Do any of these describe you?
- You’re a plotter, and you’re starting to figure out the structure of your novel.
- You’re a plotter, and now that you’ve worked out all the ins and outs of your story structure, you’re ready to begin the book.
- You’re a pants-ster, you’ve got an awesome idea, and you’re ready to charge into writing.
- Plotter or pants-ter, you’ve finished draft 1 of your book and you’re ready to give it an overhaul.
This post is for those of you are ready to tackle your book project, beginning at the beginning.
And man, that beginning can be a toughie. Richard Peck writes his entire novel, then tosses out the first chapter (without reading it) and writes it again. Jerry Spinelli, award-winning author of Stargirl, says he tosses the whole BOOK out after finishing draft one. It’s not until he finishes that first draft that he feels that he really knows what the story is about.
Why am I thinking of these things? Because I’m revisiting last year’s NaNoWriMo novel—the one that didn’t quite happen—and I think I understand why the words refused to flow. I didn’t know the answer to these questions. This week, I’m busy answering them—and I hope you find them useful, too!