Friday, July 8, 2011

7 Quick Takes - Writing Edition

1. I'm cackling a lot these days. I love being at the tail-end of my book! All those things I plotted (golly!) over a year ago are coming to fruition! Every time I sit down and start looking around for my story pieces they're right there to hand. It's an amazing feeling to have exactly what I need immediately available. "Look! She just did what I thought she would! Listen! He just said the thing! It worked, it worked!"

2. After having a week now of sitting astonished and watching the pieces click into place, I've become an even bigger fan of plotting than I was before. Forget the seat-of-the-pants style of writing; I'm a plotter. I think getting to this point without having plotted would be like getting to the last movement of Beethoven's Ninth and realizing that I'd forgotten to hire a choir and having to stop everything and go out and find out if the Los Angeles Master Chorale happened to be busy tonight.

As it is, I have my choir and the sopranos' notes sound like angels descending from heaven (the sound I'm thinking of is at about 0.52 into this video):

3. It's very weird to be finally writing scenes that I plotted so long ago.

4. I'm plotting the next book now, so that when I finish this one I'll have something new to jump into. Being at the end of one book and seeing how the work I did back at the beginning stages paid off is great motivation for putting a lot of work into the front end on the new one.

5. Do you know what you really need in order to write books? More books! I think my library staff is going to think I'm nuts when they start processing all my requests. "She's a housewife; what is with all these books on TV production?" Research, my friends, research. Along with cackling about my finale, I'm also cackling about the wonders of libraries. I want to know stuff, and, mirabile dictu! books with the knowledge I'm seeking exist!

I know, I know. But it really is wonderful when you think about it.

6. Hmm. I should say: my next book is not a historical romance. You know, with the television production books and all.

7. I'm also plotting a sci-fi. I'm not very serious about it - or, I'm trying not to be very serious about it - but it does keep sneakily stealing my attention away from the more marketable stuff.

Speaking of, does anyone want to read a book that is essentially Twelfth Night set in Regency London with aliens thrown in?

Because if so, I will write it for you.


More Quick Takes can be found here.

Peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

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