I dove headfirst into my next novel as soon as my kids went back to school last week. I'd brainstormed throughout the summer, so I already had a sense of the characters and the premise. On Wednesday, though, I pushed past brainstorming and finally began to draft.
At first, what a feeling!! I'd missed exercising those creative muscles, and I dutifully began typing out the opening image that I'd crafted over the summer. My protagonist was amenable, though I could sense her impatience to get to the deeper scenes that would come later on. But she was so happy to be on the page after all her waiting that she worked with me, albeit a bit grumpily.
It might sound odd when I describe my characters as real, but when I spend so much time thinking about them and developing them, that's how they feel. When I write scenes, I'm in charge of moving the characters and making them speak, but I also get the sensation that it's a collaborative effort, like I'm discovering them as I write.
Anyway, that's probably a post for another time! Let's get back to my current protagonist, who wasn't participating in the drafting as effortlessly as I'd have liked.
I took a break to walk in the fresh air, and when I returned, I had a clear scene in my mind. It takes place far from the opening chapters, though. I'm not even sure how the plot will lead to it or how it will fit into the bigger picture. But it was so vivid to me that I gave myself permission to write it, and the result was something much stronger than my opening paragraphs.
I used this same method to write the bulk of the initial draft of my first book. I skipped around to scenes that popped into my head and felt meaningful. Those scenes later became guideposts that I used to structure the story. As I moved the scenes around and filled in the gaps, clarity and consistencies emerged.
By allowing myself to skip ahead (or behind) to scenes that I wanted to write, I got to know my characters and I discovered the driving forces behind them. It was almost like writing fan-fiction for my own story (which brought out the FUN), and it made me feel (mostly) okay about cutting some of those scenes during subsequent drafts.
So, much to current protagonist's relief, I'm realizing that I'll work best if I apply the same philosophy this time around. I'll let my mind wander through my setting, greeting my characters as I pass them, and I'll write the scenes that excite me most. I have total faith that I can piece them together later. In fact, I'm looking forward to solving the puzzle!
This whimsical line leads to my town's library,
and its meandering path reminds me of my drafting process!
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