I’ve been “starting my book” for weeks now. Actually, I have begun two books. I started out with a modern romance and then, right in the middle of creating characters and drafting the outline, I switched gears and started outlining a historical western romance instead. The plot hit me like a freight train and dragged me down the tracks. So I put the modern story away for now and got to work. So far, I have created the main characters and structured the outline. I’ve done research on the location and time period that the story will focus on.
When I needed a break, I reviewed a MasterClass I took a few years ago. James Patterson Teaches Writing. This was back when you could purchase one class at a time and not have to pay a monthly/yearly subscription. I get to keep this class forever and review it whenever I want. Unless they pull it down the road, which I expect they will eventfully do. Bummer.
After flushing out the main characters and drafted the outline, I opened my laptop to Chapter One. The first few sentences flowed, then sputtered, then stopped. I began to overthink each sentence.
- Is this the best place to start?
- Am I adding too much backstory?
- Maybe I should begin with an action scene.
- What am I even doing here?
- Is it time for lunch yet?
Then I decided to go at it from a different angle. Using Novlr, which I like better than Scrivner, sorry, but there you have it, I typed out the basic scene in a chapter. So far I have the beginning of the first few chapters and my intention is once I have the scenes laid out I can fill them in with additional content. Ten or so chapters seems a little daunting to me.
I could easily get into a trap of conducting research, taking classes, reading how-to-write-a-book blogs and never actually write a book.
There comes a point in your life when you need to stop reading other people’s books and write your own.
Albert Einstein
