Writing or/and reading is a great way to combat cabin fever. With all the snow, ice, and frigid temperatures, I am operating in “stay at home” mode and that could lead to boredom or a tendency to climb the walls, except, of course, for the aforementioned pursuits.
In a few days, I should have some exciting news to announce concerning Best Left Buried but in the meantime, I’m continuing to write Moonlight Can Be Murder. Each writer has her own method for mapping out a story or for creating characters. Some writers write the beginning and the conclusion before writing anything else. Some writers carefully map out the story with an outline. Some just jot down a few notes before starting. That last would be me. I have an idea of where the story is going. If I had no idea, I’m afraid the plot would ramble and become impossibly contradictory. And, of course, I know the main character. But when an idea is burning in my brain and I can hardly wait to put it on paper, that’s what I do–put it on paper. I start to write and then take a look a what I’ve written. I see the characters emerge and I think, “Aha! Now I know who you are. I can see you plainly!”
It is an odd phenomenon that, as I write, the characters take over. Does that sound goofy? Well, it’s true. Then, after I’ve written a few pages, I go to my character sketches, plot, and significant details, and start filling them in . This occurs on other sheets, separate from the story. I write background, names of characters, names of streets, cafes, etc., back-story of certain characters, explaining why they act as they do, and round out the physical appearance and emotional well-being (or not) of my characters. But, I don’t do this right off the bat because, first of all, while the enthusiasm and excitement are there, I begin writing that story! As needed, I do research, look up facts, find pictures that fit what I’m writing, and decide exactly how my locale looks. I get to know it like–well, like I know my hometown.
Moonlight Can Be Murder is another cozy, of course, and it takes place in a small town. It begins with the protagonist coming back home to that small town after being gone for years. She drives through a snowstorm (I wonder why I thought of that?) with her destination being a Victorian house that belongs to her uncle. When she arrives, she doesn’t get the welcome she is expecting. And, I go on from there. At the point where I stopped writing yesterday, she is about to meet one of the key players in the plot. That’s another thing about writing. We must put in those characters at the beginning. Waiting ’til the end of the story then having someone pop up who has not appeared anywhere else is not a good thing. Let me say that characters drive the story. They are the people we get to know within the pages of a book. If the reader doesn’t care about the characters, the story is lost.
So, this is what I do during these cold, snowy days. After all, I must have something to read to my Cozy Critters, come Wednesday. Hopefully, we will have a Cozy Critique Wednesday. Or, will we have another visit from Old Man Winter, leaving icy streets in his wake? That too, is another mystery and we’ll just have to wait and see how it ends!
Ah, so interesting to hear about your writing method.
Snow bound has its benefits for you — look what you are getting done.