Writing a novel is hard. It is for me, at least. Short stories are hard in a different way, but they are sort of like bowling with bumper rails. You know where the edges are and it’s pretty hard to fall off the tracks. Novels have no bumper rails and there are endless ways to land in the gutter.
To help mitigate this, when I have a novel idea I never begin writing it. I might take note of the idea or the character. Sometimes it starts with a single line. Sometimes it starts with a character’s name. Regardless of what sparked the idea, though, I need the idea to become real. I need the character to live inside my head long enough to build relationships with other characters, long enough to grow a life. Like a weed taking over a lawn, I need the story to consume my brain.
Many writers experience writing this way. The characters become real. You can see them and hear them. Your brain, while technically and physiologically in control, takes a back seat and the characters drive. While folding laundry, the characters speak. While in the shower, they act. While working out or jogging or walking, the entire world builds inside your mind, all seemingly without your control.
If I were to start writing my novels the second the inkling of an idea hit, I would lose the opportunity to watch my characters grow. The story would be so much harder to write. It would come out forced.
Stephen King, famously, does not outline his novels. He let’s the characters take the wheel and often doesn’t know where the story will lead until it’s reached its destination. This is how my writing works as well. I wrote last week that for my first mystery novel, I had to do some quasi-outlining because I had no idea how to write a mystery and how to land the clues and proper beats. Still, I didn’t know where the characters would take things. I had no idea what people would do in my story until they did them.
This is only possible if you allow the characters to breathe. To live. Let them hang out in your mind before committing them to the page. Let them be vulnerable and free. As soon as the first words hit the page, the walls start to close in and the freedom is minimized.
For me, at least, writing is hard but living with the characters in my head is easy. If I can do that for as long as possible, I make the process of actually writing that much easier.
New Reads
I picked up a few new books this week, all in different formats.
A Violent Masterpiece by Jordan Harper
I’m reading Jordan Harper’s newest thriller on my Kindle. I picked up an old Kindle about a month or so ago and it goes with me everywhere. Maybe I’ll write about how it has largely cured my social media scrolling, but that’s for another post.
This book from Harper, like his others, creates a depressing and sad depiction of Los Angeles. And that’s intentional. Harper wants to strip his settings to the most authentic version of themselves. In Los Angeles, he doesn’t want you to see the tourism-soaked postcard version. He wants you to see the depravity of greed, the destruction of poverty. He wants you to feel every punch and kick, whether metaphorical or physical. And he does an amazing job.
I’m about half-way through, so we’ll see how it turns out.
The Likeness by Tana French
This is now the third book I’ve read/am reading from Tana French. She’s a new favorite for me. I’m listening to this one on audiobook when I workout or am commuting. The Likeness is the second book in the Dublin Murder Squad series.
When you hear series, you probably think it follows a single detective (or partners) across multiple books, but French does things differently. She switches the point of view to a character that has appeared in the series but was not the protagonist in prior books. This being the second book, French follows Cassie Maddux, the former partner of the first book’s protagonist.
This is the first Tana French book I’m listening to, and I appreciate the Irish accent of the narrator. It makes the book feel more authentic and immersive. This is a long one—21 hours in total. So I’ll be listening for a while.
All The Colors Of The Dark by Chris Whitaker
Whitaker’s debut novel, We Begin At The End was amazing. I loved it. I’ve mentioned Whitaker before because he’s a Brit who writes about American small towns better than most Americans. All The Colors Of The Dark is his second novel and landed on many top lists.
This one is a paperback copy sitting on my nightstand. It’ll take me longer to read it because it’s my night reading only at the moment.
What Are You Reading?
I like reading multiple books at once and in different formats. Am I alone in this? Let me know what you’re reading right now and how you prefer to read.
I'm reading Don Winslow's City on Fire. I'm a huge fan of his writing style. And after reading that Dennis Lehane inspired you to write crime fiction, I opened up my Kindle Unlimited app and downloaded his latest novel, Small Mercies. I'm ashamed to say I've never read any of his fiction.
I think the better you know your characters, the easier the writing will come. I write a series but if I were starting all over with a new series or a standalone novel, I'd probably write a few stories about them and maybe not even plan it out and feel them out. I suppose we all have our own process. Cool post.