I’ve finished my WIP and put it away for a week or two so I can look at it with fresh eyes. Meanwhile I recall critiques from my writing group and reread DON’T SABOTAGE YOUR SUBMISSION by Chris Roerden and MANUSCRIPT MAKEOVER by Elizabeth Lyon. So now comes the exciting part.
I’m starting a new story that I hope will end approximately 70,000 words from now. How to begin? It feels a little like the first day in a new house. Can I afford the mortgage? Is there something hostile in the neighborhood I don’t know about? Or, I remember anticipating a first date with someone who looked so gorgeous from a short distance. Will he destroy all the scenarios I’ve been imagining? Or what about bringing home the new baby? It’s wonderful and scary and never exactly what the new parent anticipates.
I can’t bring myself to outline in detail—too restricting. I know the sleuth and the killer. How to make their story arcs intertwine without giving away the solution, that’s the problem. From glimpses of scenes I’ve not yet written, I believe this story needs multiple viewpoints. I developed different suspects for Act I, II, and III. I know where the bodies are buried. That’s not what will drive me forward or flesh out my imaginary world. The suspects and the bodies are like pegs where I can hang a scarf or a raincoat while I get down to work.
The new character I need to explore puts me in front of my laptop. I’m not sure I like her but I know I need to find out more about her. Right now, it seems her story and other characters will have to play secondary roles. She’ll bring me into my home office every day and nag at me while I’m driving or trying to sleep. That’s how I’m starting my story this time.
There have to be a thousand ways to begin and continue. I love to hear how writers reach their goals. I know individuals who need a special pen. Another writer revisits the setting for her story. One writer visits Staples and buys half a dozen
legal size yellow pads. How do you start and continue?
Pauline
My dog circles around her bed several times before lying down. The bed didn't change in the process, but the dog felt comfortable getting in after her routine. It strikes me that what you have described are the routines some writers use to feel comfortable.
ReplyDeleteMy preparation is mental. I outline as I write. I start with a sense of the story, but I'm always surprised by how the details fill in as I write.
So maybe I am like my dog. Maybe I thrice mentally circle the story I will be lying down with for the next days, weeks or months -- and then I put fingers to keyboard and begin.
~ Jim