{"id":5191,"date":"2024-10-24T06:01:40","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T06:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/?p=5191"},"modified":"2024-10-25T09:59:27","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T09:59:27","slug":"three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Three ways to write a novel: The Odyssey, The Fever Dream, and the Fix-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/747997\/the-escher-man-by-t-r-napper\/\"><em>The Escher Man<\/em><\/a> took me ten years to write. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/743030\/aliens-bishop-by-t-r-napper\/\"><em>Aliens: Bishop<\/em><\/a> took five months. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/744919\/ghost-of-the-neon-god-by-t-r-napper\/\">Ghost of the Neon God<\/a> <\/em>was a short short story, then two short stories, then a final expansion into a novella. Three books, three radically different paths.<\/p>\n<p>(<em>click on the sun icon in the top right hand corner if you prefer to read black script on white<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m writing this because <em>The Escher Man<\/em> has just been published, and there\u2019s an obvious measure of relief, and pride, in seeing that arduous and tortuous journey completed. But it\u2019s also made me think about the writing process.<a href=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5197 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2-186x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"186\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2-186x300.jpg 186w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2-634x1024.jpg 634w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2-500x807.jpg 500w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2-600x969.jpg 600w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2-300x484.jpg 300w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2-48x77.jpg 48w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2.jpg 762w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 186px) 100vw, 186px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The path to writing THE END on a manuscript is difficult to explain because of this paradox: there\u2019s no blueprint out there, showing you how to get from A to B (I mean, there is, by writing hucksters that try to sell you a formula, but let\u2019s put that exception aside), and yet every journey has something to teach the aspiring writer.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m obsessed with the craft of writing. I spend hours on YouTube watching writers talking about the creative process. Genre authors, literary, screen. Contemporary writers and where I can find it, video of authors from the past. The process is endlessly fascinating to me in part because it is ineffable: what will work for each individual and why is never quantifiable.<\/p>\n<p>So why this article then? If every experience is different, if even my own is different from book to book, what is the value of talking about it beyond, say, bullshit platitudes like: <em>every journey is different, <\/em>or <em>there\u2019s no one right way to write a book<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p>Well, here\u2019s the thing: bad authors plagiarise, good authors steal. Over the years I\u2019ve cherry picked the methods most suited to me. For example, Graham Greene wrote 500 words a day every day. That suits me perfectly. A slow, steady pace, with iron discipline. So I adopted it. Others I haven\u2019t stolen, but stumbled across. For example: my need to put aside a novel for a year (or more) before I do the final edit. I assumed for a long time that this was a flaw in my process \u2013 a type of creative procrastination \u2013 until I watched an interview with Taika Waititi, who said that he did exactly the same thing.<\/p>\n<p>So when I explain, briefly, the three methods I went through below, it\u2019s not as a formula. It\u2019s as a set of approaches that you might want to steal, or as examples that may happen to gel with your own, and let you know you\u2019re not crazy.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong>Method one: <\/strong><\/span>The Fix Up<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/210427989-ghost-of-the-neon-god\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Ghost of the Neon God<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The fix up was a more common phenomenon in decades past. Put simply, an author would publish a short story (or a series of short stories), and sometimes the story(ies) would get expanded into a full length novel. <em>The Martian Chronicles<\/em> (1950), <em>A Canticle for Leibowitz<\/em> (1959), <em>Flowers for Algernon<\/em> (1966), <em>To Your Scattered Bodies Go<\/em> (1971), and <em>Ender\u2019s Game<\/em> (1985) are all examples of this. It is perhaps no coincidence that this was more prevalent during a time when short stories were far better paid. It was worth doing them back then, financially as well as artistically, and so some of those initially brief excursions turned out to have a concept good enough they could be expanded to a novel.<a href=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5193 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE-194x300.jpg 194w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE-662x1024.jpg 662w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE-768x1188.jpg 768w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE-993x1536.jpg 993w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE-1324x2048.jpg 1324w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE-500x774.jpg 500w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE-800x1238.jpg 800w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE-1280x1980.jpg 1280w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE-600x928.jpg 600w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE-300x464.jpg 300w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE-48x74.jpg 48w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Ghost-of-the-Neon-God-Cover-FINAL-WEBSITE-SIZE.