Chickens, Eggs, Plots, People…it’s all the same really.
MAR 13, 2025
Dear Reader,
If you read my Book News last week you might have noticed that my goal was to start putting actual words on the new work in progress on Monday.
*stares at the mostly blank page*
Yeah, that didn’t happen.
I did, however, spend the week getting to know all the people in my new town, even the ones I thought I already knew. They now live and breathe in my head and they’re all staring at me with looks ranging from “really, you’re still here?” to “Get on with it!”
How much “getting to know them” time does an author need when starting a new project?
At a certain point getting to know them turns into procrastination which is not a great way to get anything done, really. I know that. You know that.
The people in Bramble Cove, my new town, know that.
Like Mystic, they’re already judging me. That…can’t be good.
Every new project I tackle brings with it a new writing process. I’m usually a plotter. Meaning, I like to focus on the plot points first. I usually don’t start writing until I have an entire outline with every chapter sketched out. The people were crafted to fit the story I wanted to tell, especially when I was writing urban fantasy.
Then I met Ms. Edwina, and I took a few classes with someone called Margie Lawson, both of whom stress the importance of character driving plot, not the other way around.
The Bellamy Sisters were my first attempt at trying to do that, though I wound up in the muddy middle, trying to balance both people and plot like tightrope walkers. I think taking the characters more into account helped get the story in my head onto the page, but I’m always trying to improve things.
So this time, I focused entirely on the characters first.
Now I’m having this moment of paralyzed anticipation, like I’m standing at a cliff’s edge teetering on the balls of my feet. I should let go. Take the plunge. Trust the story to catch me.
I’ll probably write five thousand words of babble that I end up deleting because I veered off into some weeds. You’d be shocked how often that happens, even for a plotter like me. But at least there’d be words on the page. It’s impossible to edit a blank one, so…it’s a way forward. Right?
*stares at the blank page*
This is the fun part, believe it or not.
Until next time,
**Book News**
GaG — Since I don’t have any lines to share, especially not a favorite one, I’ll share another one of my favorite stores on Main Street. The Noctuary – Selling stationary, journals, and pens along with special inks. The owner, Sarah, also takes commissions to restore and resurrect old magical texts.
Our new digs have all wood floors. There’s no carpet anywhere. It turns out, the cats hate that. We put a rug down in the office and they’ve both taken to rolling around on it like happy pigs in a sty full of mud.