Well, my WIP has finally hit the 10k word mark and it's only about a third of the way through. Yeah, I know I need more if I'm going to call it a novel but right now, what I've got is mostly dialogue. I have to fill in a lot of description and action scenes. Good thing it's only the first draft. lol Cause I'm still world-building in a sense as well as brain dumping.
First Milestone
- Thread starter dirtsider
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I prefer to write less description. Action, yes, but I only describe what is absolutely essential. I let the reader create the scenes and the characters as much as possible.
But well done in reaching another milestone.
I get that...where I will write pages of dialogue when I'm on a tear. What I do when I go back is consider all the senses. This helps me to feed in what is going on outside the characters' words. Dialogue dumping is a great way to get to know your characters. You can always trim it down later, while you're building up everything else.
Congratulations on hitting 10K! Now keep going. 
I also tend to carry the story through dialogue in my first draft. As long as you're moving the story forward, it's all good. You can adjust the scenery & description in revision.
I also tend to carry the story through dialogue in my first draft. As long as you're moving the story forward, it's all good. You can adjust the scenery & description in revision.
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Mazel tov on that first milestone.
Now, go sit down! Crank out that second and then the third.
Easier said than done? You bet’cha!
But, you can do it. Of course, you can!
Now, go sit down! Crank out that second and then the third.
Easier said than done? You bet’cha!
But, you can do it. Of course, you can!
Great milestone reached. (doesn't it feel good?) Now don't rest on your laurels! Get going and finish that novel!
This is only your rough draft. It's natural to write more dialogue and story as oppossed to description. Much of my rough drafts are more of outlines than anything else. I'll usually play around with voice and character then work in tighter and more specific narration later.
I didn't get a chance to work on increasing my word count yesterday. But I did get some work done on it. Yesterday was my writing group and we went over hammering out some plot points and brainstorming on it. Which is why I reallllllyyyyy like this writing group. It's not just read and polish and get pats on the back. It focuses on the nitty-gritty details of writing. This is the group for starting writers. The other group I go to is more a buff-n-polish group.
But anyway, I did hit my first milestone and I'm only partially through the plot that I'm aiming for. Yay. And I have a better idea of what I'm aiming for plot-wise as of last night. And I found a nice little tea shop to go to when I need to get out of the house and do some research to get/flesh out more ideas.
But anyway, I did hit my first milestone and I'm only partially through the plot that I'm aiming for. Yay. And I have a better idea of what I'm aiming for plot-wise as of last night. And I found a nice little tea shop to go to when I need to get out of the house and do some research to get/flesh out more ideas.
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CONGRATS, dirtsider! The tea shop sounds like good incentive to keep your work going. Go for it!
Definitely on a roll. I did get some more work done, not much but some. I think I've started to figure out my writing style. I tend to be able to get out little sections of scenes done each time I sit down to write, rather than big chunks of things. But that's better than nothing at all. And it has been years since I actually sat down and written on a regular basis.
I hate it when you make me agree with you. I do this too - first drafts are all about speed, getting the story out of my head and onto the screen or paper. Then I ask myself what the characters would be hearing, tasting, smelling and so on. Fill in the sensory details.
And back to the OP - many congrats. 10k is a milestone indeed.
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Thanks for the encouragement. Last night I was on a larger roll than usual and got a couple pages done. Like I said, it's been a while since I had to sit down and write for a 20+ page for a class. And this scene headed off in a totally different direction than I expected. One of my MC's was supposed to be the mundane/voice of the audience character who asks all the obvious questions. But she totally surprised me when she asked the other MC, a mage, when he was going to teach her. It did surprise me earlier when she started showing some abilities but this scene stumped me.