Gratitude for the Unfolding Story
From the December 1st newsletter:
When I first started writing, I did very little outlining. I had a vague idea where I wanted the story to go, and I just wrote free-form, letting the characters develop themselves and the story unfold as it would. It was magical.
Nowadays, since I'm trying to make a living at it, with deadlines to meet and daily word counts to achieve, a good bit of outlining is an absolute necessity. And especially with writing an epic fantasy series. where world building needs to be intricate and detailed, I keep not only an outline of each novel, but a "bible" of sorts, with lists of characters, their descriptions and motivations, conflict maps, flora and fauna, "W" plot lines--the list goes on.
All this has made my writing more efficient. I can tell an editor six months ahead of time when the book will be ready, what the word count will be, and I can get it to them on time. But, in exchange for efficiency, some of the magic has been sucked from the writing process.
Yet, when I finally sit down to write, and the characters begin to develop, and the story begins to unfold in the glorious richness of its details, with action and dialog, I'm happy to say the magic returns. And so it has recently become with A Verse for Witches.
Whether I chose this profession, or it chose me--I think it was a little of both--I am so grateful to be a writer and that I can entertain you with some of my stories.
Just a reminder:
Now through January 4th, you can preorder the final book in the Spaceship Huey Adventures series for your kindle at 75% off the regular price--internationally!
