Hummingbirds, Snails, and a Heron

Oh my. The fires should be enough to tell me I’m in a different land, but there are so many other signs. Forget the obvious ones, like cactuses and palm trees. I can honestly say I’ve never seen as many hummingbirds as I have in the past few months. I’m sure they exist in the northeast and southeast, but I don’t remember seeing them. I admire their blurry-winged flights daily here. While walking up to a neighbor’s door the other evening, I gasped because I almost stepped on a snail. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve come across one of those. And then one of my favorite encounters . . . I was banging away at my keyboard, working out the final pages of my WIP, when a fascinating heron lands on our deck and decides to perform an elaborate act. Highly entertaining. Five stars. Needless to say, it was a lovely distraction.

I’m enjoying being awake to my surroundings here.

I’ve forgotten what rain sounds like. I almost ran downstairs last week because I thought it might be raining and I wanted to see it, but the gushing sound was only the lawn sprinklers. Certain trees rain here though. Not really, but they drizzle on your head. I haven’t figured out the name of these raining trees, but I have identified that they have flower blossoms in them. It’s pretty wild, and if I close my eyes when I’m under one of these trees I like to pretend I’m being rained on.

I share these things for two reasons. One, paying attention to everything around me helps me to feel more engaged with life. Two, moving like this has done a real number on selecting settings for my novels. Connecticut or New England has been home to most of my characters. I lived there for almost half of my life. It’s the place where my roots had the best chance to grow. During the short stopover in Georgia, I tried to envision characters there. Georgia never cemented as a fresh setting. California, however, is vining around me like a gorgeous Clematis. My eyes are opening to its thriving habitat, the land, and the people. I’m taking it all in. And maybe one day it’ll show up as the backdrop to a whole new cast of characters. Wonder if a heron will show up in that book?

The Hard Way

Restructuring around here. I’m back to posting on Mondays & Wednesdays.
Mondays I’ll focus on the Business of Creating.
Wednesdays will be all about The Love of the Craft (specific writing-related posts).
“The beginning is always today.” Mary Shelley

The Hard Way

Several summers ago, when we had a second story built on top of a portion of our house, our contractor didn’t really consider one important detail.

The vanity we’d already purchased would not fit through the doorways they’d constructed.

Which led to what happened in the picture above.

They found a way. The hard way. (Man, it was fun to watch though.)

How does this translate to novel writing? It begins with a confession. I’m not much of a plotter. I love the idea of characters being able to surprise me at any given moment while I’m writing a first draft. It thrills me knowing twists may come up out of nowhere. Think glorious blooms, not groundhogs.

However, through the years (and eleven novels later) I’ve learned it’s mighty helpful to have a few key concepts plotted. And after I spend time stewing, marinating, and plotting, I end up being rewarded twofold. During the revision process I don’t have to figure out how to hoist a 500 pound load on my back. In other words, I don’t have to work backwards and potentially rewrite three quarters of the book because it followed a rabbit trail. Or Uncle Jimmy filled most of the pages and it really wasn’t his story to tell. Second reward is that while crafting the first draft I still insist upon keeping the door open for twists to storm through. Guaranteed, there are always a few that insist upon dropping their luggage and moving in. I welcome them with open arms.

Now, I’m not claiming that once you plan your novel things always go according to plan. It’s by no means “easy” constructing a ninety thousand word manuscript. But, you save yourself from some of the pains you’d likely endure had you decided to forgo the brainstorming and plotting sessions.

So, what measures do I take before writing the first word? I make sure I have a firm handle on the basics.

The Basics

·         Introductions

I get to know the players. I do a psychological head dive to discern more about each and every character. I’ll go into more details about this in a future post.

·         Establish at least 3 Major Turning Points

Moments, events, hardships, decisions that challenge the main character, making life substantially harder for them.

·         POV (Point of View)

Who is best to tell this story? Whose story is this to tell?

·         Past or present tense?

·         Setting

·         Hook

What makes this story different than anything else I’ve read or come across? I craft a back cover blurb for every book I’m working on. I test it out on avid readers—see if it grabs their interest.

*I brainstorm twists, but I’m not rigid with this as they often grow roots and become more meaningful and developed as I work on the story.

Say no to the backbreaking way of novel writing. Don’t worry, novelist, I’ve got your back!