Tag: The Girl Who Played With Fire
I Just Don’t Know, Folks
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
The moment I think I have a stable first little bit of this third draft of the novel, everything collapses. So, I dunno. I guess I have a stable first chapter? Maybe? It’s possible? I really like what I’ve come up with, regardless.
Yes, President of Hollywood, I’m working as fast as I can.
I’ve reworked the first scene YET AGAIN, this time so it has more tension in it and is more focused. But the changes I’ve made in the story have now forced me to rewrite everything that comes after it. This. Happens. All. The. Time. I think that’s a sign that my storytelling ability is getting a lot — A LOT — better.
I hope.
Anyway, I continue to fall apart on a physical basis. I have some real concerns about the state of my teeth. I don’t know what I’m going to do about that in the near to middle term. I have a fear things are going to get really, really bumpy, only to sort themselves out in a way I can live with.
It’s just going to suck in the near term. Ugh!
I hope I can sprint between now and Christmas when my next de facto deadline is. Christmas is when some relatives will return who I will feel compelled to show at least the first scene to. They were quite pleased with the last version I showed them, then I asked ChatGPT about what I had written and it said, in effect, “This sucks — no tension.”
So I went back to the drawing board and gave the first scene more focus and more tension. I’ve learned a lot of my problems come from simply having too fucking much going on in a scene. Just by cutting long, meandering scenes into shorter, more focused scenes, I fix a lot of problems.
I have also realized I have to hurry up. I can’t keep screwing around. I have a limited amount of time — I’m NOT going to live forever. I’m already in my 50s and not only may AI make all my hard work moot, the prospect of a significant political crisis in the United States starting in late 2024, early 2025, is a “not great, Bob” type situation.
Things Fall Apart: I Have To Hurry
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I fear there is going to come a moment in the very near future where the context of me writing a novel will change dramatically. I have written and developed this novel in a rather idyllic situation but all good things must come to an end. If nothing else, this knowledge encourages me to work as hard as possible to finish the third draft of this novel ASAP.
The thing about these fears is it could be that things will suck for a while…then turn out alright. Even if my teeth problems worse and I lose a few because I’m poor and can’t afford a root canal….then maybe I’ll sell this novel and have enough funds to fix that particular situation?
A guy can dream.
Anyway, I’m also old. And at the same age Stieg Larsson was when he dropped dead (50.) But he had sold three novels at that point. I, on the other hand, don’t even have a third draft finished.
The meaning of (my) life.
But this third draft will be the last structural draft. Any drafts beyond this will be just for editing. Though if I somehow magically find the funds to show this third draft to a manuscript consultant…I suppose I might have even MORE structural changes to implement.
Yet I know — KNOW — that this is a great story. The story is probably going to be closer to The Girl On The Train’s ~140,000 word count that the ~100,000 word sweetspot for a first novel. But, lulz, I’m hoping all the “spicy” scenes in the first act will get people interested enough to finish the fucking thing.
Now, To Edit The First Three Chapters Of The Third Draft
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I continue to get positive feedback from people who have read the first scene of the novel.
And after way too much tinkering on my part, I’ve finally managed to cobble together a stable first three chapters. Now, I have to go through an edit what I’ve written so it’s not embarrassingly bad. What I usually do at this point is go see my dad in the nursing home and read over what I’ve written.
This is both good and bad. It’s good because I force myself to clear up problems sooner rather than later. It’s bad because inevitably I find myself in a situation where I want to change everything. Hopefully this won’t happen again this time. Hopefully I can edit these first three chapters without wanting to totally rewrite everything and change the order of everything as well.
But, we’ll see.
Editing my copy before moving forward in the novel has really helped make the overall text much, much better. But it also sometimes causes me to feel rather burnt out. I feel like I’m spinning my wheels.
Hopefully it won’t happen this time. Things have — finally — stabilized to the point that I think I should be able to sprint pretty quick through the rest of the novel. And, yet, so much could go wrong. My teeth continue to give me problems. (This sucks so bad.) And there a number of known unknowns that could slow me down a great deal if they don’t break my way.
