Monday Morning

A strange thing happened to me on Friday night. My husband got home from work and asked me "what do you have going on this weekend?" So I thought for a minute, then a minute more, and finally realized I didn't have a single thing that I HAD to do. Needed to do, sure - ought to do, of course, but not a single HAD on the list. It's a miracle! And one that I'm pretty sure hasn't happened since sometime before October of last year.

So I had a fabulous weekend. Of course, I still got some things done - saw 300 (which I will probably talk about tomorrow), bought new cushions for my patio furniture - and why didn't anyone tell me how expensive patio furniture cushions were - egads! Formula 1 season opened Saturday night and Ferrari won - WHOOHOO! Went and visited my parents on Sunday - had Mexican food, drove around a bit and sat outside and chatted - very relaxing.

On Friday, Helen asked some questions about my writing process and I'm going to try and answer them here. Here's the first set:

How do you begin your novels? Do you write pages of character descriptions? Do up type "Chapter One", start with the story and see where the narriative will lead you? Do you list or outline any at all?

My answer: It's different every time and for every book. Remember, I'm going to hell in my own way and you have to find the way that works for you. :) Writing method is a completely personal thing and one writer's method has nothing to do with what another should do. You need to start somewhere if you want to write and through trying different methods, you will find the perfect fit for you. That being said, I begin my novels with a concept - HIGH concept - nothing else will sell. If you don't know what high concept is - start your research there. I never write character descriptions - my characters develop out of my plot. I never wrote outlines until I had to sell on proposal. And believe me, even a proposal outline is subject to change when you start writing the book.

No one should worry about writing method when they're starting. They should worry only about getting a high concept idea and learning writing technique. How you apply the technique will evolve over time and it will rarely remain stagnant. Good books to start with on writing technique are Writing the Breakout Novel, Donald Maas; Scene and Structure, Jack Bickham. And remember, it took me years of studying (and I mean 40+ hours a week) technique, before I produced a saleable novel. Ultimately, the only way to ensure you've learned from what you've read is to write and write and write and write - until you're good enough to sell.

Do you ever reach a roadblock about 1/3 of the way into a book? If so, what do you do then?

All writers reach this roadblock. It's called the "sagging middle" and there are simply reams of information on it out in cyberspace and in technique books. Essentially, the answer to the sagging middle is simply - you write through it. Nora Roberts said two things that make a lot of sense to me: "Give yourself permission to write crap" and "You can't edit a blank page." Keep going. It's works itself out eventually.

Do you wait until a book is complete before you show it to your cp?

Again, this is one of those things that is different for every writer and every book. My process has evolved over time. I prefer to give my cp's the entire book. I am writing with mystery elements and want to ensure continuity in the story. It is much easier for cp's to catch a problem with continuity if they can read the entire story in a small window of time. That being said, when you're on deadline, that's not always feasible. I sent UNLUCKY out in two parts - first half, second half.

So enough of me for today. I'm off to reconcile accounts this morning and order some training manuals, and schedule a Webex training and all other manor of fun stuff I do at the day job.

Have a great day!