I've handed in the edits on "
Not Alone", our upcoming book on infertility and miscarriage, which means one very important thing:
I get to write fiction again!
I've actually started writing my new novel, just because I knew exactly how I wanted it to start, but I'm also still working on the plot. (This is so that when I get past the first few chapters that I'm sure about, I'll be sure that my characters still have somewhere to go.)
And when I say "plot", I really mean "plot, characterization, thematic structure, setting, conflict, chapter arcs, research" and, oh, so much more.
I love this part.
Not as much as I love the actual
writing, mind.
(There's nothing as hard and satisfying as writing and nothing as thrilling as
having written.)
But there's something wonderful about the plotting. I love going through all my checklists and prompts and seeing how everything's going to fit together. I love those moments when I realize things like, "Oooh, if the villain says
that, then the heroine's going to think
this, and then the hero can reassure her
thus, and then . . ."
I love watching it all come together.
And I can't wait to finish writing this book.
Because here's the really marvelous thing about the plotting process: the plotting process is what makes me very, very,
very sure that I'm writing a book that I'll want to
read.
Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell