#7 - A Novel in a Year

Obstacles, observation, and a summer break

Photo by J Cruikshank on Unsplash

Hello,

In last week’s post, I touched on how I feel like I am flagging when it comes to my writing.

Hitting walls is part and parcel of the creative process. And fortunately, it is something that I am better at accepting now that I am a little older and greyer. You learn to take a step back, estimate how high the wall is, perhaps even figure out a way to get a leg up, or simply find another way around. But still, there are times when it feels like the wall is little harder to scale, so as I touched on in last week’s post, I have decided to hit pause on this newsletter… with this post being an exception :)

A Substack mixtape

However, while I am taking a writing break, I am not taking a break from Substack entirely, and plan to read, like, and comment 😀

---

Although I am taking a general writing break, one thing that I will maintain are the activities from Louise Doughty’s ‘A Novel in a Year’. I have got this far with them, so I really want to keep at it!

My original plan had been to be share some samples from the novel that I am working on (for Week’s 25 and 27), but I have since changed my mind. Part of me felt that if I had included them here, then I would be anxiously waiting to see if anyone provided any feedback. And that’s not necessarily the best way to relax during a break!

For new readers, this post is a little different to the other things that I share at TBOI. These posts help keep me accountable and also act as a place to log my progress. If you couldn’t care less about reading these, I will not be offended!

But here is last month’s post just in case…

#6 - A Novel in a Year

---

Week 25

This week is all about obstacles.

No coincidence that I am experiencing some creative-wall like obstacles of my own, right?

And the accompanying exercise asks you to think about what your character wants… out of life. Then, Doughty then asks you to write a passage in which your character confronts what is impeding them:

Your character could have a row, or write a letter, or merely fantasise about what he or she would say to their obstacle.

She also suggests that you could write the passage from the obstacle’s POV, telling the reader what he or she thinks of the main character.

---

Week 26

This was a fun chapter to read, after I got over the part where Doughty shares a personal story about having an accident where she broke her nose and two teeth (!). But the message from this incident was that it told her: “I can use this in my novel”. She encourages you to notice as much as you can around you, and not just of the world, but also from your reactions. Doing this will help a novel come to life:

Sitting on a bus, seeing an elderly man bent double in the street, I might think, ‘Ah, the way he is walking, with that stick held out in front of him, that’s interesting. That’s exactly how so and so would walk as she goes to see her daughter about…’

---

Week 27

Families.

One word starts this chapter, and I laugh as my ‘obstacle’ in Week 25 was the sister of the main character.

Where would novelists be without them (families)? Well, we’d have a lot more time on our hands, but just think of all that raw material we would lose.

100% agree on that!

Doughty asks you to consider how your main character would overcome your obstacle. I had to think long and hard about this, as it digs into the values and morals of the characters involved.

---

Week 28

This was another insightful chapter and it acted as a useful reminder about getting out and being part of life, rather than watching it from a distance or through a screen.

Now that we are over halfway through this project, Doughty asks: How is your stamina is holding up?

Hmm… not that well, if I am honest. (Have I mentioned that I am taking the month off from writing…?)

Doughty says that all writers have days where the words don’t come and that this can feel even more frustrating when you carve out time to write. For me, it feels like sand is slipping through my fingers. My brain tells me - any time not writing, is wasted time!

But this line of thinking is not helpful and it is more likely to keep you blocked (or hitting walls), so she has a piece of advice - go outside.

Taking a break from the screen and from writing is one way to press reset. And during these breaks, Doughty recommends doing additional research:

Find your notebook and preferably your camera as well. Put on your shoes. You are going to visit your novel.

Doughty acknowledges that it might not be possible to visit certain locations, especially if you are writing a book that is historical or set abroad. But she encourages you to ‘visit’ something related to it. For example, if your book is set in Portugal but you cannot go there yourself, then go to a Portuguese restaurant.

Cameras are useful too as you can build a Pinterest style-reel of images that can help flesh out locations and characters. I read recently that Kevin Kwan, the writer of novels such as Crazy Rich Asians and Rich People Problems keeps scrapbooks for each of his characters with extensive details about what they wear.

This sounds like a great idea, and I am going to try this myself.

---

Thank you so much for reading. Enjoyed the post? Please consider hitting the ❤️ or reposting it, these can make it more visible to other readers.

Have a wonderful week and see you next month :)

Take care,

Sarah