The first Friday of 2022 feels like I’m embarking on a voyage! A friend picked “Venture” for her word of the year. I think that might apply to many of us, especially after the last couple of years… Fates willing, I won’t look like this pirate ship’s sails come December. (I actually used this photo for a short story about a female pirate…) I’m changing the way I check in with followers this year. I’ll be blogging every Friday with my writing and life updates and including an interesting (hopefully) photo.
Driving home from the barn this morning I thought about my WIP and how long it will take to complete. Then I realized that I’ve set myself up for another novella series, if I want it! I shouldn’t be surprised that this grew from a short story to a novella to a series. My projects seem to expand.
Since epiphanies seem to be like door-to-door salespeople in my mind, I had another one today about my writing process. I am a 100% discovery writer. We used to use “pantser,” but now “discovery writer” seems to be the more common label. I never know where my stories are going, who or how many characters will make an appearance, or how it will end. Eventually, I’ll get a picture in my imagination of the ending. Some writers talk about a “soggy” or “boggy” middle. Mine happens closer to three-fourths of the way through. Once I know how the story will end, I will make a few notes about getting the characters where they need to be. Over the years, I’ve used this as a visual finish line. I jotted down about eight points last night, and so far, I’ve covered two. So, still a ways to go, but the path is clearer now. That doesn’t mean that other characters won’t pop up… in this story I need an FBI agent who is a friend of Heath’s. And I don’t know every piece of action that will happen or the dialogue of the characters. But I’m still planning to finish this one by next week!
Happy First Friday of 2022! Glad you all made it 🙂
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