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Wednesday, October 23, 2019

The Writing Life



by Patricia Bradley




A month ago, my alarm went off at 6:03. Once I silenced it, I lay in bed and planned my day:

· Quiet time.
· Blog posts.
· Time to start the next book in the Natchez Trace Park Ranger series.

You see, life had interfered with my writing schedule for about six weeks. I now have less than three months to write a 90,000-word book...


What does a writer do when that happens? Pray. A lot. Then get to work.

An hour later, I opened Scrivener, clicked on Patricia’s Fiction template and named the new project--Crosshairs. At least I had a title, not one I came up with, but my publisher is great at titles, among many things. Then I stared for the next hour at the blinking cursor… How did I do this the last time?

It happens every time, and I know I’m not the only one who goes through this. And it’s not that I think I can’t do it again. Or is that a fairy tale that I’m telling myself? No. God has given me the seed of a story, and I’m confident He will give me the rest of it. I.can.write.this.next.book. I just have to remember how to do it.

When I first started writing, I made elaborate character charts, plot boards, outlined…the whole nine yards. How’s that for a cliché? But that’s another post.

I don’t outline now. Or make plot boards. And the character charts I make are more about conflicting values, motivation, and goals than what kind of car a character drives. I still log the basics—age, height, and eye and hair color, etc—because I’m apt to forget. 

Instead of plot boards and outlines, I get out my artist sketch pad, the one with the spiral wires at the top because I'm lefthanded and I don't like dealing with the spirals on the side. However, it's too early for plotting. I can't know the story until I know why my characters act the way they do. I have to figure out what makes them tick.

To do that, I have to know the lie the hero and heroine and villain believe about themselves. How do those lies affect them? What actions do they take because of the wound the lie causes? I brainstorm all of this on my sketch pad. Why a sketch pad? I don't like lines. A blank page frees my mind to go in any direction.

Once I have that, I discover these characters' core values and the motivation for their goals. That way I can sabotage those goals. Hehehe. Then I figure out why the hero and heroine should be together but aren't. Learning who my characters are is almost as much fun as putting them through the torture rack!

Once I kindofsorta know my characters—and I say kindofsorta because I really don’t totally know them until I start writing—I let all my research and noodling percolate. As scenes come to me, I jot them down. I play the what-if game. What if this happened? By knowing my characters, I now know how they will react.

I now have a little over 17,000 words written. Most of them are good words that I'll keep. And tomorrow when I open Scrivener I will begin with someone trying to kill my heroine...

I really need to write my steps down while I’m working on this new book. 
If you have any tips you want to share, leave a comment and I'll enter you in a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card!

Oh! Before I go, I want to share the cover of Standoff, my first Natchez Trace 
Ranger book!

39 comments:

  1. I would definitely have to write down the steps, or I would lose track. I can't imagine all the work and time that goes into a book. I'm glad you take the time because I really enjoy your books!

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    1. Thank you, Nicole! I love writing, even when it's hard.

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  2. I am a sight person so writing steps down would be necessary for me. Thank you for sharing. Have a blessed day.

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    1. The only reason I don't write it down is it's different for each book. Weird. :-)

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  3. Writing things down helps me. Thank you for writing my favorite type of book!!!
    lhanberry1 at gmail dot com

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  4. Well, it says this was posted at 3:30 am. If you posted it I’d say the biggest tip would be sleep. 😁
    janeen dot bair at gmail dot com

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    1. Actually, Janeen, I schedule it to post at that time, although often I'm up then. lol

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  5. I love the cover! Can't wait to read this book!

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  6. Beautiful cover, Pat! I'm excited to read this one.
    psalm103and138atgmaildotcom

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  7. Always look for good covers on book! Love this cover!
    faithdcreech at gmail dot com

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    1. So do I, Faith. I think the artist at Revell outdid themselves this time!

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  8. When the conversation between two people is too fake it get turned off on the book and most of the time do not finish. I have finished reading all of your books.

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  9. A lot of work goes into writing a novel. I wouldn't be able to keep everything straight. I'm sure there would be inconsistencies galore if I tried to write one. I'd rather just read the books, but I'm very glad there are people like you who love to write them! Thanks for sharing your time and talents.
    whthomas13 at yahoo dot com

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    1. That's what editors are for, Winnie. They catch a lot of my errors. ;-) Thanks for stopping by.

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  10. And to everyone who has tried to leave a comment and Blogger eats it, I'm sorry! I hope they'll get their act together one day.

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  11. I love hearing you say it’s different every time, because it is for me, too! Great tips - and yes, PLEASE write all those steps down! 😘

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    1. But they'll probably change with the next book, Regina. lol. or maybe not. Thinking about apply to ACFW to teach a course on writing romantic suspense. :-)

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  12. I'm so glad you take the time to write those words because I love reading them!! clhutson1016(at)gmail.com

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  13. I'm a huge list person, so having all the steps written down would be most helpful to me. I'd totally be lost without that!

    I'm with everyone else her, what a cover! :-)

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    1. I may get around to making that list next week, Trixi. And I love the cover, too!

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  14. Thank you for sharing your writing process Patricia. I enjoyed hearing how you get to know your characters before getting into the meat of your writing. Unfortunately, I don't have any tips for writing, but I do have a question. Do you usually have an ending in mind before you write?

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    1. Dawn, I usually have the beginning and the ending when I start my story. But the ending doesn't always stay what I think it will. lol

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    2. I bet, just like life, things can change. Thanks,

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  15. no tips
    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

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  16. Looking forward to the book! jarning67@hotmail.com

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    1. Thank you! I'll pick a winner in just a minute from Random dot org!

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  17. Always look forward to any of these type of books! Would love to win a print book! Thank you for the opportunity to enter a giveaway! Lual Krautter krautter12ATbresnanDOTnet

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    1. I'm about to pick a winner, Lual! Give me a minute. Thanks for stopping by.

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  18. Love that cover. Looking forward to reading the book 😎
    marcus802001@yahoo.com

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  19. And the winner of the $10 Amazon gift card is Mark! I'll email you in a minute.

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  20. I really enjoyed this article on approaching the writing of a new book. I write fantasy myself, my current book gearing toward young adult. I talk my story idea through with my husband. He writes down what I say, helps jog new ideas by asking the questions that occur to him, and makes notes of things we’ve discussed but haven’t been able to figure out answers to yet. After a few of these “interviews”, I have a working outline I then put into Scrivener, then I get to work. I don’t wait to write till I have all the answers and definitely change plenty as I work through and consider alternatives, but it gives me a framework that keeps me on track and moving forward.

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