Ever have those days when you have a jumble of things on your mind that you have to sort out? Yes, well it’s one of those days er, weeks actually. I’ve been rather surprised by the overwhelming response for Love Notes. Chapter 5 is posting today, if you are so inclined to click over there and check it out!
This may cause me to rethink my stance on “Pantsing” my stories in the future. Love Notes started as an impulsive inspiration. (For the readers here’s a little insight into the catacombs of how my mind works. For the writers, the chambers vary but many are familiar with the process.)
What if?
The magical star stuff that fiction is made of. During a conversation with a friend, I got the spark of an idea. One spark was all it took and I was off and writing. I didn’t stop to plot things out until chapter 5. So I suppose if y’all start commenting differently past chapter 5, maybe I should go back to pantsing.
The same sort of inspirational spark happened for Kiss of the Dragon. While having a conversation with my daughter, a reference was made about the ‘Dragon Complex’. My eyes lit up, the gears clicked into place and my daughter said I got a strange, somewhat scary expression before I darted down the hall and began writing. Seventeen pages later, I asked her to read it and tell me what she thought.
She glanced down at the pages – my masterpiece – and looked back up at me like I was crazy for expecting her to be able to read my furious scribblings. (OK, so my handwriting isn’t the best!) From those seventeen pages it has blossomed into something much greater than I ever imagined. I’m discovering details as I go, and I am anxious for people to read it.
It’s sort of like the same satisfaction of preparing a great meal. When everything comes together it looks, smells, tastes fantastic! It may even sizzle. Waiting with bated breath for the reaction of the person dining; the expression of satisfaction, the moan of delight. Verbal praise or approval really isn’t necessary when you nail it! You know, you just know when you hit the ball out of the park!
You can prepare the same meal a thousand times. Sometimes it just doesn’t turn out right, but there’s the times when the family requests to have this again because it was that good. Writing is like that on a much larger scale. It takes time, a great deal of time to write a book. I have the whole story completed inside my head. Finding the time to get it down is frustrating at times. I know though that I nailed it.
I cook our family meals, and I’m a darn good cook! (Do you think I’d be overweight if I wasn’t?) There are times when I surprise myself, both good and bad. I’ve made the worst fried chicken I’ve ever attempted to eat – really it was bad. Conversely I’ve made the best coconut cream pie I’ve ever had – as well as the others who inhaled it then asked for the recipe. Here’s the down side to being a dump cook: when you tweak the recipes you don’t always write down everything you did. So I spent several months trying to reproduce exactly what I did to make the perfect pie. Honestly, how much pie does one family need to consume? Ahhh, but when I ‘happened’ on the perfect combination again – I knew. The expressions, the slow savoring over each bite told me.
I think I’ve nailed a couple of my stories here. I”m still working on them. Trying to balance more writing time with family time, a job, a blog, and all those little unexpected things that come up. Stick with me and I think you’ll like the finished project.
Which leads right into the part that I had planned for today’s post – editing. After Editing Isn’t For Wimps, I received some emails and pms asking me how I edit. I will share that part on Thursday. It would make today’s post too long, and I’m sure everyone has other demands on their time just like I do.
I recommend you check out my friends over at Storytime Trysts. Free stories, who doesn’t like free?
Write on my friends, write on!
quotidiandose 