I’m very grateful for the rather idyllic writing situation I’ve been in the last few years. If things change, then, well, that was inevitable. But I’ve progressed far enough in the process of writing this novel that I will press forward, even if the context is different.
My Characterizations Are Getting Much Better
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
One thing I’m leaning into is how people can change over the course of 25 years. This is one of those things where even though it’s felt like I’ve been spinning my wheels for months, I actually am slowly stumbling across some new, important elements to the story.
Among these improvements is significantly better characterizations. I have two secondary POV characters that have gone from just meh “vibes” into really unique people with sharp edges that make them really, really interesting. I have long written on character specifically with Jessica Chastain in my mind as I write the character.
I really liked her in Zero Dark Thirty and, as such, in the last two novels in this six novel project I have a hardass FBI agent who drives my hero nuts. But now that I’ve been really rooting around in the events that lead to those last two novels — which are meant to be an allegory for how fucked up modern America is — I realize that there is a lot of interesting avenues I can go.
As such, we meet this future FBI agent as a 90s Riot Grrrl. This makes her transformation 25 years later even greater. So she goes from being depicted in the novel like this:
To this:
I think that’s pretty cool! So, over the course of six novels — and 25 years — we gradually see this character morph from a passionate Riot Grrrl into a very conventional, serious FBI agent who drives the Hero of the last two novels crazy with what an asshole she is to him.
That, at least, is the vision.
I Have Got To Hurry Up
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
It definitely seems as though disaster could strike at any moment when it comes to this novel. Something might happen that either changes the context of the novel a great deal relative to my personal life or even makes the whole experience a lot more difficult to do.
I have some issues with my teeth that are really causing me growing alarm. I’m afraid there will come a point very, very soon when I’m in so much pain that it is difficult for me to get *any* writing done. That, combined with how I’m not going to live forever, is forcing me to push myself to write faster and better.
And all of this is happening in the context of not just the fucking Fourth Turning zooming towards us starting in late 2024, early 2025, but the very real possibility that all human art will be replaced by some sort of AGI in the near, near future.
All of this is a “Not great, Bob,” situation for someone like me who just wants to write a break out first novel that will be enjoyed by millions. (Wink.)
I Love Developing & Writing Female Characters, But The Process Can Be a Pain In The Ass As A Male Author
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
People love, love, love to pick on male authors for all being a bunch of clueless hornytoads when it comes to the female characters that they write. I’m so self-conscious of this issue that I over think everything to do with my female characters.
My heroine looks like Corrie Yee.
Then, of course, I turn around and turn my heroine into a part-time sex worker (stripper.) And given that I often write from a female POV, I find myself in a situation where I just can’t avoid talking about T&A, even though that’s the very thing that the fucking “woke cancel culture mob” things I have no right to describe at all as a CIS white middle age male.
But I dunno. It’s typical of my lot in life that I would inevitable gravitate straight towards the most problematic situation possible. And given that I’m a smelly CIS white middle age male, for some members of the “woke cancel culture mob” there just isn’t anything I can write that they would validate. So, fuck it, why not just endure the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and see what happens.
I like to THINK that I can write about women as a male author that won’t be embarrassing or cause women in the audience to want to throw the book across the room. But the whole sex worker element of the novel definitely makes it a provocative novel in the context of how sexless the “woke cancel culture mob” tends to be.
I’m happen with what I’ve come up with. I know people will really enjoy this novel once I finish it. The question is, of course, will the liberal white women who are often literary agents be cool with not just the contents of this novel but the fact that it was written by a smelly CIS white middle aged male.
Oh Boy. I Hope Having A Lot of Organic ‘Spicy Scenes’ in The First Act Of This Novel Makes It A Page Turner
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I measure the development of this novel not in words but in scenes, with each scene being about 1,000 words. So, I’m aghast that my first act has ballooned to 60 scenes. If you assume 60 + 50 (25 + 25) + ~30….oh boy. If I assume 60 scenes for the first act, then about 50 scenes for the second act and maybe 30 scenes for the third act…I got a problem on my hands.
