Today, I'm going to share how I develop and write my novels:
First, I typically start with a
title that lights my fire. In my mind, I play around with a plot idea that can
go with the title. I also think of my characters and the main conflict. It’s
all daydreaming at first. Once a plot idea is formed in my head, I write a
one-page outline summarizing what I think will happen in the story. I play with
character names, settings, and begin to imagine scenes that could happen. I’ll
decide my beginning (prologue), middle (Second Act) and the ending (grand
finale/climax and resolution). All of this will probably change (including the
title) once I get into writing the book, but it gives me a starting point.
I definitely do my best writing through organic, stream-of-consciousness writing. I’m always discovering new
details about the characters as I journey along with them. Sometimes I steer
the story, but mostly I allow my characters to take over and see
where they take the story. There are often plot twists that completely surprise
me.
After I’ve written a 100 pages or
more and I’ve gotten to know my characters, I’ll write a chapter-by-chapter
outline so I can have a bird’s-eye view of the story and keep on track of where
it’s going. The second act of a novel can go way off course if a writer doesn’t
widen the lens every now and then. So after the first 100 pages I continually
go back and forth between losing myself in a scene and then reviewing my
outline (a.k.a. synopsis). My outlines are every chapter summarized down to one
paragraph. This allows me to observe the flow of the scenes and adjust them for
pace and emotional impact. With multiple character subplots happening at the
same time, like Dead
of Winter for
instance, I’m constantly changing the sequence of the scenes so that they build
to a climax. I think of my subplots as if they are trains moving down a track
toward a catastrophic collision. Outlining helps me get the timing down just
right. The outline also helps me work out issues in the story line and smooth
out my twists and turns.When I focus on writing the individual scenes, that's when I shift back to organic writing.
Once the first draft is completed, my book is nowhere close to being done. Now the truly fun part begins, because I know my
characters and where the story is going from start to finish. I’ll rewrite and edit the book for months, adding more details to scenes,
fleshing out my characters, punching up the dialogue, and tightening the action
so that the scenes are taut. I also get a lot of new ideas on how to best unfold
the mystery. Then I go back to scenes and add details in that set up a
revelation or plot twist that happens later on. I’m also a perfectionist when I
write. When a character says something or does something, I constantly ask
myself, does this ring true? Would my character really go into that dark house
where the killer is hiding? Would she run from the beast or would she hunker
down and fight it? If she walks into the killer’s lair because she hears a
noise and is curious, it won’t ring true for me. If the heroine’s a cop and the
killer has her child captive in the house, the scene is more believable to me
if she enters the house to save her child. The reason any character does
something that will put their life in jeopardy must make sense.
Putting in extra hours in plotting my story in the revision stage has paid off, because the editors of my
first two books had very minor changes. I also learned a trick to ratcheting up
the tension and pace. In the final 100 pages, as I’m building toward the
ultimate climax, I write shorter and shorter scenes that are mostly action.
I plan to continue a series of articles sharing my writing process. If you find this helpful, please leave a comment. Just click on the title of this article and scroll down to the comment area at the bottom. Thanks so much for stopping by.
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Brian Moreland writes
novels and short stories of horror and supernatural suspense. His first two
novels, Dead
of Winter and Shadows
in the Mist, are now available. His upcoming novella, The Witching House, will release August
2013, and novel The Devil’s Woods will
release December 2013. He loves hiking, kayaking, watching sports, and dancing.
Brian lives in Dallas, Texas where he is diligently writing his next horror
novel. You can communicate with him online at http://www.brianmoreland.com/
Twitter: @BrianMoreland
Thanks for the article!
ReplyDeleteYour welcome, John. Happy to share my experiences.
ReplyDelete