REAL TALK WITH DANIELLE - I Reached 40,000 Words in my Novel (and you can too!)

It is 1 AM and I am lying in bed in Adelaide, Australia having just reached 40,000 words in my novel. This is the mid-point for me, as my goal is to reach at least 80,000 words (an average novel word length). I am usually not one to post too much about my projects in the middle. I’m more of a “finished product” type of person. But, wow, does it feel good to know that I can produce that breadth of work and still feel good about what I’m writing. Especially because there are so many ways to feel discouraged.

If you are a writer you can probably relate to the feeling of having done so much work, and still feeling as if you are barely any closer to your goal. Many blogs offer the advice of writing every day (at least 250-500 words). But I simply have not been able to do that with my varying schedule. Moreover, when I write, I go into a kind of trance-like state and I tend to write large chunks at a time. I don’t think either one is better, but this style works for me.

It’s also so easy to feel like giving up after you’ve lost the momentum for the project. I have spent months at a time not writing this book, only to go back and realize I’ve forgotten half of the plot. When I pick up again, I often need to read through most of the work before I can start typing. This kind of “stop and go” can conjure up thoughts, such as “Who am I to be writing this book?” “No one is going to read it anyways.” “Shouldn’t I be working on something that will make me money?” Those thoughts are hard to ignore.

I started writing this book 3 years ago. I beat myself up a lot for not being in the same place with my novel as I was with my musical after 3 years. By that time, I was able to put up a staged reading performance of the show. The musical needs editing, but it’s a full story. It’s ready to be poked at by people who are much more experienced than I am at workshopping theatre pieces.

But it’s important as a writer to enjoy the milestones just as much as the finished product. For instance, after a live performance, the musical feels like... it doesn’t just live in my head anymore. There are people who have seen the story and created the characters. There are audience members who have related to the characters and said to me, “I think I’m a Jason” or “I think I’m a Cara.” This blows my mind because I made these people up. But the idea that people relate so strongly to these characters is so satisfying as a writer, because it means I wrote a story that connected with people.

After 3 years, the novel still lives in my head. It’s a fantasy novel, and I won’t go into too much detail yet, but there’s a whole world in there and a whole cast of characters who nobody knows but me. And for some reason, even though I go into many writing sessions with the anxiety of being an imposter, my fingers somehow know what to write next, and they just type away. Other people may not know who these characters are yet, but tonight it doesn’t matter. I don’t feel as anxious about it. It’s one of those magical moments as an artist, where I feel motivated and more determined than ever from what I’ve accomplished. If I can write 40,000 words then I can write 40,000 more words. If I can write a musical, I can write a book. If I can write a book, I can write a blog.

Two of my inspirations as writers, Elizabeth Gilbert and Neil Gaiman both have said, you don’t need a degree in this stuff. To be a writer, you have to write. And I plan to keep doing it. Because to me, it’s a basic need. I feel so much better every day when the thoughts in my head get translated to the page. And if you feel the same passion for ANYTHING then I highly encourage you to give yourself permission to do it, pause if you need to, and go back to it when you’re ready!

I just wanted to capture this moment, because they are so few and far between as a writer when I really feel like I’ve reached a milestone. We writers tend to be really hard on ourselves. Most of the time it’s, what’s next, what’s next, what’s next. And it’s true, I have to write 40,000 more words... But that’s all.

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