Guest Post: What’s the best way to start a novel? by Char Chaffin

What’s the best way to start a novel?Do you write out an elaborate outline first, setting up charts and cross-referencing characters, plotting out everything from hair color to the brand of underwear they prefer? Do you drop onto your chair, crack your knuckles and start typing with no idea where you might be going? Or maybe you see a red bush while you’re out jogging, think, “Wow, I could write a book around that thing,” and then rush home to do exactly that.I’ve done all of the above, and I can’t tell you what method is better, or which is best for me. Mostly because I have yet to discover the best method. It seems with each book I write, the method changes. And I bet I’m not the only author who feels that way about the process.Inspiration usually hits all over the place for the author ready to pound out the next novel. Even in the midst of a dry spell (which I have dealt with plenty), plots are dreamed up. You might not do much of anything with them at the time other than scribble down a few details and set them aside. But those are often the best examples of inspiration. My initial confrontation with the idea that eventually became JESSE’S GIRL was one such detail, and it hit me while driving home from grocery shopping. Of all times to have a plot land itself in my lap . . . I’m sure the radio playing that old Eighties’ tune by Rick Springfield had everything to do with it.I took the idea home, armed with the sketchiest of plot lines, and jotted down some notes. The characters were easy; they came to me while I was still in the car. Not their names but their personalities, flashing through my head like brain-freeze. Tim O’Malley, my hero. Dorothy Whitaker, my heroine. And Jesse Prescott, best friend to Tim, boyfriend to Dorothy, and the antagonist who lingered. And lingered. Then lingered some more, until Tim and Dorothy found a way to finally lay him to rest and move on.I compiled an outline and followed it (for a change). As I wrote each chapter, I highlighted its corresponding section on my outline to indicate its completion. I got to within fifty pages of what would become my final chapter, and thought, “What on earth am I doing?” Suddenly, the outline no longer worked for me. I tossed it aside, dropped onto my chair, cracked my knuckles and pounded out the rest of it with no planning at all. Then threw it away and went back to my outline. Sometimes, what works simply works.I’m halfway through my newest WIP, Made For Each Other. I think it’ll be a novella. I’m ninety-eight percent certain I’ll set it in present-day. I’ve got all my characters, both primary and secondary. And I have an outline (no highlights yet). I don’t know how it’ll end, only that there will be HEA. There’s always HEA.What’s fun about writing is the ‘no-hard-and-fast-rules’ about any part of it. There’s no right and wrong to creating with words. Every author in the world has their own set of personal rules for writing, and those rules either work for them, or they’re busy scouting for alternative methods. Ask a single question about the process and you’ll get a thousand different answers, but the one thing we authors can all agree on: that we wrote it because there was no choice. Authors have to write; that’s all there is to it. So when I drove home with a trunk full of groceries and my radio tuned to the local oldies station, and I heard that song, and a minute into it I had all the hot points of a story blasting through my head . . . what choice did I have but to sit down and write the thing?None at all.
The blurb for Jesse’s Girl:In 1965, Tim O’Malley returns to his home town of Skitter Lake, Ohio, to clear his name and get the girl: Dorothy Whitaker, the love of his life since eighth grade. Blamed for a destructive fire he didn’t set, only Tim and Dorothy know the truth; that Jesse Prescott, Tim’s best friend and Dorothy’s boyfriend, did the deed that changed an entire town. But Jesse died in that tragedy and seven years later, Skitter Lake still honors him as a hero, rather than Tim, the boy from the seedy side of town whose father was a drunk . . . and whose quick actions saved six people from perishing in that horrendous fire.In trying to set the record straight and finally claim Dorothy as his own, Tim—and Dorothy, too—will discover that in some small towns the legend often outweighs the truth . . . and their family and friends will forever see Dorothy as “Jesse’s girl.”
Excerpt:Now the need to lock Dorothy in a tight embrace, and never let go, overwhelmed him. He would have picked her up and carried her to his car, then driven her all the way back to Los Angeles just to get her away from a life he instinctively knew made her miserable. Tim remembered her folks. Wilma Whitaker had been a difficult woman when she was healthy and relatively happy. He couldn’t imagine how losing Dorothy’s dad would have twisted Wilma up inside.He must have squeezed too tightly, because Dorothy let out a breathy gasp and wriggled until he loosened his arms. She stepped backward with a blush and downcast eyes. “I really do have to go, Tim.” She raised her head and all the longing he’d already been experiencing, all the need, was plain to see on her lovely face, for about half a second.Then, her expression shuttered, she picked up her purse from the battered nightstand next to the bed where she’d laid it, and moved toward the door. Tim followed, unsure what to say even though a hundred different lines crowded his head. Stay with me. Get to know me, again. Love me, the way I never stopped loving you.They remained locked behind his compressed lips as he escorted her to the door and wished the last seven years had never happened.In the open doorway she formed a smile that fell short of her eyes. “I’m glad we got to spend a little time together, Tim.” She slipped her arms around his waist for a quicksilver hug, then stepped back before he could reciprocate. “Please give your folks my best when you get back home.”Tim flicked his eyes up to hers, then over her faceAmazonBook Trailer for Jesse’s Girl

Char Chaffin writes mainstream and contemporary romance filled with family, rich characters and engaging plots. For her, it all comes back to the love.
From crafting Victorian-style poetry to writing short stories and novellas, Char finally settled on romance novels as her true passion. Over the years she worked a variety of jobs, from farm hand to costume designer to fiscal accountant, before deciding a writing career was her desired focus.
In addition to writing, Char is also an Acquisitions Editor for Soul Mate Publishing.
A displaced Alaskan, Char currently divides her time between Fairbanks, Alaska and an Upstate NY, sixty-acre farm with husband Don. Their extended family is scattered all over the Lower Forty-Eight and Alaska.
When she’s not pounding away at her keyboard, sneaking away to the Last Frontier or burying her nose in books and her beloved Kindle, she edits manuscripts and helps Don maintain their farm.  Website Facebook Twitter Goodreads