I Want to Write a Novel

[Renegnicat]

I've wanted to write a novel for quite some time now. Ever since I was a child actually, but never before have I reached a point where I thought I would be able to actually write one. I feel that my writing ability, at its current level, is polished enough to write a fairly well written novel with extensive revision.

I even have a plot: 15-30 years into the future, a company has unveiled it's creation: A line of completely customisable sex-androids, enhanced with the new neurogrid technology, and thus giving the "sex dolls" as high an intelligence as allowed by law. The story is a romance between a professor who wants nothing more than to be acknowledged by his colleagues, and a student of his who falls in love with him.

Between them, is one of the controversial sex-androids, which the professor owns and loves. As controversial as they are, studies have shown that men who purchase the androids become incredibly attached to them, to the exclusion of real women. And so the reader wants to know if the student could possibly work her way into the professor's heart, or is the lure of the android far greater than anything any woman could give?

As for the android herself, she believes her feelings towards the professor are real, and not just programmed(they are). She would do anything for him, and indeed, she's programmed to be willing and eager to perform the most perverted of sex acts. But more than anything, she struggles to understand the professor's theories in his field. The professor is a lover of art and literature, and though she can not quite grasp the concepts completely, it her dream in life to visit the louvre, a kind of affirmation of her love for the professor, in an attempt to show him that she understands.

The professor himself is very attached. From the beginning, he treats his student like an equal, and not a sexual fantasy. But...He can not bring himself to betray his love.

I...want to believe that I can write this story. I want to believe that I can write this novel(like the sound of that!  :secret:

[joeactor]

It's a good idea to have others read and review your material.
(though the plot's not my cup of tea ;-)

Gotta be able to handle honest criticism and advice.

BTW, isn't this the plot to "Cherry 2000"?  

Have you written other stuff before?  Maybe short stories?
Might be good to start with something less daunting than a novel - just a thought...

JoeActor

[Renegnicat]

Cherry 2000? What's that?

I've written many short stories. That's why I think it's time for to try my hand at an novel.  

But really, I have no idea what Cherry 2000, is. And what type of plot would be your cup of tea?

[curiosityandthecat]

Sounds interesting. Reminds me of the "Presence" segment in Robot Carnival:

Presence: Directed by Yasuomi Umetsu. This segment (featuring dialogue) tells the story of a man who has an obsession with a robot girl he has been secretly constructing in an attempt to compensate for the lack of any close relationship with his wife and family. The setting seems to be British and of the early twentieth century, but also suggests another planet or a future which has attempted to re-establish a former social structure. When the robot takes on a personality of her own, far beyond what the man had programmed, he smashes her in a fit of panic, and leaves his secret laboratory for what he believes is the last time. Twenty years later, the man has a vision of his robot appearing before him, but then blowing up before he can take her hand. He returns to his shed to find the robot still sitting smashed in a corner, just as she had been left years earlier. Another twenty years elapse, and the robot appears again before the man. This time, he takes her hand and walks into the distance with her, before vanishing in front of his shocked wife. This is the first short that contains intelligible dialogue (characters in Opening speak in gibberish), but little of it is actually spoken on-screen - all but a few lines are given in voice-over, or with the speaker's mouth obscured. Yasuomi's art style and them used in future works such as Kite is obviously shown in this work. The art style of the main character is taken from Les Maîtres du temps.

[Renegnicat]

Hmm... that's a bit too far out there for what I intend to write. But who knows?

[joeactor]

Cherry 2000? What's that?

I've written many short stories. That's why I think it's time for to try my hand at an novel.  

But really, I have no idea what Cherry 2000, is. And what type of plot would be your cup of tea?

Here's the IMDB plot for it:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092746/plotsummary

Great that you've already written short stories.  If you think it's time to ramp it up, go for it!

[curiosityandthecat]

Hmm, well somebody had Cinemax in the early 90s!  

[Reginus]

Awesome, I've always wanted to write a novel as well (but tend to give up at about page 15  )

[curiosityandthecat]

Awesome, I've always wanted to write a novel as well (but tend to give up at about page 15  

[McQ]

It's a good idea to have others read and review your material.
(though the plot's not my cup of tea ;-)

Gotta be able to handle honest criticism and advice.

BTW, isn't this the plot to "Cherry 2000"?  

Have you written other stuff before?  Maybe short stories?
Might be good to start with something less daunting than a novel - just a thought...

JoeActor

That's the first thing I thought, too. This is Cherry 2000!

[Kylyssa]

Just write.  Don't get hung up on how good it is as you write.  You can (and should) go back and re-write then re-write again but getting it written is the biggest challenge.  Don't get bummed by the similarity of your plot to others' plots,  your writing style and approach will not be the same and it is not really an identical plot.

I would, however, suggest not talking about the story too much - I've found that talking about what I am writing tends to dampen what I call the "pressure of writing" which forces me to put words on a page.  Use that desire to tell people all about it to tell people all about it in the form of a novel.

The technique I use to write my own novels has been to create a very detailed plot then break it into portions by chapter, summarizing what will happen in each chapter.  Then I treat it as a bunch of writing assignments and write a chapter at a time.  I learned this rather simplistic technique by copying the type of materials I have been given when ghostwriting for others.  When I saw how easy it was to move things along this way in the first big ghost gig I took I grabbed onto the technique.

[Heretical Rants]

My plan of attack is:

1) Get an idea: something... anything.
2) Write an outline.
3) Find myself a nice quite place and just write something... anything.
4) Repeat step three until I die.  I don't even have to write anything, I just have to get to that nice quite place with no distractions.

[Wendy]

November is National Novel Writing Month! Here is a link to the website...probably not too late to start! http://www.nanowrimo.org/

[quizlixx]

here are some easy(?) to follow steps to writing your first novel

1. Start with some short stories
2. After you've perfected the art of story telling, write longer stories
3. When you can write to about 120 pages, then you are ready for a novel
4. Have the beginning and end already in mind. [beginning]-john is a space marine fighting demons    [end]- john is actually a demon/zombie
5. Have a leading character and at least one other side character already in your head. Personalities, quirks, traits, and physical features will help.
6. Create a conflict/obstacle for your protagonist to overcome

I've written multiple novels myself, so if you have any questions I'd be happy to help.