“I can’t wait forever!” — President of Hollywood
I have a real problem on my hand. That would be ~140,000 words. And, yet, maybe not. A lot will depend on how long each scene is and I wildly miscalculated that issue with the second draft. I came in at 80,000 words after allotting myself 100,000 words. The issue was that all many of third act scenes were really, really short.
There are three ways to solve this issue.
One is to just accept that I’m going to blow past the sweetspot of ~100,000 words and take comfort in the fact that The Girl On The Train is about 140,000 words. Another is to hope that I’ve totally misjudged things again and the story will somehow magically fit into the around 100,000 word range. And, last of all, is the most drastic — cut the thing into two.
I think my best bet at the moment is it just finish the novel then take an assessment. If I fall within around 140,000 words, then I think I’ll just fight for that vision and try to pick a novel of that length.
Or I might write another — maybe scifi — novel that DOES fit into the ~100,000 sweetspot and then once I sell that use the success of that novel to sell my first, longer novel.
The point is to 1) finish the novel 2) tell a good story.
Everything else can be taken care of later.
The Stripper With The Tattoo (Ugh)
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Just as I got finished writing a post about how I was paring back some of the more unique elements of my heroine’s appearance, I completely reversed myself. This happens all the time and it’s part of my creative process. I get really insecure about something, change my mind, then change it back when I grow more comfortable about whatever it was that was bothering me.
Anyway. For the time being, I know what my heroine looks like — Nicole Scherzinger in her early 30s. It’s not a perfect one to one, but, in general, that’s the general image I have in my mind as I write. And I’ve sprinkled in some magic fairy dust to make flesh out that general phenotype.
The reason why my heroine has a tattoo is specifically to tell the reader that a specific thing is REALLY important to her. Because it helps with plot and character, I’ve decided to put it back in, even though there was a moment there when I thought I should take it out.
Yes, President of Hollywood — time for me to put up or shut up.
But I’m really pleased with my heroine. I think she’s really engaging and interesting and people will want to spend some time with her — at least long enough to finish the damn novel.
I have very, very low expectations for this novel — no matter how good it is — because, lulz, I’m a bonkers middle age CIS white male living in the middle of no where who has never gotten anything published before.
Maybe it won’t be this novel, but my NEXT novel that I get published. But finishing this novel and it not suck will be the greatest accomplishment of my life to date.
If nothing else, my heroine is very unique and interesting. She’s definitely her own thing. And yet, she’s obviously influence by a combination of Lisbeth Salander, Fleabag, Mare of Easttown and Jlo in Hustlers. You know, the good stuff.
Now to finish the novel and bring her into the hearts and minds of (millions?) of people.
My Heroine Continues To Be Refined
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Things are going really fast with this novel. But there’s one thing I find myself suddenly pondering in an unexpected way — what my heroine looks like. I had all this stuff about her thought out then something hit me. And that is the “hat on a hat” problem.
My heroine looks like a younger Nicole Scherzinger in my mind.
I know how this happened — the moment I put her in a position where she might be seen stripping “to relax” everything else needed to be rethought. As such, I’m pretty sure I’m going to pare back some elements of her appearance. She is already going to be “the girl who strips” and it would be a little too much for her to have a SECOND weird thing about her in the guise of some sort of tattoo that would serve as a mental marker in people’s minds.
I don’t like the idea that reviewers would simply say I was turning Lisbeth Salander into a stripper. Ugh.
So, I think any tattoos that my heroine has will be far more discrete than I originally imagined.
But I will note that I have a tendency to say one thing then do another when it comes to this novel. And, yet, I am starting to understand a number of elements of this novel a lot better. I’ve really fleshed out a number of secondary characters that before were rather meh.
I’m leaning into the idea that, lulz, a lot can change about a person over the course of 25 years, so it’s ok if I introduce a character one way and then they endup totally different at the end of the six novel project.
Anyway, because of personal and emotional turmoil caused by Thanksgiving, I fear I won’t get nearly as much work done on this novel as I’d like. Ugh. It’s so frustrating that I have to pause the novel while I wait for a private storm to pass.
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