Hey Folks,
I might as well let you in on a secret. In writing my current WIP, I’m doing something I’ve never done before. And actually, I’m doing something I don’t enjoy. At all.
At less than 6,000 words in (as of yesterday) I already know most of the plot points and the satisfactory resolution of the novel. Ugh.
How in the world does anyone write from an outline? Seriously, I don’t understand. If they already know the story beforehand, how are they not bored out of their mind as they put it on paper?
It seems to me that knowing every major plot point, every major twist and turn and even the ending, would force the writer to write from the conscious, critical mind just to keep to the outline. Again, OMG Ugh.
I mean, if they have a general idea of where the story’s going, I get that. But to plan in advance the major plot points, to force a definition on each character, and to know even the ending? No wonder so many writers feel that writing is “drudgery.”
I don’t want to know those things, especially the ending. Knowing in advance what’s going to happen is boring. That’s exactly why I don’t outline things before I write them.
Usually when too much of an idea occurs to me, I don’t bother with writing it. So why am I writing this one?
I can’t explain, really, except to say if I didn’t write it there would be a hole in the series. Or maybe it’s because the idea is so strong that it will remain in my head until I write it and publish it. So I’m going into this mostly to get it over with.
I believe those readers who enjoy this series will enjoy this story too. But it’s difficult for me because I already know the story.
For this one, for the most part, for me, there’s zero excitement. Why? Because I’m not racing through the story with my characters, my heart pounding with excitement as I try to keep up and record everything that’s happening.
In this one, my characters and I are sitting in a quiet detective squad room and a couple of them are telling me the story. Then I have to translate the story into action, though I wasn’t able to run through it with them as it happened.
Very weird. This might be the first time I’ve actually “worked” as a writer. I don’t like it.
There’s still some excitment involved as I write a necessary scene and the in-scene characters reveal a minor twist or turn. In fact, if a scene took off I’d gladly go along. But that won’t happen on this one. I guess you could say I’m writing this one from a kind of outline, albeit under protest.
I’ll get through it, though probably with a novella or very short novel (I already know the ending, after all), and then move on to the next WIP.
For this one, I made an exception. I won’t say I’ll never do it again, but I will say vehemently that I hope I do not.
Fairly good writing day today, especially given the circumstances.
See you tomorrow.
Of Interest
See Dean’s “How To Write Thirty Stories In Thirty Days While Moving” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/how-to-write-thirty-stories-in-thirty-days-while-moving/.
See Sue Coletta’s “The Wagon Wheel of Suspense” at https://killzoneblog.com/2018/04/the-wagon-wheel-of-suspense.html.
Via The Passive Voice, see Nathan Branford’s “A guide to social media for authors” at https://blog.nathanbransford.com/2018/04/a-guide-to-social-media-for-authors. This looks pretty good to me, and I suspect his ideas will be better than any I could give you on the topic.
Also via TPV, see “6 Top Ways for Indie Authors to Make Self-published Books More Discoverable and More Competitive on Amazon” at https://selfpublishingadvice.org/book-marketing-6-top-ways-for-indie-authors-to-make-self-published-books-more-discoverable-and-more-competitive-on-amazon/.
Fiction Words: 3273
Nonfiction Words: 640 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 3913
Writing of Stern Talbot, PI—The Early Years: The Case of the Missing Body
Day 1…… 2790 words. Total words to date…… 2790
Day 2…… 2959 words. Total words to date…… 5749
Day 3…… 3273 words. Total words to date…… 9022
Total fiction words for the month……… 6232
Total fiction words for the year………… 116500
Total nonfiction words for the month… 1360
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 35120
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 196673
Calendar Year 2018 Novels to Date………………………… 3
Calenday Year 2018 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
Calendar Year 2018 Short Stories to Date……… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 29
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 4
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………………… 182