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I wrote <em>Ghost of a Neon God<\/em> (note the slightly different name) as a short story, which was subsequently published by Interzone in 2017. And I was done. Pleased that it was published, happy with the story. Or was I?<\/p>\n<p>It nagged at me, wanting more. What happened next to Jackson Nguyen? This might (might) have been one of those all-so-rare occasions where it\u2019s not the work ethic telling you to write, but the muse.<\/p>\n<p>So I did, and the second story, <em>A Vast Silence<\/em>, was published in 2021 in <em>The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.<\/em> A great magazine. The story even got shortlisted for an <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Aurealis_Award_for_Best_Science_Fiction_Novella\">Aurealis Award<\/a>, so I should have been satisfied but that fucking muse just couldn&#8217;t let it go, could she?<\/p>\n<p>And so I wrote a third section, longer than the first two combined, and that became the novella, <em>Ghost of the Neon God.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>My first observation<\/strong><\/span> on the process would be this: the fixup is <em>harder<\/em> than writing a longer work straight up. The three sections have to be consistent with each other in terms of tone and style (difficult when it\u2019s been stop-start over five years), they have to be seamless so the reader can\u2019t see any obvious joins, and they have to flow between each other in a way that no information seems repeated or inconsistent. One minor detail in the second story, for example, might have ripple effects each way, towards the beginning and the end.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>My second observation<\/strong><\/span>: if you can\u2019t let a story go, then don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong>Method two<\/strong><\/span>: the Fever Dream<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/131950092-aliens\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Aliens: Bishop<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Oh boy. Slow writer gets asked to write a novel in 4.5 months. Slow writer says no. Writer\u2019s friends slap him upside the head, writer\u2019s agent twists his arm. Slow writer thinks about how epically fucking cool the Aliens franchise is and changes his mind to yes.<a href=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4964 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1-197x300.jpg 197w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1-673x1024.jpg 673w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1-768x1169.jpg 768w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1-1009x1536.jpg 1009w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1-1346x2048.jpg 1346w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1-500x761.jpg 500w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1-800x1218.jpg 800w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1-1280x1948.jpg 1280w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1-600x913.jpg 600w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1-300x457.jpg 300w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1-48x73.jpg 48w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aliens-bishop-1.jpg 1682w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Seven days a week, 4.5 months. No days off, save Christmas Day 2022. I can\u2019t really tell you how I did it, because it was and is a blur. This is what I remember: I had a goal of 1500 good words a day. If I finished at 3pm, I\u2019d rest. If I was still going at midnight, I was still going at midnight. I worked a job in the disability sector during this period, and had two young children at home. Like I said: <em>fever dream.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>My was name was going to be on the front cover, and I love the first two movies in this franchise \u2013 Aliens, in particular, being one of those seminal films I watched when I was way too young to do so \u2013 so I was determined to write a book worthy of that universe. I did, I think, with fandom embracing it.<\/p>\n<p>But how? Fuck knows, I can\u2019t remember. Would I do it again? Not in so short a time, no. Some authors are suited to a fast pace, and can churn out good copy quickly. I can\u2019t. Or I can\u2019t and also keep my sanity intact.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Observation one<\/strong><\/span>: Deadlines are a hell of a drug, it is true, and I like a deadline insofar as it focusses my mind and helps me prioritise. But a deadline is not a magic wand, not quite. It has to be balanced against the natural speed of the author, and the other commitments they have in their lives.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Observation two<\/strong><\/span>: your pace is your pace. <em>I thought you said no platitudes Napper?<\/em> Okay okay. Your pace is your pace, but no bullshit excuses. If I don\u2019t feel the muse, I write. If I\u2019m in a bad mood, I write. I turn up at the desk, every day.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffff00;\"><strong>Method three<\/strong><\/span>: the Odyssey<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/200488219-the-escher-man\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Escher Man<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I initially called this the ultra-marathon, but that would be a short companionable stroll compared what actually occurred. Odysseus took ten years to get from Troy to Ithaca, so let\u2019s go with that.<\/p>\n<p>Of the three examples in this article, I\u2019m proudest of this book. Not because it is the \u2018best\u2019 (whatever that means), but because it was by far the toughest. The toughest to write, to sell, and conceptually the hardest to execute.