How does a writer get from an idea to a finished book?
There are hundreds of ways. This is mine. This
process can occur at any speed although now I am a full time writer, it happens
faster. I start with an idea plus a question and I build a complex
story in about three months. The thing is—the complex story I create is the
BACK story, not the book. Generating the first draft takes another thirty days,
IF I stick to my schedule.
Writers discuss at great lengths the
benefits of plotting or not plotting. I love organization. I like to know
details. And yet I love the discovery that comes serendipitously with writing
freely. It’s taken me two decades to find my process. I write mysteries and my process
caters to both styles.
My journey involved trying different
approaches. I wrote my first book with an idea, a cast of characters and a
location. Turned loose on the page, I produced a story that worked even if the
craft was shaky. I spent the next decade studying craft.
I wrote the next two books using what I
call the “and then” list and various other plotting devices as outlined in
numerous how-to books. I generated my story flow with a simple, but
not necessarily easy, concept. And then....
- -
Suzie got a letter from her
aunt begging her to come for a visit.
- -
And then...Suzie booked
vacation and went to her aunt’s place.
- -
And then...she found her aunt
on her death bed...
Once I had my event flow, I expanded each into a scene, added GMC (goal, motivation and conflict) and built
the book one scene after the other changing as needed. That’s the key point.
CHANGE AS NEEDED. I believe that an outline, a synopsis, a plot plan—whatever you
call it—is flexible.
Somewhere in the process, I read Robert Ray’s
book, The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery. From that I garnered generic scene
titles. Murder Occurs, Sleuth on Stage, Murderer on Stage, and so on. This
focused my understanding of scenes that drive a mystery and my process came
together.
Now I create a complex back story but free-write
the actual book.
It all starts with an idea/event and a question.
The basic idea of my current work in progress:
-
A teenage girl learns her
father is a robber about to be caught. She is given a new ID and a knapsack with
$50,000 in cash and sent off on her own.
The question:
- It’s now fifteen years later.
Where is she, what is she doing and how has this impacted her life?
I start a notebook and a computer file. I list
ideas. I ask the questions we were taught in high school English. Who,
what, when, where, why and sometimes how. I write freely and without censure.
Underlying all creating is the major question: WHO CARES AND WHY?
For the current WIP I generated information in the following areas, collecting snippets and grouping them as they appeared.
- -
The Historic Crime – who besides
her father was involved—why, what when, where and what went wrong. And where is
everyone from the heist now? Who has the money?
- -
Plot line possibilities (Main
and sub-plots)
o
The murder and its solution (external)
o
Character 1’s quest (internal)
o
Character 2’s struggle to fit
in (subplot 2)
o
Character 3’s dilemma – does she
come clean with information? Is she the killer?
o
Who: A list of everyone who
will be in the book (I have a series so some are a given.)
o
Why certain characters might be
the killer.
o
What vested interest does each
character have in what’s happening
o
What is their history, their
hidden agenda...And more....
o
Physical evidence that might point
to killers (forensics)
o
Story / history tidbits that
might surface to reveal the killer (character story)
- -
Possible key scenes (starting with
Ray’s generic list)
o
Murder occurs/ discovered/
reported
o
Sleuth on scene
o
Suspects/ Witnesses on scene...and
so on
This process occurs in lurches and unrelated tidbits. It finally reaches critical mass, and I’m ready to write. I pick a
starting point, usually a scene or two before the murder. I turn my characters
loose to tell me the story. I write asking what happens, who was there, what
did they see, think, feel, tell and the story evolves.
In the beginning, I have no fixed plot. I
know I need to identify and catch the killer. I know clues and reasons. I do NOT know who did it. Means, method,
opportunity and motive appear as I write and each scene grows out of a previous
scene.
So do I plot? Not traditionally. Do I write by the seat of my pants? Not
exactly. I use a combination approach that works for
me.
Writers can only write the way that works for them. What writing process works for you?
