So You Want to Write A Book

I have decided to work on my second murder mystery before I put my first one out there. As my previous post suggests, I still have some paperwork I must tend to before putting my book out there and I have myself in a position to do nothing but write (oops, Brian just hee hawed, he knows we are almost up! I am late today, it is already almost light! Write and tend animals!)

So I think the first thing to decide is if you are someone who writes by the seat of their pants or if you are someone who writes with a plan. I am one who plans things out definitely. That is, for me, where the real work is, getting most of the connections and scenes and tension points and conflicts, etc figured out before I start. I do it visually with a mind mapping software called Scrapple I have on my Mac. I go so far as to get visuals of my characters and make a gallery with their names, relationships to each other, who is passive and who will be an active treat, etc.  Of course if you are doing a non fiction, it doesn't have to be this way and there are some great books out there now on how to write your life story!

Another great book that really helped get me started was The 12 Key Pillars of Novel Construction Workbook: Your Blueprint for Building a Solid Story Paperback by LC Lakin. She has been helping people with their writing of books for years and has chosen to write this in a very practical and visual way using construction as her way of explaining it all. It really helped me get my head wrapped around what I was doing, and the workbook was fine, In retrospect, I could have just bought the workbook, all the same information is in there. I will have a link below.

You know, when  you write, paint or do anything creative, there is a process you go through. Everyone does. I call it composting which I talk in more detail about in older posts as well as the creative process. Once I decide to write, I don't just jump in and spit out words, instead, I refresh myself on my ideas, do the questions in the workbook and get myself in the zone to write. Then that is what I am doing, writing. First however there is a period some may call procrastination, I don't! And I don't call it writer's block, instead, I consider it preparing the canvas. Getting it ready and putting out there all my tools. THEN one day, I will sit down and start, it will all be fresh in my mind, and I may not need to make any changes. With Scrapple, I can move things around on my plot plan and much like some people do the sticky notes they have on their wall!

And by planning, I don't mean I am slave to anything, some of the best changes can come when you least expect it!  My protagonist is older and forgetful, and while I am NOT her, I do have a few similarities, like if I am doing too much, I forget things. Sometimes during the course of the story, those things I forget can add a happy complication!

So, it you want to write, then write! Whether you map it all out like I do (so the book can be done in a month!) or you just write and edit and write and edit, it is all good. The most important part is: JUST DO IT!

Link to book