Proposal Step #1

I think I probably blogged about some of the first steps in pulling together my proposals but I was interrupted by finishing the historical and revising the July book, and I'd like to keep this all in order. (Ha, as if anything around this desk is in order)

Obviously, the first step isn't a step at all but just a collision of ideas. Bits of dialogue I hear, scenes I see, ideas I read, leap out at me for one reason or another. Mostly, I just jot them down in a document called my "idea file." Sometimes, a character or situation will occur full blown, and then I may even label the idea file with a title so I can find it again when I have more ideas that might correlate to it. Little by little, the file grows until the characters are nagging at me. Or my agent says, why don't you write another NC book? Being wanted is an excellent incentive to pull out the NC file!

I've been madly jotting in my NC file for weeks now, doing research on a nifty "hook" that makes me happy, playing around with the genesis of an entire town, drawing up genealogy charts. Today, I started pinning down my protagonists, and by George, I think I've got 'em!

And the weekend will keep me from doing much with them. Oh well, there's always the revision to finish.

DRAFT DONE!!

Happy dance! I just added the epilogue to MYSTIC WARRIOR! Now I really have to finish the revisions on MYSTIC RIDER and get them out of here. It gets way too confusing to try to edit two books at a time.

And I just received the cover copy for RIDER, so things are progressing rapidly on that front. Must be time to knuckle down and start that new proposal.

Really, I want to know when other authors decide a book is done so they can celebrate?

Communal Chapter

Wow, I had no idea how I would accomplish it, but I managed to bring my bad boy hero back into the communal fold today. Still a lot of rough edges and gaps to fill, but it's always fun to write that rip-roaring scene at the end where everything comes together and the entire community celebrates. Now, if only one poignant final scene would occur...

Just pages from the end. Almost there.

Anybody got some fun ideas for contemporaries to get me back in the mood?

POV and internal monologues

One chapter closer to The End and a lovely lunch with writer pals, so a day well spent.

I've read Nina's and Sherrie's notes on how a protagonist can have an internal "ah-hah!" moment while conversing with another protagnoist and not slow the pacing. Obviously, this is where our creativity comes into play. I've just read the example and haven't had time to think this through clearly, but the first thing that comes to mind is that if the hero is having an "ah-hah" moment, it needs to be stated simply and clearly, boldly, with exclamation marks, if necessary. A single statement that jumps out and shouts at the reader. "She's the one I love!" "She's lying to me!" I know it's tough to weed out all our lovely internal motivations, but you have to get the declaration out there in front of the reader first. It's almost as good as pulling out the gun and firing.

Once the statement is out there, clear as a bell, then you can do as Sherrie says, weave the internals into the action and the dialogue. "He bunched his fist and stared out the window." And then he says something that might be slightly off track from the dialogue taking place, something that shows the reader his mind is still back on that internal delcaration. I'm not saying this is easy, mind you!

Then the heroine replies to his statement, and he turns around and looks at her and his next thought may be about how that declaration affects his reaction to her appearance, to whatever she said, to the room they're standing in, for all that matters. "How could he love a woman who lives in such clutter?" "How could she stand there glowing like and angel and lying like a devil?"

Am I getting closer to what you're after?

New Bookshelves!

Lookee, lookee, ain't it purrrty? It's not complete yet, but I've been happily moving hardcovers from higgledy-piggledy storage into this new unit my hubby created. And now I have bookshelves free for my research books in the library. Everything is so organized, I can't wait for opportunities to hunt things down!

Over the weekend, I had a brief lightbulb idea for my historical ending, so I actually managed to write a chapter today! I guess that's what organizing books does for you. I need that left brain activity to jar loose the little cells lurking in the mud. I also printed out a galley format of the revised historical so I can do one final edit before turning it in. I may have to set fire to it if I read it one more time.

Nina, it may take a longer blog than this, but your question about how to make the second character in a scene sparkle when you're in the first person's POV is quite intriguing. I can only speak for romance, but I think this is where some of my favorite writers make witty dialogue and body language come into play. If we're in the heroine's POV, and she's seeing the rakishly elegant hero leaning against the mantle, a wicked smile tugging at his mouth, while saying outrageous things---is that the sparkle you're after? Although admittedly, the mantel-leaning scene has been overdone to the edge of clichedom, but you get the meaning.