Scratch that.
I wrote a book.
I have a new found respect for writers. Not that I don't respect them before, in fact I do. Specially those authors who can write beautifully constructed sentences, but my respect for them is magnified 1000x.
Why? Let me count the ways.
1. I realized that once you're in your element to write you don't even notice the time.
While I was writing my pathetic first novel I would always go to bed between 2-3 AM. I start at 9:30PM or 10:00, depending on when my babies conked out to bed. I would imagine it's worst with writers. Once the idea flows in your head, there is no stopping it. I have to force myself to stop because I have a day job, but if left to my own device and I don't have responsibilities, I will be in front of my computer from 8am until December 22, typing my thoughts away.
2. The research you have to do.
Thank goodness for google. I had to research what flowers are available at winter time or what food a certain country has, when does the sun rises or sets in Antarctica. how does it feel like to be a male gynecologist or what day of the week is January 12, 2007, and some other stuff that I won't list down here. Let's just say if my computer had to be subpoena by the authorities, I might get in trouble when they see my search history. This is all because I don't want a plot hole.
This is specifically true for historical fiction writers like Diana Gabaldon of the Outlander. The research they had to do!
3. The attention to details.
I need to learn how to be more observant. As in how long is the shadow at 4pm compared to 7am. How do you describe the sun on somebody's face. Or what does hair flowing in the wind really looks like?
Like I can't just say "her hair is bouncing in the wind like a bunch of squiggly worms". I have to find a softer, delicate way of describing the wiggling hair. Like, "she lifted her cheeks up and the sun soak up on her face while her hair drifted like golden feathers in the wind".
Get my drift?
That took an hour to construct though because I had to find words that flow smoothly next to each other. I'm sure writers can do that with just a snap of the finger. One favorite author of mine where I can actually taste the ray of the sun or the wind on someone's skin is L.M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables.
4. Grammar.
I am notorious for bad grammar. My instagram is my witness.
And facebook.
And twitter.
And this blog.
So I praise those who knows how to use their at, to, with, in, on, into, unto, across, beside, in front, for, from
are you still there?
5. Conflict and Ending
The first novel I just finished is not the original first novel I was planning to write. What I wanted to write first has something to do with time travelling. A bit of science fiction and paranormal. The problem with that one is I don't know how to create a conflict and I don't know how to end it.
When I decided with this novel I actually wrote, which by the way is romance novel (so no, I am not going to tell you where it is and what the title is), I can see the conflict and the ending in my mind even before I started.
6. You have to be patient.
I had "read-re-read-proof read-edit-repeat" my novel for the nth time. And each time I would find a flaw.
Like do you sometimes type faster than your brain that you realized you have skipped a word in your sentence?
And mine is just 50,040 words. So imagine doing this for something twice as big. Well, I guess if you're a known writer you can hire someone to proof read and edit. Still, it's a lot of work. No wonder it takes so much time to publish a book after the author is done writing it.
7. Catchy first and last paragraph.
I think my last paragraph is good but my first paragraph, agh! I'm still thinking of how to improve it.
I have read lots of books that have very good first paragraphs. The one I can remember right now is the Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Very catchy.
For the ending, it has to be from One hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
8. You need to end a chapter with a hook.
Hooks are like a cliff hanger. Something to entice the reader to read the next chapter.
For me it’s hard because sometimes I don’t even know how to break my stories let alone think of a hook.
Sometimes I end up re-distributing a handful of chapters just to make it work.
9. The characters.
I need to make sure my characters are interesting. That I have described their personality very well.
The only author whom I think can do this very well is Ayn Rand. When the character is psychotic, it's like you're actually there talking to this psychotic.
I have yet to learn how to make them interesting.
10. Dialogue.
It's hard to think of witty dialogues. So I admire those authors like David Sedaris or Erma Bombeck who can make me really laugh out loud.
I also admire those authors like, Charlotte Bronte and Ayn Rand who can make me ugly cry with beautifully written monologue or dialogue.
11. Originality
There's nothing more fascinating than reading a book and then say "oh wow! I wish I have thought of that". I remember thinking this when I learned about the "Room of Requirement", from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter.
12. It teaches.
I love authors who teach me new stuff by inserting it in their story line. Not the kind that will get my head spinning like how Penumbra's 24-hour Library did (and to think I am in the software engineering line of work and it still made my head spin), I think it's called info-dump. I like the kind of info that’s subtle that there’s story surrounding it and not just throwing it in the book to make it sound intelligent. My favorite is B. Obama's "A promised Land". That book taught me a lot.
There you go.
I am not claiming I am an expert because I'm very very far from it. Like from 'i suck' to ' i suck so much', I'm at 'i suck so very very much'.
I just want to share what I had to go through when I did my first attempt and how I am grateful for the authors of my favorite books who had entertained me all these years.
