An update on my November novels in progress

As I mentioned earlier on this website, I’d intended to write more and blog less in November so that I could focus on getting started on two novels. Mission accomplished on both counts.

But…

I didn’t make as much progress on the two novels as I’d hoped. In fact, the one novel I’d planned to focus more on is the one I ended up shelving by the second week of November. I think I had a good start with the first chapter, but from there it sputtered.

As for novel number two, I was thrilled by how quickly it came out of the gate. I ended up with about 10,000 words — not even close to half a novella’s worth of writing, but a start. It’s a skeletal start, but a start nonetheless.

In a previous post about my November plans, I quoted author E.L. Doctorow, who once compared writing a novel to “driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” I love that idea and took that quote as inspiration for this journey. It told me that even if I only got a little bit of my vision out of my head and committed to writing, I would be making progress.

I still believe that and hold fast to that truth. Even though somewhere along the road of my writing adventure last month, the headlights went dim and I seemed to have driven the car off into a muddy ditch.

And now, instead of doing what must be done to get myself out of the morass, I’m sitting bewildered behind the steering wheel of my stalled author’s vision, wondering how I got here and what to do next.

And you may find yourself/behind the wheel of a large automobile. – Talking Heads, “Once in a Lifetime” (video)

It isn’t that bad. I have a good idea of what to do next with novel number two, which has become novel number one in this race. But it’s going to take some refocus and recharging. And maybe a tow truck. But I’ll sputter along.

Image by Markus Winkler from Pixabay

P.S. – Tuesday, December 3, 2024: I added another 2,000-plus words to novel number 2-turned-1 today.