Home
Last November, I wrote another novel, currently titled Home. It is my fourth novel. That sounds so funny. The basic idea was to write a contemporary reworking of Persuasion, only from the guy's point of view. The main character returns home after 10 years having made a successful career as an architect, only to bump into the woman who dumped him when he was 17, when she was at university and he was only at school. It draws on some of my experiences of going back "home" and finding that the place has changed, and the town I grew up in and that I remember no longer exists. The main character finds the same is true of people. He has to make a choice between living in the past or moving forwards, and to decide what that means in his situation.
I had a great time writing it. The final story is a long way from the original Persuasion; but then, that was the point. And I think it’s my best yet. At 63,000 words it’s certainly my longest. But when I say my best yet, I have to put that in context: I still wouldn’t dare insult any real writer by comparing it with the quality of stuff that actually gets published.
Every year after I’ve done NaNoWriMo, I’ve looked back on what I’ve written and thought about all the things that were really dreadful, the things that would be done so much better in a real, published novel. Then the next year as I write, I think about those things and try to do them better. I didn’t do NaNo with the intention of improving my writing, but I’m sure it’s really helped. It’s also got me reading books on writing, discussing ideas on forums, and various other things, all of which help. Not to mention reading more critically, and generally being a little more aware of what makes good writing good (i.e. better than mine).
This year also marked a first in that I actually dared to sit down and read the whole thing through after I'd written it. I've never done that before. It wasn’t too painful; there were lots of bits I really liked. One day I must look at my first NaNo and see how far I've come! I also sent the whole thing off to a couple of other people to read, another first. So far, two of them have managed to finish it (particular thanks to SomSom who read it first).
In the back of my mind there’s now this thought that if I keep writing and improving, I might one day write something worth reading or even publishing. Then I’d have to decide if that was even what I wanted – all that work revising, re-reading, trying to interest agents or publishers. I can’t see it somehow. Yes, I always wanted to do something creative for a living, even if I thought it would be music rather than writing. But actually, I really enjoy my day job – I like making software that works. Why should I aspire to giving up the day job? It’s easy to say that now, but I bet if I did write something I thought was worthwhile, I’d feel the need to get some kind of “recognition” for it. Curse my vanity.
Still - that’s not really something I need to worry about in the foreseeable future.
I had a great time writing it. The final story is a long way from the original Persuasion; but then, that was the point. And I think it’s my best yet. At 63,000 words it’s certainly my longest. But when I say my best yet, I have to put that in context: I still wouldn’t dare insult any real writer by comparing it with the quality of stuff that actually gets published.
Every year after I’ve done NaNoWriMo, I’ve looked back on what I’ve written and thought about all the things that were really dreadful, the things that would be done so much better in a real, published novel. Then the next year as I write, I think about those things and try to do them better. I didn’t do NaNo with the intention of improving my writing, but I’m sure it’s really helped. It’s also got me reading books on writing, discussing ideas on forums, and various other things, all of which help. Not to mention reading more critically, and generally being a little more aware of what makes good writing good (i.e. better than mine).
This year also marked a first in that I actually dared to sit down and read the whole thing through after I'd written it. I've never done that before. It wasn’t too painful; there were lots of bits I really liked. One day I must look at my first NaNo and see how far I've come! I also sent the whole thing off to a couple of other people to read, another first. So far, two of them have managed to finish it (particular thanks to SomSom who read it first).
In the back of my mind there’s now this thought that if I keep writing and improving, I might one day write something worth reading or even publishing. Then I’d have to decide if that was even what I wanted – all that work revising, re-reading, trying to interest agents or publishers. I can’t see it somehow. Yes, I always wanted to do something creative for a living, even if I thought it would be music rather than writing. But actually, I really enjoy my day job – I like making software that works. Why should I aspire to giving up the day job? It’s easy to say that now, but I bet if I did write something I thought was worthwhile, I’d feel the need to get some kind of “recognition” for it. Curse my vanity.
Still - that’s not really something I need to worry about in the foreseeable future.
Labels: NaNoWriMo
posted by tomdg at 6:31 AM
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