Years ago–back in the Stone Age–I decided to write my first novel. And so I had a basic idea and I took that idea, sat down and started writing. Two years later, I had a book, sort of.
Actually, it was a mess. I wasted a lot of time because I would start chapters not knowing where I wanted to go. And then I would write myself into corners. And then I would come up with miraculous saves to get my character out of said corners.
Yeah, it was a disaster, but it was also a learning experience. I tell my writing students that no writing project is a waste of time, because you are bound to learn something regardless of how good or bad the final project ends up being.
What I learned was the value of outlining. On the surface, outlining seems boring and a waste of time. But I have learned that if you do it right, it saves you an incredible amount of time; time that you would otherwise spend spinning your wheels writing.
This project I am currently working on–I’m calling it The Stones of Truth–has been a major challenge for me. It is the fourth in a series of books, our Foundation series, and so there are some expectations that come with it. You already have the major characters, and you have to continue from where you left off in the previous book. On the other hand, you can’t automatically assume that the reader read the last book, so you have to include enough back story in the first few chapters so they will know what is going on.
In addition–call me crazy, I know–I decided to write a book where I have two completely different storylines going on: one in Tennessee, and the other in Texas, England, and Israel. It complicates things, and adds a lot of characters. It is something I have struggled with, and at first I thought I would need to do a complete outline before I started writing. But I couldn’t figure out the story enough to outline it, so after a while, I decided to write the first four chapters, THEN complete the outline.
That seemed to work. Today, I am pleased to announce that the outline is about 95% complete, and with the exception of the usual changes that happen as the story morphs and evolves, it is good to go. Now on to Chapter 5!
More about this project as I continue.
The Great Adventure 