by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I continue to have existential problems with this first novel in the five novel series I’m developing and writing. The fact that it’s existential is why I can’t tear myself away from it — it’s not like these problems wouldn’t exist in anything else I worked on.
The problem isn’t the project, the problem is ME.
What keeps happening in my storytelling ability keeps getting better, which in turn prompts a reset of the whole thing, then this process keeps going on and on and on and on. It can really feel like I’m spinning my wheels and not getting anything done.
There are so many things to consider. Right now, word count is at the forefront of my mind. I’m an untested aspiring novelist and so the sweet spot for any novel I try to sell is probably between 80,000 – 110,000 words. Publishers just aren’t prepared to physically pay to publish anything much longer unless there are some very specific circumstances that change that situation.
Stieg Larsson was originally writing not only for a Swedish audience, but he was also an established journalist in the country. So, publishers were probably far more likely to give him something closer to 200,000 words for a first novel simply for the sake of the Swedish language.
Anyway.
One of the biggest issues I have is how, exactly, do I want to start the novel. That’s the thing I keep spinning my wheels with the most. But I think I may have come up with a square the circle solution because of the nature of what the actual inciting incident in the novel is. I think. I hope. I keep saying this to myself, only to revert back to the exact same beginning I had in the first place.
But I think — maybe — I might have come up with a really interesting beginning. I just hope it holds.