<a href=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5167 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3-196x300.jpg 196w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3-669x1024.jpg 669w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3-768x1175.jpg 768w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3-1004x1536.jpg 1004w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3-1339x2048.jpg 1339w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3-500x765.jpg 500w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3-800x1224.jpg 800w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3-1280x1958.jpg 1280w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3-600x918.jpg 600w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3-300x459.jpg 300w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3-48x73.jpg 48w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/preorders-teh-escher-man-3.jpg 1519w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The protagonist of <em>The Escher Man<\/em> is unreliable. It\u2019s a first-person PoV from a man who has been subjected to memory wipes, memory edits, and wholly false memory implants. From a technical perspective this is particularly challenging and one of the reasons, I think, the novel took so long to write.<\/p>\n<p>One reviewer put it like this: \u201c<em>Honestly, it\u2019s amazing that this comes across as anything but nonsensical. Endel\u2019s life has been well and truly fucked up, and his mind is basically just scrambled eggs. To relate this\u2014along with any kind of intricate plot\u2014in an understandable way is amazing, but the author manages it. Very well, in fact<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I simply wasn\u2019t good enough to pull it off when I began. But the solution was simple: all I had to do was work on my craft for a decade.<\/p>\n<p>There is something similar here to the experience of writing <em>Ghost of the Neon God<\/em>. The muse would not let me leave <em>The Escher Man <\/em>alone, even after I\u2019d gained and lost an agent over it (that is, an agent took on this novel, said he loved it. Tried to sell it, couldn\u2019t. Afterwards said he didn\u2019t really like it all that much, actually. What a cunt). I\u2019d think about the book from time to time, even though I considered it trunked. Go back, every few months, and jot down a few reminders on the first page of the manuscript. It was a good story, that I believed.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Observation one<\/span>:<\/strong> hone your craft, always. Push yourself with ambitious ideas, study the books you read, and write as much as you can.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Observation two<\/span>:<\/strong> dogged persistence is king. Yes, as Logen Ninefingers says, \u201cYou have to be realistic about these things.\u201d Yes, sometimes a book really should be trunked, and I trunked the first two I wrote. But persistence in this industry is perhaps the most underrated of qualities. Persisting through the awful first drafts, the inevitable rejections, the indifference of one of the most competitive careers on Earth. Sometimes, the author that makes it is the one with the highest pain threshold.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s it: there\u2019s no one way to write a novel, no one ring to rule them all. You learn by doing in this business, you write and write and write and your method begins to reveal itself. Live the creative life, study that of others.<\/p>\n<p>Over to you.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/200488219-the-escher-man\">The Escher Man<\/a> is available in all good bookstores everywhere, Amazon (sigh, also everywhere), and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/747997\/the-escher-man-by-t-r-napper\/\">here, for US readers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/131950092-aliens\">Aliens: Bishop<\/a>, likewise, is available in all good bookstores everywhere, Amazon, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/743030\/aliens-bishop-by-t-r-napper\/\">here, for US readers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/210427989-ghost-of-the-neon-god\">Ghost of the Neon God<\/a>, is available in all the same, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/744919\/ghost-of-the-neon-god-by-t-r-napper\/\"> here, for US readers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Escher-Man-unbox-dramatic-cool-cut-WEBSITE.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-5200\" src=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Escher-Man-unbox-dramatic-cool-cut-WEBSITE-250x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Escher-Man-unbox-dramatic-cool-cut-WEBSITE-250x300.jpg 250w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Escher-Man-unbox-dramatic-cool-cut-WEBSITE-853x1024.jpg 853w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Escher-Man-unbox-dramatic-cool-cut-WEBSITE-768x922.jpg 768w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Escher-Man-unbox-dramatic-cool-cut-WEBSITE-1280x1536.jpg 1280w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Escher-Man-unbox-dramatic-cool-cut-WEBSITE-500x600.jpg 500w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Escher-Man-unbox-dramatic-cool-cut-WEBSITE-800x960.jpg 800w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Escher-Man-unbox-dramatic-cool-cut-WEBSITE-600x720.jpg 600w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Escher-Man-unbox-dramatic-cool-cut-WEBSITE-300x360.jpg 300w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Escher-Man-unbox-dramatic-cool-cut-WEBSITE-48x58.jpg 48w, http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Escher-Man-unbox-dramatic-cool-cut-WEBSITE.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Escher Man took me ten years to write. Aliens: Bishop took five months. Ghost of the Neon God was&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_cpl_content_size":"","_cpl_sidebar":"","_cpl_disabled_page_elements":[],"_cpl_disabled_page_margins":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,280],"tags":[277,321,126,316,323,183,91,319],"class_list":["post-5191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","category-on-writing","tag-36-streets","tag-aliens-bishop","tag-cyberpunk","tag-cyberpunk-books","tag-ghost-of-the-neon-god","tag-on-writing","tag-t-r-napper","tag-the-escher-man"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Three ways to write a novel: The Odyssey, The Fever Dream, and the Fix-Up - T.R Napper<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three ways to write a novel: The Odyssey, The Fever Dream, and the Fix-Up - T.R Napper\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Escher Man took me ten years to write. Aliens: Bishop took five months. Ghost of the Neon God was...