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Relentless and Other Tuesday Blather
May
27
2008
Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
10,500 / 90,000
(11.7%)

RELENTLESS!

Whoo! Hit 10K last night and the story and my characters are opening up for me. Originally I’d envisioned a certain kind of push and pull between H/H but as I write, that’s not how it’s working. Certainly they’re from two different worlds, but I can’t make them not like each other so I’m not going to force it. The meta story is the same, the conflicts are the same, but their chemistry is a bit different.

IMO, you can’t outline chemistry. It’s organic on the page and it develops as you write. At least for me. I know other folks write with very detailed, broken down by scene outlines. I wouldn’t outline at all if I didn’t have to to sell to NY and on proposal because I tend to like to let the story unfold on its own. However, an outline is helpful when you’re starting something you sold on a few pages of an idea in November, LOL.

Don’t get me wrong, selling on proposal and synopsis is awesome. It means editors trust me and my record enough to complete a book, a good book, to buy on spec. I appreciate having come this far. And I’m fortunate to have editors who haven’t complained when I veer a bit off from the original synopsis when I turn in the final. Now, if I was really veering off, like it had been proposed as a post apoc love story between one man and one woman and I turned in a contemporary menage romance, that’s gonna be a problem! But so far, *knocks wood* it’s been smallish things – almost always because as I write, my characters real motivations come to me and I write to reflect that.

2 comments to “Relentless and Other Tuesday Blather”

  1. Jaci Burton
    May 27th, 2008 at 9:17 am · Link

    I always discover the characters as I write the book. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later. In my current book it took me 100 freakin pages to figure the damn characters out. But it was a nice revelation. Sadly, it will require a hella lot of editing of those first 100 pages after I’m finished, but it’s the way I write. You can’t force the characters’ revelations. (dammit)



  2. laurendane
    May 27th, 2008 at 8:17 pm · Link

    Ugh! I know that feeling though. It sometimes takes that long. ALthough I’m with you, I wish you could force it on page three and be done, LOL.





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