Process: When I Must Pretend

I'm at a fairly recognizable place in my manuscript.  I've been here before. It's the place where I'm suddenly unsure about the direction this manuscript is heading. It doesn't quite match up with what I'd planned, and I only know two things: it will either be better or it will be worse.

But in order to find out, I have to write it. I have to finish this first draft.

And here's where the pretending comes in. I need, right now, to pretend I'm a writer who knows what she's doing. I need to plow ahead with all the confidence of a Stephen King or a John Sandford or a Karin Slaughter or a J.K. Rowling.

Right now it's important not to let missing research pieces hold me up. Write the story, then fill in the holes and make the changes later. Trust the process.

Do you have stumbling places with your work? Places where you have to fake it until you make it?



It's all better with friends.

A Contest With Free Stuff

Summertime, and the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy's rich and your ma is good-lookin'
So hush little baby, Don't you cry

I'm feeling a #contest might be like jumpin' fish and high cotton, so here it is:

For every 25 new signups to my Incredibly Infrequent Updates between now and the end of August, I'll gift one of my books, plus another book of your choice (with a maximum price of $4.99) both for your Kindle app, OR an autographed paperback copy of one of my books, your choice. The more signups, the more gifts. The more gifts, the more high cotton.

*Note: Everyone who has previously signed up is elgible. You early supporters deserve something!

Where do I sign up, you ask? You can sign up on my blog,http://www.suspensenovelist.blogspot.com/, or my website,http://www.peg/@pegbrantley.com

The winners will be selected by Rafflecopter, or some other random selection service.

It's all better with friends.

Regardless of Current Headlines

se·ques·ter
/səˈkwestər/

Verb: Isolate or hide away (someone or something): "the artist sequestered himself in his studio for two years".

Noun: A general cut in government spending.







Thank you, M-W. But forget the noun. I'm seriously looking at the verb. I need the verb. I'm wanting the full frontal focus that crawling into a cave can give me so I can make the progress I need to make on my current story.

The problem? I also need to interact with people. My husband appreciates a clean smelling wife, we have a meeting with our CPA next week and, as a professional, he expects numbers and organization and well… you know. There are other little things like dinners that need cooked and errands that need run and blog posts that need written and emails that need replied to and presentations that need to be made and there's that black tie event and marketing plans to be figured out and chores to be taken care of and…

Sequester.

It's becoming one of my favorite words.

Have you ever successfully sequestered? How did you do it?


It's all better with friends.

Word Counts

Last night I hit 8,000 words for my new manuscript. It felt good to get there, but I really would like to be at 10,000 by now.

So far today, I've only added another 700 or so.

For my readers, I think you're gonna really like this new one. I'll be telling you a little bit more about it later.

For writers… do you set daily word count goals? Weekly? How do you make sure you're on target?



It's all better with friends.

When Something Doesn't Feel Quite Right

Well, I finished my first draft of the new manuscript on Thursday. I posted a little about the emotional aspects on Crime Fiction Collective today. I'd love for you to pop in and comment.

But here, at Suspense Novelist, I'd like to focus a little bit on how I got there. How I was able to finish it in the first place. What my process was.

Writing the last few scenes sat in front of me for days. I didn't exactly ignore them, but I wasn't completely on board with a couple of the aspects I'd carried over from the original manuscript to try and use again with the new one. I didn't really know I felt this way until I realized there was something making me reticent to keep writing. Something felt off.

As writers, we need to pay attention to our instincts. To our own bodies. When we feel uncomfortable, we're probably on to something important. Rather than muddle through and end up with something I hated (and readers would hate at least as much), I took a little time and tried to figure out what felt "icky."

Most of my ending felt great. It hummed. It connected. But one little element felt contrived and totally amateur. Something my husband would hate. With the help of my morning pages brainstorming session, I came up with an alternative. Not nearly as melodramatic, but equally absorbing. At least I hope so.

The take-away here is to have a plan, but be willing to veer from that plan when necessary. Pay attention to whatever reluctance you might have about a part of your plot, or a character, or a setting. Examine it. Decide whether it even merits a place in your story. When you are fighting something, there's probably a very good reason.


CR: California Fire and Life by Don Winslow.

It's all better with friends.