I don't begin a book with a detailed plan anymore - if anything, it's much more exciting to start with as little idea as possible of what's going on.
The book I'm writing right now is a case in point.
After I finished The Sound of the Dark, I began a thriller. I got stuck on it back on February. Something wasn't right, but I couldn't tell what. So I put it aside (and will hopefully go back to it at some point, figure out what was wrong and finish the job.)
But in the meantime, I needed to begin something entirely new.
So I asked Mrs Church for a word, to use as a prompt.
She gave me the word moon. So I wrote the first sentence I could think of that included it.
The sentence became a paragraph. The paragraph became a scene, and then a chapter. By the end of it, I had some ideas as to what came next. Some of it was based on old story ideas I'd never managed to make work in the past. Some was entirely new.
I had no plan, but I could see a few chapters ahead, and as I went on I started to see a general shape to the story. It got clearer and more defined as it went on. Past a certain point, my notes did start looking like a plan - although one that could be changed considerably at very short notice.
Now, though, the finish line is in sight. The last few chapters have come into very sharp focus, and I just finished another of them today. Now I know for certain that I'm two chapters from the end - well, one chapter and an epilogue, to be absolutely precise! Fingers crossed, it'll be done this week.
This has been a big beast of a book: it will probably clock in, when edited, around the 150,000 word mark. Bigger than The Hollows, The Ravening or The Sound of the Dark.
I've no idea what will become of it. The Ravening sees publication in fifty days' time. The Sound of the Dark comes out next year. Beyond that, my future as a writer is up in the air. A lot will depend on how those two books perform, and even if they do well, there's no guarantee that this one will be what publishers want.
It could be I'm about to put the finishing touches on a 150,000 word white elephant. But there's not much to do except finish it, then pass it to my beta-readers. And while I wait to hear from them, to start on something else.
I've been planning for a while to start a newsletter, as an easier way to keep readers abreast of what I'm doing. I hope to have something ready soon. Watch this space!
Until next time, be well.
Daniel. :)
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