Friday, March 11, 2011

Where the Heck am I going?

Celebrate with me--I've just reached the stage in my new book when the end is in sight--I can see where the story is going and I KNOW I'LL BE ABLE TO FINISH IT!! Heavy sigh of relief.

Every book is the same tortured process--panic at beginning, worry until about page 150 then gathering momentum on the downhill slope to the finish line.
All this could be avoided if I could just outline the story in advance.

The problem is that I can't. I've tried. I can come up with a reasonably good outline for a story BUT it would be nothing like the story I'd end up with if I just let the book grow and develop. And if I had an outline, I'd feel obliged to follow it. Hence the book would not be as good.

Luckily I have wonderful editors who trust that I'll be able to come up with a book in the required length of time and don't demand to see a proposal. If they did want one it would say "she finds a body and then bad things happen to her."

So I have to let my characters stumble through their world, having things happen to them, meeting people I haven't anticipated, finding bodies where I least expected them and in the end it turns out that my characters (or is it my subconscious) knew pretty well where we were going.

Today on Jungle Red Writers , the group blog I belong to, mystery icon Carolyn Hart blogs about exactly this. She can't outline either... and you know, I don't think she's done too badly outlineless.

I hope to finish my first draft by the beginning of April. I'll keep you posted!

4 comments:

  1. I loathe, despise, and refuse to do outlines. And I don't write anything except blog posts and school papers! It's the school papers where I run into fits. The last time the professor demanded an outline, I had to write the paper first...and then do the outline.

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  2. Hi Rhys,

    Your books are way to good for you to even think of starting to outline at this point in time. And they keep getting better and better.

    I just finished Bless the Bride and I thought it was your best Molly book yet. That little "event" at the end has gotten my curiosity up as to what Molly will encounter next.

    A book is really good when I get so involved in the story that I'm actually there. I loose all track of time. I'll be reading, at some point look at the clock and say, "Oh my, I've been reading for three hours." That is a good book and that is what happens when I read yours.

    Elaine

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  3. Dear Rhys,

    Only a few month ago, I've read the first book of yours (Her royal spyness). Since then I've made my way through all the Georgie-books and now I'm half way through the Evans-stories (it´s not so easy to get these here in Germany, even in English). And I only can say: If you wrote all these wonderful stories without doing outlines, PLEASE don't start now! :-)

    Silke

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  4. I love your books. And I can't write with outlines either. Knowing that one of my favorite authors doesn't use them and still manages to write such great stories gives me hope. Do whatever works, I say, and it obviously works for you.

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