I finished the first draft of Forsaken Dreams, book 1 in the Escape to Paradise series. Yea! I always feel better when the first draft is done. That means I at least have a story to work with. I suppose writers who outline and plot everything before they start writing don't have this problem. They've already got the entire story, including every twist and turn, laid out before them. Me? I can't write like that.
They call us seat-of-the-pants writers and we are a rare breed. Most authors I know are plotters. Those darn plotters.. always plotting things!
The only thing I have firm in my mind about a new story is the beginning, the ending, and a couple of major events that will happen. I also have outlined each character in great detail as I showed you in prior posts, and I also have each main character's spiritual and character arcs pretty well defined. Then I put on the headphones, crank up the music (I listen to anything from classical to movie scores to Christian Rock to Alternative, depending on my mood) stretch my fingers, open up a new Word Doc and start pounding away.
Does it always flow naturally? NO. Sometimes I'm staring at that insidious blinking cursor for quite awhile. He's actually quite a taunting rascal, that one. But if I close my eyes and picture the scene, the characters in my head and get swept away in the music, the words will eventually come pouring out of me. This is my favorite part of the process. Complete abandon. No rules. No requirements, no editing, no research. I'm living in a movie inside my head.
That's when the creativity really kicks in and all these great ideas flood my mind. So, that's how I do it.
But now, my real work begins.
By the way, it's my daughter's birthday today. She is 30 years old! Happy Birthday, Sweetie!!
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