Novel Writing
Charlotte Rains Dixon  

Finishing My Novel

Today is Tuesday and I usually post.  (I follow a loose, and I do mean loose, schedule of Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday posts.)  I have a half-finished post about getting support, whether its for your writing or physical or emotional issues that I'm working on, but it is not resonating with me.

And I just realized why.

It's because I'm two chapters from finishing the first draft of my next novel.  And I've set myself a goal of being done with it by the end of this month.  Which happens to be in five days.  And the closer I get to ending, the more resistance I feel.

I've got a lot of work at the moment, including the best, most amazing coaching clients in the world! Truly!  So something has to give.

And guess what that something is going to be….this blog.

I'll be back as soon as I finish the novel with a full report on everything.  And it won't be long because I WILL make my goal.

In the meantime, I post a new writing prompt every day on my Tumblr blog.  (It doesn't take long to write a prompt.) And I'll have my usual round-up of writing prompts on Saturday.  Maybe I'll even be done with the novel by then.

Happy writing, everyone!  And if you want to, leave a comment telling us what you are working on.

0 thoughts on “Finishing My Novel

  1. J.D.

    Emma Jean’s last chapter (followed only by the epilogue) is ten pages and change. The one before that is 18. You have to be very close. So is your first draft usually too long or too short? Do you pare it or plump it? What author influences your writing? I don’t mean someone you read 3 years ago or studied in school. Those can influence us, but is there someone you read and you hope to emulate, someone you read as you jumped into the grind of this new book? I like Michael Connelly, Ed McBain, and most recently John Sanford. Of course, my writing is nothing like the work of those guys. Like artists painting in oils, I believe we all have a signature voice. Few of us, try as we might, can sound like anyone but ourselves. That doesn’t mean we can’t improve; it means I’m not likely to write a perfect Ed McBain novel just because I read one the night before.

  2. Charlotte Dixon

    Hi J.D., you ask the best questions and I can't wait until next summer when we're sitting across a table from each other somewhere in Europe, talking writing in person.  It is my experience that my first drafts are sketchy and need more added to them.  And, in the pages of all the people I work with, this is always the case.  I'm always asking for "More!" or begging the writer to "go deeper!"  Is this the case for you as well?

    Authors that inspire me are women's fiction writers, like Jojo Moyes (whose work I adore), Jennifer Weiner, and  a lesser known author named Shelley Noble.  They all write stories of women's transformations, as do I, and those are what I'm drawn to, maybe because I've been a seeker all my life.

    However–I'm participating in Candace Haven's Book In A Month class that starts on Sunday (at least until I get to France) and I'm going to try my hand at writing a mystery!  We'll see how that goes.

    Thanks for all your great questions.

  3. Don Williams

    Best of luck! I hope it’s as every bit as good as your first, Emma Jean’s Bad Behaviour.

  4. Charlotte Dixon

    Oh, you are the sweetest ever!  Thanks, Don.

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