When you start writing a novel, do you know what you're going to write about?

Question

When I start writing a novel, I then know all the details, cruical points, characters, I know what is going to happen, the main part and how it all ends... and then I lose interest in the novel, I CAN'T make myself write it to the end...

I've got dozens of unfinished novels, but since I know what they are about and how they end - what's the point in writing?

Has anyone ever had this kind of problem?

IF that was that easy, 8TM... I need some kind of incentive to write it to the end

(((Kharm)))

Answer 1

He he, I run in to this ALL the time.

(I too have dozens of unfinished novels.)

One thing I have realized in doing NaNoWriMo, is that you THINK you know how it's going to end, but if the characters don't want it to end that way it won't. (Or if it does anyways, it will sound terrible and you'll know it.)

You keep writing you novel because you don't know what will happen along the way to the finish. You might find quirks in your characters that you didn't know they had. A romance might develop you didn't expect, or the one you expected didn't develop. While the ending usually stays roughly the way you plan it, it may change slightly. You keep wiritng because your characters are unlitmately the ones in charge, and they want to finish the story.

(See, my biggest problem is world-building. I can create all sorts of worlds, socieites, histories, and such, but I suck with plots. ;-) So while I usually know what I'm going to write ABOUT, I don't know what I'm going to write.)

((TIG))

Answer 2

You're not the only one! Join any writers' forum and you'll find a lot of people just like you. Starting a novel is easy. Finishing it is hard. If you can get to the point of writing "The End", it's a HUGE achievement!

Some writers start a novel knowing exactly what it's going to be about. Some know it so thoroughly that they write down a structure, chapter by chapter, analyse the characters, write a synopsis, etc etc.

Other writers have an idea for a character or a scene, and start writing with no idea where they're going (I'm one of those).

Once, I read a book about how you "should" write a novel, which was all about mapping the story out first. So with my next idea, I did just that. Only trouble was, as soon as I worked out what the ending was, I lost interest. For me, I write to find out what happens next - so there was suddenly no point in writing the story!

Now I've gone back to start with a scene and just keep writing.

Marisa
http://www.getthatnovelpublished.blogspot.com/

Answer 3

I never start a novel at the beginning. I'm a fan of great endings, and the first thing that pops into my head is an ending. I work backwards most of the time. Or I fall in love with a scene, just one scene, and work around it. The problem is that I write three or four stories at a time, depending on my mood, or if I'm bored with one story. And I never title my book until I'm finished with it. Don't worry, I've got hundreds of unfinished ones, but every now and then I look at them, and an idea pops up. Maybe I've lived something or seen something that is appropriate for that story I've left unfinished.

Answer 4

Age previous suggestion...write what you recognize. the ideal place to start up is with your guy or woman existence. Do you save a mag? Your reviews are the ideal place to start up. think of of a concern that had a actual effect on you and circulate over the timeline and consequences. %. a evaluate that timeline the place a distinctive determination could have led to a thoroughly distinctive consequence. start up your novel on the factor the place you're confronted with the alternative. Fill the reader in as you tell your tale by use of flashbacks or in the skillful use of communicate. in case you attempt to jot down approximately something you have in no way experienced as yet, the learn will crush you. you are going to be able to desire to in no way underestimate your readers....they're speedy to perceive a phony. in case you start up up with what you recognize,your capacity for achievement is larger. As you grow previous and greater matured in existence besides as writing,you may unfold your literary wings and canopy a much broader selection of matters.study,study,study. type, vocabulary and mind's eye are nourished by the labors of alternative authors.grow to be an energetic listener and observer. take be conscious and keep in mind thrilling conversations you have heard. hear not in ordinary terms to the content cloth yet to the state-of-the-artwork thoughts in the back of the words. Watch human beings and attempt to think of what they're questioning and why they do the flaws they do. A author must be the consumate observer. good luck.

Answer 5

Hmm. This is an interesting question. I did not even know you were a writer! I, too, am a writer, my dear Tiggie. I usually start out with a general idea of what I want to write about, but I allow it to grow in whatever direction it chooses. I've come up with some pretty cool stuff that way.

Answer 6

Man, that happens to me ALL of the time! I once had a really good plot (I think.) and I started creating all of the characters and then I stopped. I clicked "Save As" on the computer, then a fews weeks later... Our computer crashed!! And I didn't write any of the stuff on paper!! I'm so mad. My parents said that if we try to fix it ourselves, it might lose the data. I'm on my sister's computer right now, not the other one. It's STILL not fixed....

Answer 7

first get an idea
then make an outline
then connect the dots
voila, completed novel

if you need incentive, think of the fame, noteriety and MONEY