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 We live much of life amid unique choices. Joy is anchored in The One beyond our life. |
| My novels are great works of art. At least they're great in my mind. I see the action clearly in my mind, but I'm not sure anybody else can. My wife tells me, that my conversations in these novels seem to be something akin to "stiff, boxy, and unnatural." I've completed six NaNoWriMo rough drafts, and now one Novel-Writing Month on WDC rough drafts. I consistently edit for spelling, grammar, and missed words by the early part of the year, but regarding this most recent story, I've only edited two chapters. I'm not sure I'm a natural novelist. I'm a wannabe. I've been writing poetry, since I was 13, but all too often my poems are formulaic. However, in my defense, I think it was my high school English Lit. teacher, who told our class, "If you find a poem form, that is easy to you, then you can write a poem as easily as you can write a friendly letter." My iambic quatrains become a friendly letter to the world every day. My recent novel is fiction, that could be a biography, if my main character was a real person, and not the individual I created to convey a belief. After editing, I expect the length of the story to be between 50,000 and 60,000 words, unless some advisor thinks, that a 20,000 to 30,000 word novella would serve better to tighten up the action, cutting out some of the fluff, that I invariably put in to meet the 50,000 word finish line. This novel started with the first day of Novel-Writing Month on November 1st, 2025. I've stopped progressing because I do not feel, that I have the necessary tools to make it fully print-worthy. I used to be part of the group Carol St.Ann  started a few years ago, but I stopped because I couldn't keep up the pace of reading somebody else's book as part of the commitment. It feels bad to have to admit, "I'm a writer, who is not a fast reader." I listen to audiobooks occasionally, but it takes me well over a month to read the average novel of 200 to 300 pages.Could someone guide me through the basics of novel-writing? Do we already have resources on WDC, that I have missed all these years? I have been writing these November novels, since 2017 only missing one year, I think. My style, so far, is a lot of telling through a great deal of character conversations. At some point I would like to be able to finish my most novel about a great artist, whose identity is wrapped up in his art, but he goes blind. Much of the novel deals with the thought, "Now what?" Will he find a new career after such a loss as did Beethoven with the loss of his hearing? Words: 483 by Jay O’Toole on January 15th, 2026      |
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