So the story of the Butterfly and the Diving Bell might have given my brain the kick it needed to get going on the novel (see last post), but it was another Bell that got me going in the right direction. That would be James Scott Bell, who apparently writes suspense novels but whom I know as the talented author of Plot & Structure: Techniques and exercises for crafting a plot that grips readers from start to finish.
A few weeks back I was trolling Amazon and Alibris for books on the craft of writing and came across glowing reviews for this title. I am very happy I put it in my shopping cart because it has really helped to guide the plotting of this book, which, it turns out, was simmering on the backburner of my mind the past few months. Apparently while I was busy doing other things, characters and plot lines were coming together somewhere in my grey matter, crystallizing around my casual research. And here I thought I was just working on other projects and – let’s be honest – procrastinating!
Now I have a deck of index cards with scenes, characters, and questions to follow up on. I have websites and books flagged for research, know what kind of bush plane my heroine flies, and how one of the characters die. Today I get to start figuring out what her dad’s backstory is and learn more about the first setting of the book.
I’m not sure where all this will take me, but I at least I’m moving forward. And if I get stalled again, at least I can tell myself I’m not really procrastinating – I’m just letting my sub-conscious steer the car for awhile…
