was all part of the plan for my novel, and they seemed pretty happy with that.
I am well and truly on my way now to finally start taking this novel seriously, and I hope that you guys will support me and my novel as I progress through this stage in my life.
It’s time to start getting back to planning now, so for now, I bid you all farewell (haha!)
If you are also a writer and looking for inspiration, take to YouTube and take to your iPod. It seriously does help!