http://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher en-us N/A toole@sfu.ca Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:31:05 CST 20 http://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/135/1/Designing-Your-Novels-Premise/Page1.html Where do you get your ideas? If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked this wrong-headed question. . . .

Ah, well.

When a non-writer asks me this question, basically, I just smile and lie, because the truth is more complicated, less magical, indeed, a good deal grubbier than most people who are just making conversation really care to hear. If you tell them that it’s work -- hard work -- they look at you like they suspect that you must be doing it wrong.

There seems to be a myth floating around out there that story ideas pop full-blown into our imaginations like Athena out of the head of Zeus. Sheee-yah.]]> no@spam.com (Gaelen Foley) http://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/135/1/Designing-Your-Novels-Premise/Page1.html http://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/134/1/Prep-That-Book/Page1.html Before you start writing your novel, it is my firm opinion that you need to have at least a general idea of what the story is (plot), who’s in it (characters), and the world in which it takes place (world-building).]]> no@spam.com (Gaelen Foley) http://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/134/1/Prep-That-Book/Page1.html http://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/133/1/Writing-The-First-Draft-or-The-Ugly-Duckling/Page1.html Writing the first draft has always been the most grueling part of writing a novel for me. Always one to attack my challenges head on, however, I used to set an ambitious daily minimal quota for myself, counting out how many clean, carefully thought-out pages I would need to write each day in order to finish a 400-page manuscript and still give myself enough time to revise it before my deadline.

The first draft typically took me a arduous five months; I would then spend the final three or four months of my allotted time revising and polishing the manuscript.

But things never seemed to go according to plan.
]]> no@spam.com (Gaelen Foley) http://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/133/1/Writing-The-First-Draft-or-The-Ugly-Duckling/Page1.html http://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/132/1/Creating-An-Environment-Conducive-To-Writing/Page1.html We are often told that ‘real writers’ don’t wait for inspiration to strike, but produce a set number of words/pages on a regular schedule. While this kind of productivity may sound like it calls for heroic self- discipline, there are ways to make it a little easier on yourself. ]]> no@spam.com (Gaelen Foley) http://www.autocrit.com/websitepublisher/articles/132/1/Creating-An-Environment-Conducive-To-Writing/Page1.html