My first novel... week 3

Didn't really stand much chance of progress this week, with the allotment association newsletter to complete, plus two allotment meetings I had to write action points up for. So all things considered I'm satisfied with the 700 words I've added since last week. Now up to almost 4,500.

Up until early yesterday morning this week's word count was exactly zero. But the thought of having to report such a pitiful result in the blog today spurred me on to get something down. So the 700 words got squeezed down in a 90 minutes session yesterday and another 20 minutes this morning. Now if I could do an hour a day 5 days a week that would be well on the way to 2,500 words a week. At that rate the whole thing would still take me about 8 months to the first draft. Whichever way I look at it, its going to take me a year.

Developed the first real action of the novel in Chapter 3, which took quite a bit of analysis and working out. Also had some ideas about the ending to make it more puzzling. Still got quite a bit more to work out... should it be just a straight linear tale, or should I start with what is effectively the last scenes and break those up with flashbacks to explain?

Of course I've got loads of guidance to hand...

• Creative Writing For Dummies
  
• Journalism For Beginners
  
• Writers' & Artists' Yearbook
  
• Teach Yourself Creative Writing
  
• Teach Yourself Writing A Novel
  

Have I consulted any of them since starting my novel... certainly not! I'm afraid to do so in case it gets me bogged down in the detail of editing. Yes, each time I start a writing session I read what was written in the previous session and smooth it out where required. But I really don't want to slow the flow of getting out what's in my head.

It snowed last night and there's a good couple of inches or more on the ground. With temperatures forecast at freezing for the next few days we're more likely to be stuck indoors, but more chance of writing time. Still not quite finished the allotment newsletter but nearly there. Hopefully I'll make the most progress to date in the next week.