Current Project: Untitled RA
Status: Slowly making progress on proposal
For the past few weeks, amid travel and sickness, self-induced last-minute revisions and editor line edits, I've been mulling over two books in my head. One is the new romantic adventure proposal I'm putting together for my agent. This is a true blue, search for treasure, run from the bad guys, side-step boobie traps, Indiana-Jones type adventure. Probably more so than my debut, STOLEN FURY. The other book is the second book in my paranormal series - tentatively titled DECEIVED - which isn't due until 12.1.09. Both books involve adventure, a "hunt" of sorts, but both are very different. As is my pattern, I tend to "think" through plots and characters long before I sit down to write, and I think maybe because I'm planning two rather than one, it's taking me a little longer than normal to start punching out words.
Yesterday, though, was one of those magical days I experience once in a blue moon. Where I not only sit down and write (1300 words on the RA proposal), but where plot points and characters start falling into line. I've blogged about this before - this magical (and there is no other word) phenomenon that happens to me as I'm working on a book. I'll write a scene, have no clue how the character I've introduced or the mystery I'm alluding to figures into the plot, get to the end of the scene, reread what I've written and think, "Huh." But because this has happened to me more than once, I now know to leave it and keep moving forward. And almost every single time, later in the manuscript, I'll discover that weird, makes-no-sense scene is the key to the entire book. I may not have understood it at the time I wrote it, but my subconscious obviously knew what needed to happen to get the story to the end.
Those of you who are die-hard plotters are screaming, "No way! I could never do that!" And I will concur with you. This is not a sane way to write a book. It's stressful. It's agonizing. It brings a writer to a stand-still (me!) 3/4 of the way through the book (every time) as I try to make sense of the odd scenes that seem to fit with nothing else. And I fought it...for a very long time. Until I realized, this is my process.
Surprisingly, this happened to me yesterday, though I wasn't writing, I was doing that "mulling over" thing with the 2nd paranormal. The paranormals are different from my RA's in that these books have an overarching plot - a war between the demons and my race of Argonauts. That plot will flow from book to book, even though each book will have it's own complete story. I introduced secondary characters in the first book, left mysterious hints about their pasts or links to my made-up world that even I didn't understand at the time I was writing it. But because I knew there would be other books in this series, I figured, "Oh well, I'll work that all out later." However, when the plot of book one wrapped itself up nice and neat, I thought, "Wow. I've done it without that agony and I've created a new process."
Not so, apparently.
Yesterday, yesterday, the magic that I've experienced before, hit me again, and I discovered (or maybe realized) how several of these "mysterious characters" I created in book one figure into the overarching plot. Because these books connect by plot (not just character), I didn't need to know who they were or how they factored in just then, but now that I'm working on a second book, I need to know. After that aha! moment, I walked around in a fog most of the afternoon, not sure if it was me or the cold medicine I was taking. And I thought, long and hard about this paranormal book, the first one, and every other book I've written up to this point.
I have not been writing near as long as some of you. I haven't written close to the number of books some of you have. But I'm starting to realize my pattern (faith, trust, magic...insanity???) rings true for every book or series I work on. I don't know everything when I start a book (even though, with the first paranormal, I thought I did), I don't know what mysterious characters will pop up to confuse my plot. I do know that there will be at least one, and that I won't know how they factor in, but eventually, he or she or the situation will bring me to the end of my book.
I call it magic. I'm sure some would say split personality or complete and utter lunacy. Whatever it is, it works for me, and I'm past the point of trying to fix it and write the way the "experts" say I should be writing. Sure, I may get frustrated along the way, but the process has never let me down, and I firmly believe as long as I trust in it, it never will.
What's your process? Have you learned to stop fighting it? Is it different from book to book or do you see a pattern in how you put a story together?
5 comments:
You don't know how happy I was to read this post! This line in particular made me want to dance the Snoopy dance of joy:
Whatever it is, it works for me, and I'm past the point of trying to fix it and write the way the "experts" say I should be writing.
In all the self-analyzing I've been doing lately about my writing, I've realized that part of the frustration I've been experiencing is that I also can't write the way the "experts" say it should be done. I used to think, because I'm a pretty analytical person, that I'm a plotter. That I need to know the details of what's coming next and who all the characters are down to the color of their nail polish. But...if I plot more than the broad strokes of the first few scenes (and perhaps the end), I get bored with what I'm writing.
And I know exactly what you mean by magic. Before I tried to shoehorn my writing into a mold that doesn't fit me, I used to let a story take me where it would. And lo and behold, that magic you're talking about would happen. I think it's because my subconscious mind was free to work on the details without being fettered by "the Rules." Sure, there are scenes that never work and have to be cut, but those turn out to be surprisingly few. Best of all is the feeling you get, isn't it? The one where you marvel at what you've produced and wonder just where the heck it came from.
That's the feeling I'm working on recapturing. It's amazing how suddenly my subconscious is coming up with ideas for stories that excite me, now that I've said screw it, I've got to do this my way.
I'll never forget a writer's weekend at the coast, Alice, Danita, and I were at. Jo Beverly gave a presentation about writing into the mist. She doesn't plot, just gets characters and an idea in her head and starts writing. I thought right then if she can sell book after book and write that way I can too since I've never plotted a book and when I do, I just get totally frustrated because I can't answer question that need answered until I've walked a mile in my character's shoes. T
'Writing into the mist' has worked for me for thirteen books, so I'll stick to the MAGIC of 'writing into the mist' that works for me.
Congrats, Eli on figuring out your work method.
Way to work out your own method, Debbie!
Awesome, Eli!
For the most part, I'm a detailed plotter. I used to envy people who could write without plotting and wonder why I couldn't do that.
Then like you, I realized it doesn't matter what the "experts" say or what process we use to write our stories. As long as it works for us, it is magic.
So glad you had a "magical" day yesterday!
I love this post. It's ironic that most of you see me as the synopsis guru and all that. I have never maintained that a synopsis is the be all, in fact, I wrote the first twenty books I sold with never, ever writing a synopsis. A synopsis is a map and more than anything, it's a way to sell a book before it's written. It also can keep a book moving when the brain goes dead. Not that that ever happens to me. Er, never.
I love the magic of "writing into the mist" too, Paty. too. I love the fact that a minor character has a cold in chapter one and by the end, that cold holds the answers to everything. How fun is that?
Eli, I'm so glad your fertile brain is working overtime (maybe it likes the effects of cold medicine...) This current project of mine has me writing on faith -- faith that if I put the words down, the inspiration will come. I have never agreed with the Nora Roberts quote (here misquoted) "Just write. You can't fix something that's not written down," until now.
Congratulations on the magic and in understanding your method!
Great post Dudette. I'm totally pickin' up what yer laying down.
When I first started writing I just went for it, it was crap, but I wrote a lot more than I did before I started trying to follow rules. Now I'm back to just writing and letting it flow and it's working. Screw the expert's rules. I just wanna write.
I don't chart out ANYTHING anymore and the words come. If I know too much because I've written it down and thought it all through to the end, then it sucks and I get stuck when I sit down to write. And suck and stuck ain't no good, baby.
It was fun to read your post and see where you're at; and it's great to hear you're doing so awesomely. Or awesomeness. U R da pwnage!
Stay healthy. That's an order. ;)
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