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"T.R Napper\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/trnapper\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/trnapper\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-24T06:01:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-25T09:59:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"762\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1230\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"T. R. Napper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TheEscherMan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheEscherMan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"T. R. Napper\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"T. R. Napper\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e2c71ce403271f14e17e12bc5e97015\"},\"headline\":\"Three ways to write a novel: The Odyssey, The Fever Dream, and the Fix-Up\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-24T06:01:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-25T09:59:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/\"},\"wordCount\":1746,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e2c71ce403271f14e17e12bc5e97015\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"36 Streets\",\"Aliens: Bishop\",\"cyberpunk\",\"cyberpunk books\",\"Ghost of the Neon God\",\"on writing\",\"T. R. Napper\",\"The Escher Man\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Fiction\",\"On Writing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/\",\"name\":\"Three ways to write a novel: The Odyssey, The Fever Dream, and the Fix-Up - T.R Napper\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-24T06:01:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-25T09:59:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2.jpg\",\"width\":762,\"height\":1230},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Three ways to write a novel: The Odyssey, The Fever Dream, and the Fix-Up\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/\",\"name\":\"T.R Napper\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e2c71ce403271f14e17e12bc5e97015\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e2c71ce403271f14e17e12bc5e97015\",\"name\":\"T. R. Napper\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/blade-runner-roy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/blade-runner-roy.jpg\",\"width\":680,\"height\":456,\"caption\":\"T. R. Napper\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/trnapper\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/trnapper\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheEscherMan\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Three ways to write a novel: The Odyssey, The Fever Dream, and the Fix-Up - T.R Napper","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Three ways to write a novel: The Odyssey, The Fever Dream, and the Fix-Up - T.R Napper","og_description":"The Escher Man took me ten years to write. Aliens: Bishop took five months. Ghost of the Neon God was...","og_url":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/","og_site_name":"T.R Napper","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/trnapper","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/trnapper","article_published_time":"2024-10-24T06:01:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-10-25T09:59:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":762,"height":1230,"url":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"T. R. Napper","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@TheEscherMan","twitter_site":"@TheEscherMan","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"T. R. Napper","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/"},"author":{"name":"T. R. Napper","@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e2c71ce403271f14e17e12bc5e97015"},"headline":"Three ways to write a novel: The Odyssey, The Fever Dream, and the Fix-Up","datePublished":"2024-10-24T06:01:40+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-25T09:59:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/"},"wordCount":1746,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e2c71ce403271f14e17e12bc5e97015"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2.jpg","keywords":["36 Streets","Aliens: Bishop","cyberpunk","cyberpunk books","Ghost of the Neon God","on writing","T. R. Napper","The Escher Man"],"articleSection":["Fiction","On Writing"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/","url":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/","name":"Three ways to write a novel: The Odyssey, The Fever Dream, and the Fix-Up - T.R Napper","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2.jpg","datePublished":"2024-10-24T06:01:40+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-25T09:59:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-2.jpg","width":762,"height":1230},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/three-ways-to-write-a-novel-the-odyssey-the-fever-dream-and-the-fix-up\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Three ways to write a novel: The Odyssey, The Fever Dream, and the Fix-Up"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#website","url":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/","name":"T.R Napper","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e2c71ce403271f14e17e12bc5e97015"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e2c71ce403271f14e17e12bc5e97015","name":"T. R. Napper","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/blade-runner-roy.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/blade-runner-roy.jpg","width":680,"height":456,"caption":"T. R. Napper"},"logo":{"@id":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/trnapper","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/trnapper\/","https:\/\/x.com\/TheEscherMan"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5191"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5210,"href":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5191\/revisions\/5210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nappertime.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}