Tag Archives: novel

Back in the Saddle…

My life motto has always been I THRIVE ON MONOTONY.  After my life was turned upside-down for a little over a week, I am back to my mundane schedule and, believe me, it feels good. It feels right. It feels “write” to be back in the saddle.

And I have been writing, though I will admit I found it next to impossible to write in airports and on planes. There is too much noise. And it’s too crowded. But, I tried. Unfortunately that progress was almost nill.

However, FINDING VERITY made a huge leap even though I couldn’t write and that’s because I thought about the story. And, while I was thinking, I solved a problem. And after that problem was solved, FINDING VERITY grew. It grew to almost 88,000 words. And I’m feeling good about it. Damn good!

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done but I plod along knowing I can do it. This is my third novel. The first one didn’t get published. Last year I self-published WINDFALL. I think I might approach publishers with FINDING VERITY. However, if I do and there’s no interest, I’ll self-publish that one, too.

So, what is FINDING VERITY? Here is a hint. It’s a “coming of age” story about a boy who, after being abandoned by his mother, finds the strength to persevere. He survives a brutal experience in a foster family, befriends a homeless man, gets adopted into a loving family, and becomes a best-selling novelist though no one knows that because he writes under a “pen name.”  But then he meets an old woman who changes his life…

Book Mobile in the 1920s

Getting to the BIG ENDING!

The first draft of FINDING VERITY is almost done. Over 80,000 words!

I am close to typing “the end.” I KNOW the last scene. It’s a tear jerker, a heart wrencher, a happy tears are falling kind of ending.

But I can’t seem to get there.

I have a couple of scenes that need to be written, call them “bridge” scenes, scenes which will get me from what I’ve already written to the “big ending.”

But I can’t figure out what they are.

I woke up early this morning and, under the warmth of my blankets, played “what if” games for over two hours. I can’t find a “what if” I can sink my teeth into.

I am SO STUCK.

After six months of diligent writing I can not get to the end.

But, I refuse to stop.

Today I will print out what I have written so far. All 193 pages.

But first…

I’m going to write the last scene.

I’ll figure out the transition later.

And, if I write that last scene correctly, I’ll be printing out over 200 pages!

 

Rereading Novels…

Every once in a while I read a novel whose plot forces me to read FAST. This happens because the plot is so intriguing that I NEED to find out how it ends. And I need to find out FAST.

When this happens I am not reading “close” like a writer should read. So, sometimes, I read books a second time.

This happened to me with the trilogy that began with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. And it also happened to me with The Hunger Games trilogy. When I read a story I love for the second time, I am able to look closer at how the author developed characters and plot. The first read was fun, the second read interesting, but both are enjoyable.

Pay close attention to how you read a novel. Are you merely enjoying the story or are you paying attention to how a character is developed? Are you looking for clues that the author might have dropped to help you figure out the ending?

Reading a novel for the second time is a different experience than the initial read. For me, it solidifies how the author drew me into the story and shows me  how he or she captured my heart. As a writer I want to know how the author did this. A second read will usually clarify this for me.

But not always.

Those are the books I read three times.