Dipping a Toe In

Most folks who know me or who read my blog know some of my favorite time is spent water walking in the awesome pool at my health club. I dip my toes in the water and dip my head into the story line I'm working on at the same time.  I just completed the second book in my Revolutionary War trilogy, and while it's out with my beta readers, my mind wanders to the final book in this series. The first two books have featured a prominent secondary character named Patterson Lovejoy, an active member of the Sons of Liberty. It's now time for his story.

In the first two books, Patterson was happily married to Margaret and they had four children. At the end of book two, Margaret was expecting their fifth child. But, as was the case so often in colonial days, she died in childbirth, and he is left with five children and a Revolutionary War to take care of.

I had his name and backstory but was puzzling over who to pair him up with. So, I went to the pool yesterday and pondered about who would be perfect for a man like Patterson. By the time I toweled off, I had her name, at least. Enter Eleanor Chastain, a British governess who doesn't know her own strength.

To get the rest of the story, I'll have to make multiple trips to the pool in the next few months. Should be fun, and I'll get a workout while I'm working out their story.

What To Do?

Most of us who write walk around holding imaginary conversations in our heads with our characters. Sometimes these one-sided talks are lively and productive, but sometimes, our characters have minds of their own.

Such is the case with my latest couple–Lily and Angus. I've tried to write their story three different ways now, and just when I think I've got the right formula, one of them does something to totally overturn my plans. Their mutual attraction, upon which neither can act, is about to kill me.

I do some of my best plotting while floating in the pool at my nearby health club.

I haven't been able to get there for the past week, due to family being in town and other obligations. But I plan to go this afternoon, to ponder which road to take Lily down while I float in an Olympic-sized salt-water pool. If I don't drown, I just might have another chapter to write upon my return. Or maybe Angus (or Lily) will hold my head under the water.

Stay tuned.

Starting Over?

I put the finishing touches on my second book in my Regency series with a few questions in my own mind, which were confirmed by my agent. I didn't like the fact I had painted my hero as an alcoholic, even though I've had a lot of experience with such men and seen more than one give up the bottle when a good woman enters the picture.

I also didn't like that I made him a fugitive from justice, and had to stay in England against his wishes. That was too much the same plot point as I had in the first book in this series. To say I finished it while in the midst of chaos is an understatement. So when my agent bounced it back to me with the request for a total rewrite, I didn't object, but didn't know which way to turn.

Should I rewrite it, pulling out the problematic parts and put the puzzle pieces back together, knowing they won't all fit? Or should I toss out all those words which I pounded out over several chaotic months, rethink the whole idea and start over? Should I go back to square one and think about the seven basic plot points?

Number One. The Back Story haunts the central character.
Number Two. The Catalyst gets the character moving. It’s part of the story’s setup.
Number Three. The Big Event changes the character’s life.  
Number Four. The Midpoint is the point of no return or a moment of deep motivation.
Number Five. The Crisis is the low point, or an event that forces the key decision that leads to your story’s end.
Number Six. The Climax or Showdown is the final face-off between your central character and the opposition.
Number Seven. The Realization occurs when your character and/or the audience sees that the character has changed or has realized something.

Right now, the only thing I like about this book is the blue and green tartan my hero proudly wears.

I'll let you know which way I go with this. But regardless of which way the wind blows, it will blow a blue and green tartan plaid.

Fast Or Slow?

Years ago, before I realized I was a better writer than a seamstress, I made quilts. And years ago, there were two schools of thought regarding quilting–you could either do it fast or you could do it slow. The fast way involved machine sewing all those little squares and triangles together and then either tying your three layers together (backing, batting and top) or doing a minimal amount of hand quilting. The Long Arm quilting machines were only then coming into existence.

The slow way involved cutting out each individual triangle or square from a template and pinning it to the next piece to make a block, which then was joined to another similar block. Borders were added and then it was all pinned together and the three layers were painstakingly quilted by hand. Believe me, punching a needle through three layers of fabric and batting was not for the faint of heart and it was a source of pride when you could get your quilting stitch fine and consistent enough to reach 10 or 12 stitches to the inch. The quilt shown here was laboriously hand sewn and hand quilted while I was racing around the country years ago. While my friend took over the driving, I stitched the little triangles together in my lap. The pattern was appropriately called the Wild Goose Chase.

I attended a quilting exhibition on Friday and was amazed and disappointed to find only two quilts that were quilted by hand. There were some exquisite tops in vivid design and detail, but to me, the effect was lost because of the long arm machine quilting. As intricate as the stitching was, the quilts didn't have the puffy consistency that you got from hand quilting. They looked flat to me.

So why am I telling you this? Because last weekend, I attended a writer's conference where one of the  speakers talked about outlining your novel before you begin writing it. Her goal is to publish six books a year, and in order to do so, she creates an extensive outline for each one before starting. Her detailed chapter outline even included snippets of dialogue that she thought would be appropriate in the chapter. It's the writer's version of the long arm quilting machine.

I'm not one to disparage a writer's methods. We each have to find our own way of being creative, and if someone like Danielle Steel or this woman from the conference thinks outlines are the way to go, who am I to argue? If it works for them, fine. But to me, it felt flat. Leaving no room for creativity to take over in the middle of a scene, to connect the dots that only your subconscious is aware of before they come together on the page, seems more like a grind than a grin. But that's me and that's why I can't produce six books a year.

What about you? If  you're a plotter, do you use an outline? Write the synopsis first? Use a beat sheet?  How detailed do you get before you begin to put words on a blank screen?

Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks

I attended a workshop at the Medina library yesterday morning. After publishing sixteen books, having one more in the editing stage which has gone on way too long, two completed and under consideration by various publishers and another which I'm still working on, I really didn't think I'd learn anything new. I only went to help fill up the room, since so many of my romance writing chapter mates were out of town.

The workshop was on plotting, and presented by Mary Ellis. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mary+ellis&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amary+ellis

Mary's a local talent, but she writes Amish books and mystery books, neither of which are my chosen genre. She also writes romances, but they're inspirational and don't contain any sex scenes or vulgar language. Also not my type of writing. Over the years I've tried various types of plotting software and have kind of developed my own method, but my first drafts are always short on word count. I can usually rectify this by the second or third draft, but I'll never be a JK Rowling type of writer.

So here I was, warm body in a chair in the room, Mary giving insight about the way she plots (by chapter and word count)  and how she lays out sub-plots and secondary characters and it hit me. The lightbulb truly went off over my head and I glanced around the room to see if anyone else witnessed the flash of light.

In this current work of mine, I have two brothers returning home from the Civil War. They are so desperate for money they steal from my heroine's father and the heroine goes after them. But I've never explained WHY they are desperate. What a great sub-plot! What a great way to add to my word count! What a great idea to turn these cardboard cut-outs into somewhat sympathetic characters!

Not exactly the bad guys in my book, but you get the drift.

My advice to every writer who reads this is go to every workshop you can, because you never know when inspiration will strike. The library is a great resource, since the workshops are free, but there are events scheduled in northern Ohio throughout the year for whatever genre you write, or want to write, in–children's lit, cozy mystery, romance, you name it. All you need is an open mind and the willingness to listen and then apply what you've learned. And it's never too late to teach an old dog new tricks.