As I'm sitting here trying to focus on editing Mackenzie Falls in the little free time I have at night, I start to think about a new book idea. More like new characters that are clamoring for my attention. Trying to push my much beloved Ellie and Cole to the side as they say, "Look at me. Listen to me. I have so much to tell you. You've already spent so much time with those two. Come meet me and my world."
Well new character friends of mine, I can't. As much as I'm excited to meet you and want to explore the world you live in I can't. Having set the goal of finishing edits and beginning to send out submissions to literary agents before starting on a new book, I must stick to it. Cause once my mind is set on exploring where these new characters will take me, I will loose precious time and momentum I've put into Mackenzie Falls. And having just crossed that one year mark, I'd like to actually have a fully completed project. Unlike my first novel, Drew, which sits in a finished first draft waiting to be cleaned up and ready to be presented to the world. A world that has been evolving and waiting for the last 4-5 years (from original concept to evolving from book notes to screenplay back to novel all the while the charcters, plot, and location changed). Thinking about it now, the original idea with one or two tweaks could be a completely different story from what it ended up as. Funny how time does that.
Anyways back to what I was saying.
In the last two weeks I don't have one new set of characters that want my attention, but two. TWO! Ahhh my brain is going to explode with all my new imaginary friends that want to have their stories told. I know what it sounds like. Imaginary friends? Um hello crazy person. But think about it. For me to write I have to get to know my characters. I don't per-say actually talk to them or play with them like a child would. In a way though they do talk to me. Showing me the way into their lives as I see their story evolve the more I get to know them. They create themselves and introduce themselves to me. Not the other way round. If I force everything about them then it feels that way...forced and fake.
Some people like to dive into typing up their story right away, but what can I say I do things differently. I like write things out by hand as much as possible, as well as doing a complete break down of well everything. It's practically a dossier. Everything and anything I might need to know while editing or creating. Background on the characters, physical description, medical history, anything that might be a motivation as to what they do, why they do it and what made them become who they are.
Character bio's aren't the only thing that go into what I call my workbook, a 3-ring note book dedicated to that specific project, I also have chapter break downs, story arch plot point charts for all characters big and small, any research notes that I take when I want to be as specific as possible on locations or organizations that I don't know much to begin with. With research for the most part I like to create my own world, so I'll take some information on something and tweak it so that it works for the world I'm creating.
Yes this is a lot of work that gets done before I type anything up or start working things out on paper. But I've done my first book without making a real organized workbook and that is why it's still sitting waiting to be edited. I created a world that doesn't have enough laws and rules in it. With it taking place in a world with super natural creatures I need this things to explain why everything is happening the way it is. Without everything 90% figured out it can get a little messy when it comes to editing.
Or you end up like Iam with Drew. Finished messy product that I now will be going back over with a fine tooth comb creating a new workbook to help me make a better product to put out there. And that will take a whole lot more work than if I had the workbook done before I started. Lesson learned.
With Mackenzie Falls I started the workbook when I was mostly finished with writing it all out by hand and was in the process of typing it up. Or what I like to call round one of edits. I find that when I write by hand that I can smooth things out from between writing sessions or fix a few things that I thought had worked but didn't as I type it.
With Drew, I didn't do that so much. Yes I had things written out, in paragraph format, and bullet points, but it was a bit of mass chaos that only I could read and no one else. So when I sat down at the computer it was expanding the chunks of what I had originally noted. Year's latter most of what I wrote I can't quite understand where I was going with. Also for some reason I had the great idea of using both end of the note book, writing back to front and front to back. Umm weird? Yup. Front to back I wrote out the story ideas. Where back to front was editing notes, character bios, and research notes. Needless to say that a three ring binder was decided to be used after this so that I can take things out and move them around, which can't be done in a spiral notebook.
Yes, I've only worked on two novels, and I'm still learning what works best for me, and I'm finding that each book is different. That with working a full time job and finding time a lunch makes it hard to type things up. (Having to haul a laptop around can be a pain when you only get a short time to work on it) So I like to do things by hand. And for some reason I just like the feel of working things out by hand better than typing things up right away. But when I have the time and focus for it, a pen and paper just don't cut it. I have to crank up the music on the headphones, and type till my brain is completely empty. My characters having been talked to death and we all need a break. But to be honest those times are few and far between, with having a full time job that has a full two hour commute each day, on top of writing for TALImag. I have a full plate. Guess it's a good thing I don't have a real deadline with the books, otherwise I might go a little crazy.
So how do I do it? How do I finish a book in less than a year, with having different ways of putting things together? Well one thing is guaranteed... a workbook needs to be made. It's my map to the new world I'm creating and will always be added to through out the whole writing process. And for now I will keep writing things out by hand before typing them up. Carrying a notebook wherever I go helps me do this. Five free minutes? Add to it. Get home? Type it up. Continuously adding to the page count is the goal. In the end it will get you a first draft.
Write everyday. A page. A sentence. A character bio. Some research. That is the beginning of every story. A character or a sentence that grows in your head badgering you to explore to want to put the time and effort into evolving...seeing where it will take you.
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