Over the course of the last year I have been writing intermittantly on a book that is new to my experience. It isn’t exactly a mystery, and not sci fi, and I haven’t any idea what it is. However, I have had the MOST FUN with it because it has posed problems I’d never encountered before.
The first difference was that I wrote most of it backwards. The scenes that streamed out were endings. I just kept shoving the printed chapters in the three ring binder and waiting to see what led up to the scene. What a cool run of energy emerged. I was off balance in a new way. I wondered if it was my characters playing a trick on me. They do this from time to time.
I ended up with around fifteen or more chapters that were 1) not really finished and 2) general enough to go in many places depending upon what plot line I chose. This was a source of confusion for a little while, but then I decided to sit down and write the opening, strengthen it, and see where things ended up. As I did this, I discovered there were mystery elements in the story, so I was in my comfort zone.
Next I looked for the details that allow the main characters to become more real. I had written little things all through the chapters because I had no idea where they would end up. I had to do some cut and paste to get the important stuff up front, but not so much that I couldn’t reveal the character over a series of chapters. This wasn’t much fun because it involved a puzzle piece sort of a mentality. I wasn’t happy for a while. But then the story began to emerge, and I got a blast of energy.
The freedom in nonsequential writing is that you can do pretty much anything you want. I had several story lines, which led to ideas for a couple more books in the series. That was good. I had one sub plot that I couldn’t fit anywhere. I stored it in a seperate folder for later. I wrote a couple of scenes over and over to see what would have the most dramatic effect. That was instructive. I saved everything because I often find good poetic language in those portions, and that might be what they were intended to do–bring forth the better writing.
I also attacked the agent letter. I hate doing those. Does anyone like doing them? If you do, let me know. I need encouragement from someone who is into the business side. The flaky things agents now want leave me cold. I actually called one agency and got snippy answers to simple questions. I didn’t just call blind, either. I emailed and was invited to call. Gheesh. They treat everyone as if they are idiots. I just hung up, shook my head, and threw their book away. Agents need to realize that with publishing moving more toward the self serve side, their jobs are imperiled. There’s lots of good material out there that the big houses could have made money on, but it now goes to the author.
And has anyone noticed how the quality of writing in books has gone to the basement? Yikes. I stopped buying new books because I’d get them home and be outraged at the lack of…everything. I can’t explain why there’s such a move toward crap–but that’s what has happened. How else do you explain Evanovich selling 75 million copies of basically a cartoon. Is it that the readers keep holding out hope that Joe Morelli and Steph Plum will once again have a hot scene? I don’t think Evanovich can produce it. She seems stuck on Lula and Fritos and chicken. What a bore! You can buy those books at the used book store for $2 bucks and save. Then you can get some back by turning it in. Better deal. The first half dozen books were fun, and the plots, although thin, were reasonable. Then…zoink. Nothing. Not believable. Not fun. No plot. No zing. I don’t care how many times Ranger says “Babe.”
But I digress. Writing is a great way to pour out your emotions that get clogged up for whatever reason. I dumped a whole bunch of anger into this latest book about a future war. Being a sniper for a while in a book has given me lots of fun times in my imagination. AND, I got to meet some dishy guys from special forces. Wish I were a lot younger so I could wink…
Anyway, I’ve been happier with this new book than I was with all my others. I streamed them front to back in a very short time–usually six weeks or so. My sci fi streamed in five months. They are all good books, but this one is just closer to my heart, even though it has been more of a struggle. Maybe I feared meeting up with this side of my emotional nature. Who knows? The experience has been terrific. Streaming is so much fun that once you learn it, you are free to write no matter what comes up in your frontal lobe. You can grab those sequences and save them for later. And one day…voila! You have a book!
