Dismal.
Or, maybe not.
As the 3.5 are aware, I’ve whined about this subject a bit.
My problem? I keep coming up with ideas that are so grand, so sweeping, so involved – so many places, characters, moving parts, things going on.
As a newbie, a book like that feels like biting off more than I can chew.
I’ve tried other ideas. Ideas that seemed easier, simpler, more down-to-earth.
Inevitably, I end up turning those seemingly simple ideas into epics as well.
So here’s my thought – why fight it?
I’m thinking maybe I’ll embrace my favorite of my many started and stopped novels and work on it in chunks.
In other words, rather than try to push out a thousand page novel (given all that’s going on, I fail to see how it could take less than a thousand pages) – and just write the first part and try to get it published.
Or just bypass traditional publishing and go the self-publishing route.
If people like the first part, I keep telling the story with a second, third, fourth etc installment. I don’t know how many pages but given what’s in my mind, it will be a lot if the installments keep coming.
Kind of a grandiose idea. In total, it’d take years. But obviously there’s have to be some interest in the first or second installments to keep going. If there is interest, I’m sure that’d light a fire under my butt to work harder.
Ultimately, I’m proposing a sweeping epic tale told in several installments/books and when all the books are finished they all link up in one overriding story arc.
Don’t mind me, I’m just thinking out loud.
What say you, 3.5?
Bookshelf Battle 
Instalments should be good but the trick is trying to keep the reader interested with suitable cliffhangers while you make some coin I guess. Not easy. Or you could go a la 50 shades and just peddle smut. 😄
I could just throw in the Yeti at the end of every chapter.
Fair one. Sounds a bit like it could be a Scooby Doo novel…! 😄
It’s actually fairly serious and gut wrenching, which is odd, since this site is mostly about Yetis, Aliens, and general stupidity.
Will the yeti be wrenching guts from someone at the end of each instalment?
The Yeti is more bark than bite. He talks a great game but then all he does is sit on your couch and eat all your Funions.
Lord of the rings + the Silmarillion were supposed to be a single book. Just write. Work out how to break it up, or if you should bother, when you’ve got it done.
I picture JRR Tolkien in his professor office smoking a pipe and writing all day. Modern life has too many distractions.
For sure, just write, and write, and then write some more. As you progress, you will have a better idea if you should do them in installments or as a novel, or novel series.
That sounds good. I’ve taken a few different tries at it and so far I can’t imagine a version where I get it all in that isn’t over a 1000 pages. And Steven King could easily sell a 1000 page novel but I don’t know if many will go for one that long by BQB.
I mean, they should, ‘cuz I’m awesome, but I’ve yet to convince the world.
When I am writing something that is going to be quite expansive and daunting I find it easiest to write each chapter like it was a mini story ie planning it’s beginning, middle and end. I find this helps me break it into more manigble chucks when I’m just thinking about one chapter.
Just write one chapter, not thinking too hard about the rest of it, like that chapter and it’s events are your whole story.
Although, it’s important to check for continuity once you’ve finished it! That’s what helps me anyway!
Times like these I wish I had an easier interest – like stamp collecting or model airplane building.
BQB, S Scriven has an excellent point. it is my current strategy. When I get to the end, I will tell you if it worked (grin).
I published the first installment of an epic fantasy last December. Here’s the thing: it was nearly a decade after first writing the first draft. Originally I was in over my head. The work wasn’t ready and I knew it. After several rewrites I put it down. Worked on some smaller works and published them. Learned about the business (still learning) and how it works. Finally I returned to my original manuscript and finished it after several more edit/rewrites.
The point is: keep writing. The only way that first manuscript was finished was because I promised myself I’d finally write something from start to finish. And I did. After that I had the discipline to complete other works. This year I’ll publish four titles if things go as planned. One is a short story, but the other three are full-length novels. It’s all about developing the discipline and determination to keep going no matter what. You’re on your way.
Keep writing.
Thanks Bard. Appreciate your words of encouragement. I checked you out on Amazon, read briefly the first couple pages of one of your novels, the one with the Mirrored Eyes character – it was good! It got me interested, that’s a sign of a good book.
10 years – do you find your writing gets better with age? When I was younger I saw the world through rose colored glasses and my writing reflected that, which isn’t that accurate a depiction of the world. After a decade of the school of hard knocks, my writing is better and more reflective of the world we live in.
The irony is I write better today, but alas 10 years ago was the time when I had the energy to stay up 2 days straight, load myself up on Red Bull, and write like crazy.
Oh well. Such is life.
My writing has definitely gotten better with age. It’s the old adage: the more you do something, the better you get. My first writing was more influenced by my favorite writers, but after some hard work I was able to find my own ‘voice’ and write in a style unique to me.
The main thing is to stick to your projects. I used to start something, get stuck, start something else, get stuck… it’s counterproductive. Once I learned how to get over the hump and stay on a single project until it was finished was when my writing improved in leaps and bounds.