Do you struggle with outlining your novels? I do.
When I try to outline, I find that I’m often bored with the novel, so I have a hard time sitting down to do the writing. When writing starts to feel like a job, then I have a tough time doing it, and pretty soon, the writing languishes.
I’m not saying that I don’t take the writing seriously, but I want my writing to feel like creating, which is what I really love doing.
Enter this week’s book recommendation. Writing Into the Dark by Dean Wesley Smith. I’ve read his blog for a while, which I enjoy, but I’ve gotten a lot more value out of his books and YouTube videos.
In Writing Into the Dark, Dean talks about writing like a reader. As a reader, you pick up a novel not knowing much more than the blurb that made you buy it in the first place. You experience the book, the surprises, suspense, humor, etc. Would you read a book if you knew the major plot points already? Me neither.
In his book, he talks about writing your novel with that same sense of discovery.
So, I’ve started a fresh novel. I’ve been struggling with Edgewater for a while, so I decided to let it simmer for a bit. After four writing sessions, I have a little over 4000 words on the new novel, and I’m using the techniques in Writing Into the Dark. I plan to track my experiment here, so keep checking back for updates on how the technique is working for me.
