Thursday, April 8, 2010

Setbacks

I don't know about anyone else, but I've always had a hard time writing when I'm not feeling well. The last few days haven't been good for my goal for that very reason. But I did manage to get at least a few pages done every day, and I'm feeling a lot better now. I'm planning on finishing Chapter Fifteen today, along with an outline of the rest of the book. It may seem strange to many of you that I don't have that outline done already, but this is a system that's worked really well for me. When I write the beginning of a book, I like to go without anything other than my general setting and character ideas and a general idea of where I want the book to go. Each chapter can go beyond my original thoughts and events can go in different directions than I planned. This is where I get a lot of my sub-plots and character development, and my stories end up a lot better for it. Halfway through, though, everything changes. I need to make an outline and follow it, though I still give myself a little leeway, so that I can make it to the end the way I want to and without running too long. Making a book longer is easy, but getting everything you want into a limited number of words can be pretty difficult.
Once I get the halfway-point outline finished, the book itself usually doesn't take much time to finish either. Hopefully that will be the case this time too.
Tomorrow, I will be posting the blurb for the Craftmaster, so check back!

3 comments:

  1. I write very similar to you. I usually know my main character, and maybe a couple others. I know the basic story line as well. However, sometimes I don't even know how I want the story to end until after I have started writing. Most of the time, I just start writing and then while I'm writing I just imagine what I want to happen and then I just write that down.

    However, unlike you, I have had a setback in my writing for over a year. However, I plan to hop back on the horse starting in May.

    And I can't wait to hear "the blurb" for Craftmaster. I'll definitely be checking back soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm sorry you're not feeling well - let me know if you need dinner or something... so I can read more book! =) (And because I love you) ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I totally understand the creative block when not feeling so well. My children brought home something funky from school and passed it along to me. Suddenly, projects that would normally be a piece of cake have become a ridiculous uphill battle. Silliness. Hope you feel better, and can't wait for the 'blurb'.

    ReplyDelete