Beginning to End...or Not

Debra takes a look at her writing process.


I am not a beginning to end writer. Usually, when I have an idea for a story, I know how I want it to begin, and I know how I want it to end, but I generally have no idea of how I'll be getting from one to the other. Sometimes, I'll have ideas for key scenes that I'll jot down as notes. More often I'll just write and see where the story takes me. The more I get into it, the clearer things become, and soon the story takes shape.

With my current WIP, I have definitely followed this system. I wrote the first chapter and a bit beyond. I have the almost-to-the-end scene written, and I know what needs to happen for the HEA. But what I have in between are just a bunch of scenes. What I'm missing are the connections to draw those individual pieces together to make a story. I need to figure out how and why my characters are going to change throughout the course of the story. I have a pretty good handle on my heroine's motivation, but nothing as solid for my hero.

What I need to do is really dig into my characters' emotions. It's those deep POV gut-wrenching moments that are missing and making my story more like stand-alone vignettes rather than a smoothly flowing narrative with a cohesive plot and characters arcs. It's time to get beyond the superficial and see if I can actually make something of this project.

There's my goal. My conflict is I'm still not motivated to actually sit down and do anything about it. What I need to do is a read-through to refamiliarize myself with the story. It's been way too long since I've even looked at it. So that's my short-term goal for today. Like a homework assignment, I'm going to set myself the task of sitting down and reading through the mss. Hopefully, that will get my creative juices flowing. The right mindset is definitely a good place to begin.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com