What A Week

This week four members of Six Rural Writers group embarked on a fascinating journey. Each of us is writing a book.

Each of us began with a fat folder of notes and some chapters or scenes written. One writer had written hers all the way through, but it came up short.

We chose First Draft in 30 Days by Karen S. Wiesner as our guide.

And boy, has she put us to work! I had character sketches in my files, but Ms. W. had a worksheet that asked for information I hadn’t even thought of.

Oh, I had a picture of my hero in my mind, but I didn’t know his background. I only knew one inner conflict he had. I didn’t ask him what his external conflicts were.

I had a foggy notion of what the setting was. It involved a 1700s house and an old theatre on an estate, but where was it? And in what year does my story occur?

Next came research. I knew I’d have to do that, and I’m sure glad for the internet. I’ve already found such interesting material. In the first chapter, I was instructed to make a Research List.  How would I get all that done? Not to worry, the next chapter gives me 1-6 days for research. No sweat. This will be fun. Maybe I’ll make house plans of the mansion and the theatre. Pictures from the internet anyhow, so that when my character walks into the “drawing room,” I’ll know what kind of antique footstool he falls over.

Then came Plot Sketch. Okay, I got that one down. What’s this on the worksheet—Story Goal, Romantic Thread, Subplot Threads 1-7, Plot Tension, Release, Downtime, Black Moment, Resolution?

No, I don’t have that thought out. I thought the plot sketch would be like back cover copy, the gist of the story. But I did the worksheet, and now I know a lot more about my story. I have six subplots running through the book. I’m even more interested in the story.

I’ve had this material in a drawer for a number of years—didn’t know how to proceed. Thought it would take forever. But just after a week, the pages I’ve produced and the information I’ve gained tell me that if I keep working this, I will indeed have a rough draft in 30 days.

I’ll let you know how it’s going next week.