I don’t particularly consider myself to be a good writer, but I do think I’m a pretty  good re-writer. This is why I like to have a completed first draft quickly–so that I can edit at leisure. And now that I’m under contract to deliver two novels by January, that emphasis on quick is more important than ever.

I’ve done the NaNoWriMo ‘just write whatever comes to mind’ approach several times before, and it has much to commend it. There’s a hard deadline to motivate you and it’s like throwing your muse into boot camp. I’ve written three books this way, but they all needed major structural re-organization, and I thought to myself, ‘If only I had planned better in the first place!’

So this time I’m endeavoring to plan better in the first place, and to that end I’ve been using Karen Weisner’s “First Draft in 30 Days.” This is a bit of a misnomer–what you really have at the end of 30 days is a very complete outline, but since that’s what I was looking for, I’ve thrown myself into her approach.

Unfortunately, it’s looking increasingly like I’m going to fall short of the 30 day goal, and it’s not for lack of dedication. It’s simply that I find her time estimates to be a little bit too optimistic. For example, she allocates one day to character sketches. I could spend one day sketching out one character and sometimes more than one. With my cast of characters, I fell behind schedule quickly and could not catch up.

And, as always, plot structure is my major stumbling block. I have a fantastic concept for this Minotaur book. I love the theme. I love the characters. I love the conflict. And I know at the end, my hero and his heroine are going to overcome their difficulties and end up together happily ever after…but how?

Classic hero’s journey story outline doesn’t seem to fit romances very well (though I found this awesome post that says otherwise). The plot exercises in Karen Weisner’s book are helpful, but I’m hitting roadblocks. She has some suggestions for overcoming them–like writing your work in tandem with outlining–and I should probably listen to her, but I feel like the slow kid in class.

Still, I am much farther along than I otherwise would be, and I already have a much more detailed plan for this novel than most of the others that I’ve written, so keep your fingers crossed for me that I’ll have something awesome by July 1st!

Tags: Silhouette Nocturne

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