A writing tip I dislike and what my novel may be made of!

„Written word is prohibited from dictating any rhythm or tempo“, I remember a writer once tell me. Writer as in not a famous author, but able to make a living in parts from writing, over here in Germany. At least, once he did.

Even if I wanted to name him, I couldn’t forgot. I forgot his name and even what his work was called.

Whoops.

The group that I was sitting with around the table that day agreed with a mumbling and took notes.

And honestly, my thoughts flew out the window and I don‘t remember the next rules he told us.

I strongly disagreed, but also felt that my honesty would only be drowned in the bottle of wine we had opened, while attempting to feel like artists for the time being.

Now, 7 years later, I spend the nights writing my witching novel. I am back at writing, against so many rules I remember from my younger years at the theater, surrounded by artists celebrating each other for a perfect picture.

And I realize that I love to play around with the rhythm of a text.

With the time period it covers, from describing months flying by, or going into the scene as it happens.

But it is also one of the biggest challenges.

How fast or slow do I want to tell my tale?

Something, I really can‘t stand as a reader is the feeling of running through the described world with unfitting glasses on. No detailed description, no atmosphere – and you lose my attention.

But I also enjoy novels that cover not just one adventure or incident, but longer parts of a life – so, there decisions has to be made!

Recently, I wondered if it even works for three chapters in a row to take place in more or less the same room of a house, or if I should find ways to mix that up!

Maybe this is even one the most fragile and difficult areas of a novel that is so often revisited while editing, but I actually feel like I need this rhythm and tempo to feel right for me to keep on writing! I need to know how long and detailed which part is supposed to be, and how the drive of it all will feel in the end!

And not knowing if sitting in the salon all over again feels lame or is an appropriate setting after all can make my brain melt in the middle of the night!

Although I began this post with a rule that could be expected to be deubnked, I cannot even do that. Maybe, there are works of text where this rule applies after all. But for me, the gut feeling says no and protests until I start searching for the rhythm of my text again.

I also tend to split every novel I work on into parts I view as short stories, and once I finished a short story it is made of, I sometimes need a lot of time to continue with the next one! Well, not just with novels I do that. When I was in university, I even did that with my thesis, and started the last third way too late (because how else can things work with me…).

So, the picture to this post shows the state of my couch, once I worked myself through the first short story of the witching novel! The abrupt end of her childhood hurt, and the sugar intake for that was bigger than this photo admits.

What are your thoughts on chapter length, order, and rhythm of the text?

Leave me a comment!