Jim,
I have just started up writing again (aside from screenwriting), and was very pleased to find your thread. I am trying to read as many of the posts I can, and find them extremely helpful. I am currently on page 8.
Go ahead laugh, I know I have lots to catch up on.
I have many questions, which I'm sure will be answered as I mosey my way through the posts, but I'm curious about one thing.
(Forgive me if I'm rehashing an old subject)
In screenwriting there is a specific structure one must follow, a blueprint of sorts to keep us on track. We know exactly where to put every single piece of the puzzle-of course it's up to our highly creative minds to make all the pieces fit, but you get the idea.
Of course screenwriting and writing a novel are at seperate ends of the road.
For one a novel can be as long as you want it to be and in a screenplay you have between 90 and 120 pages to tell your story and that's it.
So, my question is....(I'm going to try to word this so I don't make myself out to be a complete amateur-although, I may fail)
When you write a novel, is there a structure one should have in mind? Do you say "okay, I'm not going to exceed x amount of pages, or x amount of chapters, and in so and so chapter that's going to be my middle point, and in this chapter I'm going to have a major plot point, or in this chapter I'm going to reveal this."
Or do you just get to it, and worry about everything else later?
Steph