YAASHA MORIAH
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog
  • For Readers
  • Subscribe
  • Patreon
  • Contact

YAASHA MORIAH

EXPLORE FANTASTIC WORLDS
Welcome to the pages of my Traveler's Journal!

The Six Month Strategy for Novel Writing

9/1/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Six months may seem like a long time, but it is a golden period of opportunity for the serious writer. Pearls are not made in a day; rather, they become more valuable as time adds layer after layer of luster to their core of sand. In the same way, books are not written or edited in a day, but are brought to life through patience.

This goes against the grain of much advice in the writing world today.

“The Ten-Day Novel: Secrets to Speed-Writing.”

“How to Write and Self-Publish a Book in Thirty Days.”

“Get Published Now!”

Yes, I made those titles up, but you get my point. The writing world assumes that faster is better.

I believe the opposite. Fast can be good, but it can also lack quality. Sure, you can’t get a writing career off the ground without a proactive mindset. But you also don’t get a writing career off the ground by being in a hurry to produce.

That’s where the six-month strategy comes in.

If you have an idea for a story, let the idea sit for six months. 

Not every idea is worthy of a novel, and you’ve probably had dozens of ideas whose charm faded over time. However, the idea that survives a six-month wait is worth putting on paper. It means that the idea is more than just a quirk of excitement; it has lasting appeal.

During those six months, you probably mulled over it a great deal, which gives you the advantage of having worked out a lot of potential kinks in the plotline before you have even begun. This saves enormous amounts of time and effort.

Give yourself six months to write a novel.

You might write it in much less than six months, but in my experience, patience better serves the complexity of the novel.

Nobody looks at their NaNoWriMo book on December 1st and thinks, “It’s brilliant! I could ship it off to a publisher today!” Of course, for some people, the thirty-day deadline is the kick in the pants that they need, but for most of us, jobs, family, and other commitments crowd into our writing time.

I personally believe that rich writing is the product of a rich life. Allow yourself to live while you write. The six-month pacing is much more sustainable, your story has an opportunity to develop naturally, and your relationship with writing remains amiable.

Let the book sit for six months before you edit it.

Don’t look at it. Don’t even think about it. Why? Because you need to forget your book enough to see it through a reader’s eyes.

During your review, highlight the portions that you plan to edit, but do no actual revision. After completing your review, then begin the editing work. You must keep the roles of reader and editor separate in order to preserve the integrity of each.

When I began to consistently employ the six-month strategy, the editing process was much quicker and more effective. If you discard my advice on the first two stages of the six-month strategy, don’t discard it on this one. You won’t regret it.

The Challenge

Picture
I realize that this means a single novel will take a year and a half to complete. That’s okay. Stop competing against everyone else and their schedules. Compete with yourself. Challenge yourself to write, not a quicker book, but a better book.

If you like something I wrote here, you are free to share/quote it with credit and a link back to the original page on my website.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Become a Patron!

    Yaasha Moriah

    I write YA/adult fantasy & sci-fi that explores fantastic and interconnected worlds, with stories that burn through the darkest realities with hope and redemption.
    ​Learn more here!

    Categories

    All
    Artwork
    Author Interview
    Authors & Stories Worth Reading
    Azinae
    Beyond The Story
    Book Lover
    Book Review
    Coffee With Yaasha
    Cover Reveal
    #CreativeGremlin
    Dr. Fiction
    Excerpt
    Fantasy
    Firewing Chronicles
    For The Love Of Books
    Giveaway
    Humor
    Inktober
    Interactive Story
    Journaling
    Life Told Through Fantasy
    NaNoWriMo
    News
    Plan With Me
    Quiz
    Reader Interactive Story
    Reflections & Opinions
    Sale
    Science Fiction
    Short Story
    Spotlight
    Steampunk
    Stories From My Life
    Story Research
    #TellitFantasyStyle
    The Story Behind The Story
    Travel
    #TruthInFiction
    Video
    Writing Well

    Archives

    March 2021
    January 2021
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

email me
 Copyright © 2021 Yaasha Moriah
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog
  • For Readers
  • Subscribe
  • Patreon
  • Contact