Thanks to my perhaps obsessive documentation I see I started my novel attempt on September 6, 2013. Tonight, on October 29, 2013, I wrote chapter 30 and that is halfway through the projected 60 chapters. I’m confident that I will finish this first draft of a novel. After years of wanting to do this, and two failed attempts I’m happy that I will accomplish a first draft in the near future. At this point I need to finish it, but there are some serious problems with what I’m writing. For one thing I seem to be writing erotica or porn with words.
Over all the structure of my novel is an adventure that the character goes through. I’m not going to try to explain the story and feel I need to keep it bottled up so the end product is all my creation. But I will state that I’ve found myself following some weird formula. I’ll have one action chapter of skateboarding, and then the next chapter will be sex of some kind. Then I go back to a skate action scene, and then go back to sex. I seem to simply repeat that as the story unfolds. There are dystopian elements, but it is very much an adventure and erotica book.
A long-standing writing principal is that all writers should know their target audience when they write. I think I’m writing what I want to write. Years ago one of my old skate friend’s visited NYC but I think I was injured at the time. Over beers I said the only stuff I watch at home was skate videos and porn. He looked at me like that was an odd thing to say. So now if I said my target audience was skateboarders’ obsessed with porn that may also be a weird thing to say. Not all skateboarders like porn. And I’m sure most skaters don’t view skate videos and porn for the same reasons. (I don’t either) So to think anyone would want to read a fantastical skateboard erotica novel may be delusional. To say the least there might be a difficulty in proving there is a genre market need for what I’m writing.
Another problem is who do I share this with when I’m finished? My most loyal readers are my family, but this is way over the top of anything I wrote previously. I remember one family member asked me why I tried to be a gangster with my writing, and someone else in my family thought my sex stuff was stupid. My family is the only constant readers I have, and I’m not sure what their reaction to this will be. If I ever get in published I’ll use a pen name so there should be no family name embarrassment stuff. But there is a chance my family will poke fun at me for the rest of my life if I share this with them.
Even with all these reservations I’m excited that I’ll finish it. And if the sex stuff is too over the top for my family or publication I can always go back and write a cleaner version. I’m glad I don’t have deadlines or expect to make a living off of my writing, so I have the ability to do what I want with it however many drafts it takes. Lastly, I’m glad I took a friend’s advice to just start writing and not worry about an outline.
I shared this link before, but it’s worth sharing again. Now that I’m halfway through I realize how important it is to make writing a routine when you’re attempting a novel.
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/5-simple-steps-to-a-first-draft
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