Sketching Stories
Mar 18, 2022 6:11 pm
The Nuts and Bolts of Novel Writing
Every time I write a novel, it feels like the first time. Some people say they are “planners” who outline everything, and I did this once (Parasitic Souls), and other people are “pantsers” as in “fly by the seat of your pants” people. The problem with outlining is that sometimes you don’t know what your characters will do until you get to know them as people, and the problem with making it up as you go along is that it’s easier to have plot holes that need to be extensively reworked.
If I have a process, it’s that a scene appears in my mind that fascinates me, and I write it down, and then figure out how the characters got there. I almost always think that it’s going to be the first scene in the novel, and I’m almost always wrong. It’s kind of a shame knowing that thousands and thousands of hard-won words will eventually just get deleted, but it’s part of the process.
Sometimes it feels more like I'm trying to figure out what the truth is rather than creating things, like the thing exists in the ether and I'm a stage psychic saying "I'm sensing a woman? A man? Definitely a woman. Name begins with R or maybe J" and then eventually it "feels" right. To write a novel, you need more than just one good idea. You need 100 good ideas and throw away the 70 that don't work.
I've got some good characters, at least. Felix and Sam from Wyvern's Sigil are going to be in there. I'm also going to bring in some of the characters from Warlock's Blood. I know I want a heist novel, because Sorrow's Apprentice was one of the most fun books I ever wrote (but also one of the hardest). I'm bringing back a minor character from Sorrow's Apprentice, because I think of him as a Lawful Good paladin type and those are the party members who can cause the most trouble for everyone else. What are they going to do? Steal something. How? Not a clue. But I trust I'll eventually figure it out.
Just a few vampire bros hanging out, playing games, having fun and smoking pot all day. And then the psychopathic warlock had to ruin all their fun.
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Vampire agent Sulie has been in love with the same human man for nearly thirty years. As her human boss' memories of Sulie and the last thirty years of his life are about to be erased, does she confront her fear of intimacy and take a leap of faith before it’s too late? (Free)
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