Starting a New Project

So, the novel I've been working on isn't...working. I'm disappointed because I finally finished a novel and I thought this false-start thing wasn't going to happen anymore, but obviously it is, and ya know, that's okay, I've finished a novel and so now I know what the final product feels like.

I think the characters are gonna stick around for a while. I'm not giving up on them, by any means. It was the same before, where I had this character that would not get out of my head. This time its more of a family, seen from the perspective of the 13 year old daughter. I still want to discover there story. I just think I've been going in the wrong direction.

This has always been my problem. I start out with characters I adore. I put them in a situation or scenario that fascinates me. I have this like frame or scene in my mind. Then I get stuck. Like I have one or two still frames, but I need a feature length film. I thought I had it, but no.

I've talked about this lots here, about fleshing out a story from scenario to novel-length plot. This time is no exception, and as I've been thinking of a new place to take this family, I have this image in my head of all of them together, and this other character, and I kind of know where they're going and the sort of situation at that moment, but I always have a hard time going from that moment to a novel.

So now I get to ask you again: how do you do it? How do you flesh out your ideas? It will just take some thinking and research and time, but any advice would be fabulous.

Sarah Allen