Monday, February 8, 2010

I wrote a Novella!

I didn't mean to. I mean, when I thought about my 2010 goals, I wasn't planning to write a novella at the beginning of the year. I was browsing the submission information online for an epub and saw the details on the calls for submission. BAM! An idea just popped into my head. It was simple, short and the whole thing just seemed to outline itself. It wouldn't let go, it was so compelling. So I wrote it. In 7 days. I was amazed at how easily the words flowed, the word count I managed each day and how - exciting it was! I could come up with an idea, outline and write it to completion within 2 weeks! It was a heady feeling. I usually labor through a full ms until I think everything is perfect, but there's a certain freedom that comes in writing a short story compared to a full ms. Plus, I had a 'deadline' to work to. It had to be done and submitted by a certain date so I had to let it go. I don't use a lot of detailed description in my writing. It's not my style. I like action and dialogue to tell the story rather than describing it to the reader. A short story kind of forces you to write this way because you only have so much room to move to introduce the characters, get the reader invested in them, get all the conflict right and tell the story! It was liberating, empowering and wholly satisfying. I'm not sure if it was any good yet, but I think the experience was educational and well - inspirational really to get me through the next full ms I plan to start this month. After this, I definitely think I'll be writing another one - probably sooner rather than later!

10 comments:

  1. Good for you! Honestly, I think the novella is my favorite length to write. I like shorts -- they're quick -- but you really need the ultimate plotline and they are few and far between. Novels, to me, can get tedious. Novellas are just right!

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  2. well done. It's great to try different genres. Good luck with it :)

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  3. OMG! That is so amazing!! Kudos for setting a goal and sticking to it!

    You're an inspiration, Kaily! Keep up the fabulous work! :)

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  4. Woohoo for you, Kaily! Aren't they fun? I'll warn you...I started out doing what you're doing, writing Blazes, but once I wrote my first novella, I was hooked. They're addictive...gotta love the instant gratification of a complete story in a short amount of time. ;) Fingers crossed for you that you hear good news soon!

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  5. Helen - I could see how the Novella could easily become my favorite as well.
    Kerrin - Thanks so much!
    Sarah - An inspiration? Me? You must have me confused with someone else LOL! It was a pretty powerful feeling to set the goal and meet it.
    Cari - Yes! I know exactly what you mean. It is the instant gratification. I keep looking at the calendar figuring when I can write the next one. As Helen said, the full length stories can become tedious sometimes.

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  6. So you made a detour, but wasn't it fun? Good luck with this and your full submission. I'm crossing everything for you...um...again ;)

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  7. A lot of people like writing novellas. I tend to write a bit longer, mainly because I always have lots of plot. Shorts of around 15,000 are plain hard to write. I think it takes a special writer to do a good job.

    Good luck with your sub. It feels great hitting send - I'm almost at that stage. Tomorrow should do the trick. :)

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  8. Hey great, Kaily! Was your novella straight contemporary or something different?

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  9. Congrats, Kaily! It is fun to write shorter. I wrote several novels and then on a dare, I wrote what ended up as Forbidden Love. I wrote it quick, a week or so and first draft was done. But it went through several edits and rewrites to get it ready for submission. It releases at RRP on May 20. Yeah, it went through a few more edits with an RRP editor too!

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  10. Hetal - it was SO much fun. So much so that as I'm trying to dive into my next Blaze, I have a short story that's driving me mad. Thanks for the best wishes.
    Shelley - thanks and best of luck with yours. I doubt you need it!
    Jackie - it was straight contemporary but with the freedom to be even more hot and steamy than Blaze. I really let it fly!
    Kaye - yeah, I figure even if mine gets picked up it's nowhere near the final version. Oh how fun to HAVE to do edits!

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