The work on the manuscript for Sumner's Garden has picked up. This past weekend we were treated to two days of rain from a tropical depression. It gave me a break from transitioning my outside chores from the gardening season to the firewood season, and I took full advantage of it to write.
Writers talk about being a "plotter" or a "pantser," and I'm a bit of both. I get an idea for a book and look for names for my characters so I can create short character bios. Then I fill in a few blanks about where the story takes place, and you know it's a smaller town somewhere. It could be Marionville or Centerville or maybe the start of a new place if that is what speaks to me. After that, I plot out a rough storyline.
And it is rough. How are they going to meet? By chance? By introduction? Did they know each other from school or college? In the workplace? My original idea is subject to change.
Sometimes I have the first chapter all worked out in my mind before I start typing, and that's when the trouble starts. Sometimes the characters tell me I've got it all wrong. (I really hate it when they do that.) More often, I've passed the halfway point when the characters begin to behave like stubborn mules. They plant their imaginary feet and tell me, "It ain't gonna happen like THAT."
"It ain't gonna happen like THAT" is exactly what one of the characters told me in Sumner's Garden. So I did what I do in those instances. I fixed a cup of tea and started to read the story from the beginning to see if I needed to add bits and pieces to fit what I'd just learned. It turned out that the character was one hundred percent correct. I didn't need to add anything for it to flow perfectly.
Am I a plotter or a pantser? Yep. A bit of both.
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My home on the web- Between the Keys:
http://kckendricks.blogspot.com
Visit my bookshelf at:
https://kckendricks.blogspot.com/p/the-bookshelf-of-kc-kendricks-and-rayne_3.html
