Writing less can seem like a counter-intuitive goal for a writer, yet it is something I have been thinking increasingly much about in the past few months. In December, when I submitted the manuscript for my second novel to my editor, it had seen tis way through approximately 7 drafts, with some parts probably having been revised and rewritten ten times. The amount of words that have gone into this novel since I started it five and a half years ago has probably surpassed half a million by now, and I know that more words will be added once my editor returns her edits.
The prospect of more words to a novel project that has already taken up so much of my life is a daunting prospect, even whilst I know that the rewriting of some of the later chapters will be necessary, and ultimately a process I will have fun with as I am making those scenes better. Juggling this project with my new PhD novel, still in its early stages, still gives me bouts anxiety and the feeling that I am biting off more than I can chew. In two years the PhD novel needs to be finished, or be very close to a publishable draft. I can’t afford to stretch this project out for another five years and half million words.
What I am focusing on for 2025 therefore is to put more research and intentionality into this early draft of my next novel. By trying to carefully think about each character’s intentions and how they relate to each other I am hoping that I can get the scenes to where they need to be sooner, with less to rewrite later. I have always been more of a pantser than a plotter – no matter how much planning I do, the story decides to take a different turn once I’ve started writing, unavoidably leading to major rewrites as I realise one element of the plot needs to drastically change or be removed. I have grown as a person and writer since I started my second novel in 2019, I have a better understanding for how to structure a novel, I have gained more life experiences which can help me write richer and more realistic characters, and I have also gained confidence, maturity and independence.
My intention this year is to intentionally infuse these experiences with my writing, and to keep paying attention to the way people behave. This may sound like an obvious thing. In the beginners creative writing course I taught my undegraduate students last semester the theme of the first week was on the art of paying attention. Taking note of how people speak and act, of anything on the news or in the media which captures my attention, what people wear, anything that is worthy of attention. In the midst of writing, of the pressure I have sometimes put on myself to “get those words down”, it has been easy to forget to be mindful of what I write – to write without thinking. Looking back to younger me, I realise this happened rather frequently. The older and more experienced, the more intentional my writing gets. My resolution for 2025 is thus to continue writing this intention, and hopefully this will lead my PhD novel to completion without the need to rewrite it from scratch five plus times. XD
What are your writing resolutions for 2025? Or do you prefer not to make any? I’d be curious to find out. Regardless, I wish you a year of happy writing!