There are three major points when a writer knows he/she has arrived. The first is the completion of a draft. Whether by computer or by hand, when a draft is completed a feeling of 'well done' comes over you. The second is when a publisher accepts your work. Not only have you finished a work, someone else things it is good enough to sell. There is little that can describe that course of energy flowing through you. And the third is seeing the published, finalized version in your hands. I have waited almost 4 years for this moment. My book order for selling my book on hand arrived today and I've got to say. It still feels surreal to know that my work is now available to the public. It's one thing to say it is out. It is something else to have it in your hands.

God guided me in every step in the writing of this novel and I am really looking forward to seeing how he will use it as it gets into people's hands. My first book signing is tentatively set for Feb 20 with my church. I'd love it to be sooner, but there's other stuff going on in a busy month with them. I'm so excited about this and can't wait to see what God does with it. I will be proposing this to several Christian bookstores and even to World Magazine for a review. Good times and such an awesome start to my final semester before graduation.

I'm working on three different books right now. But 'Elwen' is still the main one. But then I looked back at the previous book, 'The Black Galloper' and realize how much needs to be changed. Mostly logic flaws, out-of-character moments, stuff that should have been pulled together more, three people with almost identical names, things that should have been explained, characters that should have been worked out better, stuff like that--then again, I was only 12 when I began it. That's why I'm planning to go back and do a second edition. Also, now that I have the prequel I can cut out most of the 24 or so notes explaining stuff that happened before the story began
I started a new story 'Like a Firebird', which is a Chosen One story, but not of the usual sort. I meant to play around with the idea, put a new twist on it.
There's also 'Thiswold Thyster, or the Golden Enemy', which I mean to be a sort of fantasy-mystery type thing. So far what I have is an prologue that features the titular character (the villain) thinking about how much he wants revenge on somebody. I thought it was pretty creepy.
Then I also want to do a short story for a campus writing contest, which has to feature the library. And there's a ballad called 'The King and the Shepherdess' floating around in my head, but I haven't got anything written on it yet.

I will say, working on three different novels at once is something I would have a hard time doing. So kudos for that. I tend to hyper-focus on my tasks and when I get going on something, I tend to neglect everything else until I am at a good stopping point. This is a big challenge for me when it comes to homework and sequel writing. But I'm making progress.

Thank you FoodForThought for the awesome advice! That makes me feel a lot better about my characters. I actually made a lot of progress with character development over the weekend...but for on that in a minute.

It is so much fun to draw what you picture in your head. Actually I tend to draw more of my book then actual writing

Yeah, it's that way with me too. I doodle everywhere, so my characters show up all over my notebooks, homework, basically any piece of paper in front of me.

Okay. Well, this weekend I was thinking a lot about a particular scene in my book. I really liked this scene, but I wasn't sure what purpose it served other than just making the story more interesting. So I opened up a blank document and just started typing my thoughts about the scene - what was wrong with it, what I wanted it to accomplish, what I might do to improve it - and suddenly the perfect idea just came to me! I discovered a new motive that makes my character's actions seem much more realistic and in character, making that scene way more significant than it was before. I couldn't believe I didn't think of it before!

So if you're ever stuck with a scene, give that method a try and perhaps your problem might resolve itself like mine did.

So true Silver! I've had that happen several times!
I love it when I'm writing and everything is kind of dead, and suddenly, bing! You get an idea and erase or scratch everything you wrote and start again with a fresh start! My sisters, who read through my drafts as I'm writing them can get so annoyed with me sometimes when I completely change everything in my chapter 5-6 times, ha!
I have a question to writers--does it make a big difference if you are actually writing or typing your story? With me it's 1000 times easier to type--my thoughts just come out a lot clearer, but some people prefer to actually write it and type it up once it's finished. Which method do you prefer and why?

Yeah, my chapters get rewritten so many times that I've given up trying to let anybody read it yet.

For me, the thoughts definitely come better when I'm writing with a good, old-fashioned pencil (not a pen, mind you - I'm very picky about that ) and a notebook. I've tried typing for long periods of time, but I always manage to get myself distracted. I hand-wrote my entire rough draft, and though it took forever to type it all up, I think I was worth it for me. Now I'm editing using printed out pages of my manuscript as a guide. And since so much of it needs to be rewritten, my words snake all over the place - in all four of the margins and sometimes between the lines of text too! You should see them, it's really quite funny.

So yeah. Someday, I might manage to make the transition over to computer, but for now it's more convenient (and creativity-provoking) to use a combination of the two.

I write using pen and paper -- or rather, pen and notebook. This is for several different reasons. For one thing, I can't look at a computer screen for long, because it can often trigger my epilepsy. That's the health reason. But I also have psychological reasons as well.

There's something very uncreative to me about staring at a big, blank Word document. It's much nicer to get out my old-fashioned notebook with the neatly-patterned (faux) leather binding, and it's (artificially) stained, scalloped pages. It makes me feel like I'm in the 1800s, writing in the books of that time; or in some other world who still use those kinds of books.

