The Writing Process 2015: Resolutions For the New Writing Year.
2015 will be over soon, and so will this category of Southern Exposure. I’ve so much enjoyed recounting a year of work on When We Were Sisters with you.
Since the cover is now on Amazon, I think it’s fine to share it with you here. But I won’t be sharing the cover story quite yet. Hopefully I’ll have some interesting extra photos to share when I do. Let me just say this. Getting a final cover wasn’t fun, but my publisher and I both persevered and worked together. I’m happy with the result. Later, I’ll tell you all about it.
In the meantime? A new year is on the way and a new book with it. I’ve put together a synopsis. This means I’ve told the story, step by step, on paper, as if I were telling it to you. So and So is happily married until. . . blah, blah, blah. Now S&S can’t figure out what to do next.
You see? I’ve written about twelve single spaced pages of this. The prose is not expected to shine or enrapture. A synopsis gets a job done. With few flourishes a synopsis tells an editor exactly what I’m planning, who the people are who will carry out that plan, and how I’ll begin and end. That simple.
This synopsis, by the way, is much too long for my publisher to read. So now I’ll hopefully condense it into five to ten pages. Of course this means all the subtlety will fly out the window and they’ll wonder if I can pull off the story. So I’ll include the longer version for my editor, which will answer at least some of those questions. Then–and this can take weeks or months–we’ll resolve our differences of opinion, if any, and I’ll begin writing the book. Or if we can’t agree, I’ll think of something else to send them.
Meantime I’ve already done a lot of research and know far more about some subjects than I ever hoped to learn. This book will get written. So even if my publisher prefers something else, eventually this one will see the light. I like it and know you will, too.
2016 promises to be an interesting writing year. But before I launch in, I’ve put together a few resolutions for the New Writing Year.
In 2016 I will:
Worry less about what others think and write the book the way I know it needs to be written.
I will allow some of my major characters to misbehave badly without trying to fix them–at least not right away. (I’m a born fixer, real life and fiction.)
I won’t fret if there’s no romance to speak of in my new book. Just because I started my career writing romance. . . (Of course, if one develops, who am I to stand in the way?)
I will write a shorter book. Just to prove I can.
I will take some time to figure out what’s best career-wise for me as well as for my readers.
I will create ebooks of at least three more of my newly-edited classic romances, beginning with Dragonslayer, which won the RITA from Romance Writers of America and is still a darned good book.
I will find a better balance between work and relaxation, kayak more, read and quilt more, and finish that stegosaurus sweater for my grandson.
That seems like enough to do, right?
Are you making resolutions this year? I’ve made the usual one about eating less and exercising more. But the ones above? 2015 has pointed out need for each and every one of them. So The Writing Process 2015 blogs were a great chance to take stock of what was happening with my novel and career. All these resolutions have come out of that process.
Thanks for reading along with these this year. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.
Happy New Year!
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