How I Finally Completed My Novel

I have spent more hours than I could count on Microsoft Word, Google Docs, even Notepad, writing ideas for stories and even starting on some novels. But all these many different ideas always had one thing in common; they were never complete. I would get about one hundred pages in, and I would lose all passion for the project, or I would think of something else that would throw my attention away from it. It was a constant struggle of starting and not finishing projects, and by the time I would decide to try and work on an incomplete story, I would have completely forgotten my plans for it.

Planning is important. But not for me.

When I would get serious about something I'm writing, I would suddenly fall into the thinking of "well I need a plan... Every writer maps out their story, so I need to as well". And while that is unarguably the better way of writing, and keeping organised, it tends to make me lose all interest in what I'm writing. For me, writing is translating a movie that's playing in my head onto paper, or, screen. Things happen in my worlds as I'm writing it. I may spend time thinking about directions I want to take a story, but ultimately it's up to how it plays out in my head during the writing time. It is like a wave; I cannot fight it, I just got to ride it. I may be able to slightly nudge the wave in a direction, but I am at its complete mercy.

When working on Three Bleeding Moons I decided to just let myself relax and write what came to me, no writing down plans or thinking too hard about it. I just let that movie play and tried to write what I saw the best I could. I spent my nights thinking of all possible directions it could go, and where I would like things to go. I became fixated, and I think my source of inspiration helps.

Inspiration is everything.

The idea for the novel came to me when I was sat on the sofa watching my cat, Apollo, climbing his cat tree to look out the window. He would stare out of it for a while, become extremely interested and make those cute ekking noises, and then randomly jump off and run flat out to another part of the flat. He would then forget that I was sat in the living room and begin crying pitifully, thinking he was alone. This cat is an endless source of amusement, and also mystery. What goes on inside that brain of his? Does he even have thoughts?

While my story isn't focussed on the inner workings of a crazy cat, I know I wanted a cat in it. I had previously been thinking about writing a book where a girl is a dragon shape-shifter but doesn't know it, and then I did the mistake of trying to plan such a story and lost interest in it. When I thought of a cat shape-shifter, that previous itch I got for writing intensified, and so I immediately ran over to my computer and started writing the first few chapters.

I think having a great source of inspiration is invaluable when trying to write a 300+ page novel. I only needed to look across the room to see Apollo doing something crazy to get a new wave of inspiration.

Hold on to your ideas.

The biggest challenge in not having a written down plan is to remember the many different plans I would have to steer the story in. With my brain, becoming fixated on something means I am literally thinking about it nonstop. Sometimes I get too ahead of myself and think about what could go into a second book, or a novella. But it is important to focus on what you are currently working on, as exciting as future projects are.

For some people, discussing what you're writing with other people would be a very good way of keeping hold of your ideas and plots. However I always get a sense of secrecy about what I'm writing and struggle to talk to anyone about it. Perhaps it is my introverted nature, or maybe I don't believe in my own ideas enough to share them. However, I do see the advantages of being able to discuss what you're writing with a peer, even if it's not something I would do myself.