My bittersweet Love of Writing a Novel

[Zxro]

From since I've started writing, I always, or originally had the intention of creating it as an art, (comic) but due to reasons that couldn't be the case so I instead decided to create a novel, and now aw I near the completion of said novel, Idk it feels so weird, there is so much I feel I can't express with words alone that I miss when writing, but writing man.... It's something I never knew how much I enjoyed till doing,
It doesn't feel, at least to me, like I'm making up a story, more like I'm just documenting the story of someone, with each chapter I'm left as intrigued as a reader despite knowing exactly what is going to happen next,
It is something I truly love, but also dislike, words are after all limited and you can only tell so much before it just becomes exposition.
Wanted to share this because idk why not.
My novel approaches it's end, it's been almost uncomfortable to look back at how I started to now,
And it is but only a single story in the dozens that float around my ever wondering mind.
So I guess I can only get better.

[Lensing]

What genre do you write and what do you want your reader to experience?
Does it feel like that for you when you read your own work?

Drawing and writing gives you different options of expressions, the good
thing for me about drawing is that you can compile a lot of information in a single
picture

[DasIstWunderblyat]

Completing a novel is a good achievement. I say keep the novel and whenever you like it or you are able to, you can use it as a base to adapt it into a comic. Or that if you still somehow cannot adapt it as a comic, you might come back to the novel with a fresh mind and a better skill in the future.

Whenever I feel frustrated with the limitations of novel, I remember the hardship of thumbnailing, panelling, sketching, tracing, inking, coloring, shading, lettering, adding sound effects, proofreading, exporting the image for different platforms, slower update, etc. . . Which are the reasons why I make a novel despite my poor ways with words.

[cherrystark]

If you don't feel like giving up the novel completely, you could try serializing. It still provides the stability of consistent writing but allows you to still have challenges for growth.

[coco-ji]

First of all, it's awesome that you're so close to completing a project. Even with all of the mixed feelings attached, it's going to be one of your own ideas that got to live out its life from start to finish and that's pretty cool!

It doesn't feel, at least to me, like I'm making up a story, more like I'm just documenting the story of someone

I totally get that feeling with so many of my characters. I feel like I'm recording their key experiences and not only that, but I'm compelled to do it for reasons I can't explain. And yeah, it's helluv frustrating when you can clearly see and feel everything about their stories, but you just don't have enough of the right words to express it the way you see it in your head.

For me, if the words are too far out of my reach, I put the story on the backburner and just lend my efforts to the stories I can almost get there with. There's also the chance that you may come back to your story in 6 mo to a year and suddenly know the best way to edit the wording in a section that used to give you a hard time. That happens to me pretty frequently too. It's like present me kinda of knows what to do, but future me has all of or at least more answers.

in the end, you're right. you can only get better. writing truly is a Process over a product.

[InfiniteLine]

Congrats on being almost done! A huge accomplishment!

That’s awesome you get that feeling that the story is being told to you. Definitely the opposite for me (which may be partially why I’m so critical of my own storytelling…). When I finished first drafts of novels in the past I remember feeling that mixed sense of relief and amazement, but also overwhelming dread at revising it all… haha. That’s one of the reasons I’m working on a Tapas serial now. So I edit as I go and don’t have this giant 100k word monster I need to tame.

[Bella_Artz]

As someone who's completed a small number of novels myself I get how you feel. The almost surreal nature of nearing the end of a very long journey is something that's pretty hard to get used to.

Congratulations!

Novels and comics are two different things but never forget both are still a means to express your ideas and bring beautiful words to life. At the end of the day, I feel that enjoy yourself and the journey is all that really matters.

[Zxro]

I would say psychological is the main genre I write, but I incorporate a lot of other genres into my writing,
I usually want my readers to be as lost(in a good way) as I am when writing, lost as in intrigued and enamoured simultaneously in the story,
With writing you can only tell someone or describe something so much, whereas with drawing you can be imersed more into the story just with subtle details and effects.

[Zxro]

Couldn't of said it better myself

[Zxro]

Thank you, it has been quite an overwhelming experience revising and re editing drafts, especially since you always still end up missing something....

[Zxro]

Thank you sincerely,
Writing my novel was generally an enjoyable experience,
I am excited for the day I adapt it definitively into a comic

[system]

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