It was a little over a month between the first idea and me actually sitting down to write the first page of the rough draft.  I would write out extensive dot jot notes in the beginning, then think up scenes on sticky notes and rearrange them until they vaguely resembled something like a story.  Then, used those notes to write in- depth chapter summaries.  After that I’d make charts about each chapter, organizing what each scene would do for the story and how the characters would evolve.

I don’t think all that was necessary. But hey, I like being organized. The way I understand it, after some brainstorming most outliners write up paragraph summaries of their chapters before they feel ready to start writing. That’s probably enough for me as well, but I really liked the outlining bit. So I dragged it on for a while.

On the downside of that, I used up a lot of time before I had really started working. I was having a great time organizing everything, sure. But I could have started writing a couple weeks earlier. Then there’s the fact that I had decided my outline was mostly worthless after writing a dozen or so chapters. So I started over, and that time I outlined significantly less.

I liked that story a heck of a lot more than the outlined one. I still used most of the concepts I had come up with while outlining, just used everything a little differently. What did I learn that works best for myself? Outline to a general feel, but take the time to get to know your characters before you do anything else. I have a character profile* that I fill out with every new major character, some questions that help me analyze their personality and make them more concrete for myself. It’s very useful questionnaire, asking me to think about everything to do with my characters down to the last detail.

Once I had my ideas set, I loved to let my fingers work out the story in their own time. The first rough draft I wrote with the outline wasn’t very fun to write. I had to follow my guidelines too closely for it to be fun. I love being organized, but that didn’t really work for writing.

Could have just been a fluke, of course. But next time? I think I’ll try to outline as little as possible, see how it goes. Rusalka’s outline won’t get very detailed. A paragraph per chapter. Maybe I won’t even bother for the next one. We’ll see when it comes to that.

I was very, very certain that I’d be an outliner, and didn’t even think I could work better organically. Beginning writers would do well to try both methods, and a few variations in between; not just assume they already know what they’re doing.

* As incredibly useful as the questionnaire is, I don’t want to post it here. I copied it off a website sometime back when I was just starting to write at about nine years old, so I have no idea where it came from. I might try to find the source sometime, because it is very good, but just in case whoever wrote it wouldn’t like it posted without a credit, I’ll leave it out for now.

Onto the topic.

I’m working on two novels right now.  That statement makes me prouder than anything else true that I have to say.  Saying that I’ve finished the rough draft and an edit on one of them doesn’t even compare, because that doesn’t imply whether or not I’m still working.  But I am, I’m working very hard.  This is all new to me, and I’m sure with practice I’ll be working with substantially more efficiency and skill someday; but I am working hard.

I’m going to give it another week for Summeryear beta readers to get back to me.  Likely on September 7th, then, I’ll start compiling my notes and spend another couple weeks editing.

That edit will put Rusalka* on hold, because to get the entire edit finished within a couple of weeks it’ll probably need my full attention.  Until the 7th, I’m working on outlining and brainstorming for Rusalka.  Occasionally thinking about what I can do for Summeryear without all the notes together, but mostly leaving that at peace for now.

Rusalka exists in a very fun state of outlining right now. I’m getting more and more into the story myself and it’s evolving at a solid pace. Until I start writing it out, however, there still isn’t really much to say about it specifically. Once I start, I’ll update regularly with word counts and comments on how it’s all coming along. I’ll do that here and on my Twitter.

*Czech-English translation: undine.  English-NonfolkloreobsessedEnglish translation: water spirit.

The next day I began to outline my story.  It took about a month of plotting and planning before I started writing, and then I ended up restarting the project almost entirely from scratch because of a substantial plot change early on.  Two months had passed before I started the rough draft of Summeryear that I ended up keeping.  That rough draft has become a first draft after an intensive edit, and now sits comfortably in the hands of two remaining beta readers out of five that I had sent it to.

The first readers – all beloved friends – who have responded already with notes and comments have been incredibly helpful.  It’s a goal of mine to have a final draft finished and ready by Halloween so that I can begin sending it out to publishers and agents, or consider less conventional options (Podiobook, self-publishing, etc).  Regardless of when or if I ever get published, I want to do this story justice.

I tend to be hard on myself after a writing session, thinking that it wasn’t great (but as the wonderful Mur Lafferty* always says – you are allowed to suck) and that I’ll end up redoing most of it in an edit somewhere along the line.  Even through what I perceived were the sloppiest bits of writing I had ever pounded out in text, I was irreparably and irrevocably in love with these characters and their story.

And that is, as far as I’m concerned, the most important part of writing – loving it.  That I do, so I will write for all my life.  And that starts here, with Summeryear.

* Mur is a fantastic writer and podcaster, check her out: http://www.murverse.com/ and the I Should Be Writing podcast: http://isbw.murlafferty.com/