Also, I can travel with a notebook. I can't do that with my desktop or even my big bulky laptop. With a notebook and pen in my hand, I can sit in any room, by a windowsill, at a park, or even walk around a store or street (Yes, I have trained myself to be able to walk and write/read at the same time) and still be able to get my thoughts or story out right there and then. And nothing gets your creative juices flowing better than a nice change of scenery.

Plus, I feel more in control of the story somehow when it's on paper. When it's up on a screen and all I have is a keyboard to touch, it makes me feel so distant -- so far away from it. Whereas, when it's down on paper, I have it there in my hands; I can touch the words and letters. I don't know why or how, but for some reason it makes me feel closer to it; more in control -- like it's somehow easier to shape and mold with my hands, like clay.

~Riella

This is a thread for all those of us currently in the process of writing a novel. What elements/scenes/dialogue were inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia?
On my part, my novel "The Iron Crown" is largely inspired by Narnia. The story is about five boys who travel to another world to fulfill a prophecy. (sound familiar? )
There is a God-figure (although he takes the form of a man and does not die nor resurrect). A number of lines in the story are also derivitave of certain Narnian scenes. Example:
Me: Once, and this took Michael's breath away, an elephant walked right between them.

Narnia: Lastly, and this took Caspian's breath away, came a small but genuine giant: Wimbleweather of Deadman's hill.

I'm not trying to plagerise (sp?) or anything, that line just came naturally to me.
So how about you other novelists? Narnian inspired books?

(Note: Mods, if this thread should go elsewhere, please move it. )

I actually can write a lot better using the computer - which is why the only novel I've finished was totally typed (well, it being NaNoWrimo helped). I can write loads faster, its easier for me to write, and I write better! Weird, but true.
But I do try to write some by hand, because that's just something you really should do.

I prefer to use the keyboard as well - I can type far faster than I can write, and I can read it later. (My handwriting has become rather sloppy over the years). And I can edit much easier as well.

That's not to say I never write on paper; when traveling I always carry notebook and pen in case my muse slaps me with a bit of inspiration. And I love to write while out in nature, either while camping or just a day trip to a local park. The old notebook comes in handy there.

It's kind of fun to look at those old notebooks, and see how a story segment or idea has changed over time from that original draft. That's one thing that is lost when composing at the keyboard.

-centaur-, my writing is not as directly influenced by Narnia as yours (though I sometimes include pop culture references in my stories just for fun), though it certainly could be considered an indirect inspiration to write fantasy.

There's something very uncreative to me about staring at a big, blank Word document. It's much nicer to get out my old-fashioned notebook with the neatly-patterned (faux) leather binding, and it's (artificially) stained, scalloped pages. It makes me feel like I'm in the 1800s, writing in the books of that time; or in some other world who still use those kinds of books.

I prefer a notebook too, only I don't have a special notebook for my writing (hmmm perhaps I should get one) I usually write on the first piece of paper I get my hands on . But I agree there is absolutely nothing creative about a blank word document....it leaves me with not scope for the imagination

hehe I feel a little out of place with my novel, it seems most everyone here writes about epic battles, mysterious adventures or strange and wonderful places. My novel, as I have said before, is set in the neighborhood where I spent most of my childhood. It's about a girl named Elizavata Vladimirovna Belkova, she was forsaken by her parents and left to live with her grandfather. Of course my character is fictional, a lot of the things she will be going through and experiencing are things that kids in our neighborhood go through. Liza will be getting into things that I never did (drinking, smoking.....stuff like that) but I have friends who used to do it, so I have been doing a couple of interviews, and plan to do a couple more. I also did some research and found some things out about my neighborhood that I wish I didn't . As I said before this is going to be quite a dark story, but I gave it a happy ending filled with light and hope. I haven't started writing yet....I'm not sure how to start. I'm also writing a play simultaneously with the novel, so I find it a little hard to divide my time. But I hope to start writing soon

I like keyboards and notesbooks. It really depends on my mood. I understand what Ithilwen says about the computer making things seems more distant, but sometimes typing faster gets my juices flowing. So ya, it is all dependent on how I`m feeling at the time. I like both.

I'm sort of both. I like to write out first drafts, and then do all the rest on the computer.

I always have to write with pen and paper first. Then when I feel like it's good enough I type them up. And if i spend too much time on the computer, I'll get really distracted and won't write.

So my new most recent project is writing a musical. It's a little bit different than the stories I've written, but I'm really excited. I'm writing all the song lyrics and the actual script, but my friend's writing the music. So far I've gotten one song down and a little of the actual script.

Now it's my time to ask you guys a question. (Though I'm not sure if it's answerable )

Is there some trick anyone knows when it comes to organizing your ideas in an actual... usable fashion? My ideas come so quickly, randomly, in a very large number, and in such a confused order, I can't make sense of them enough to even use them...

There are times where I get about 50 ideas in half an hour, all belonging to about 10 different books... Seriously I have about 10 notebooks filled up with ideas in random order; and before I get a chance to try to sift through them, I've filled up yet another notebook to sift through. And so on and so on... It makes me wonder if/how I'll ever be able to finish any of the books, when all of the information is jumbled about like that.

Does anyone have a similar problem? And if so, what do you do about it?

~Riella