There have been many
other blogs and sites by other writers offering some practical advice to combat
the dreaded writer's block. I think every writer is different. We all have our
different styles and what works for one writer may not work for others.
I wanted, instead, to
share my recent bout with writer's block because the outcome was not what I
expected.
As I published my debut
novel, Depth of Deception (A TitanicMurder Mystery), I knew what the next novel was going to be. In fact there
is a preview Prologue and first chapter of Bloody
Mary Kelly at the end of Depth of
Deception. I have already written
the first 12 chapters and the conclusion. This may sound odd but it's a quirk
of mine that I always write the last chapter first, then go back to the
beginning and work towards that end. Thus, laying down the foreshadowing and
plot-twists wherever needed is easier.
Bloody Mary Kelly was going to be set in two time periods: present-day
Toronto and Victorian London. I had
amassed a ton of research materials, including detailed maps of Victorian
London, copies of Scotland Yard files, etc.
I was recently at the Bloody Words writer's conference in Toronto, where
I not only spoke on a panel for Historical Research in mystery novels, but
attended other panels by a police detective and a forensic psychologist who answered
some questions I had for the new novel. Armed with all of this information I
was ready to continue working on Bloody
Mary Kelly.
I sat in front of the
computer. Read over my notes. Read over the outline. I knew what was supposed
come in the next chapter but I couldn't write it. Something didn't ring true. A
major character that I was about to introduce didn't seem to work. Did I need
to change their profession? Their gender? (I've done that before while writing
a story.) Nothing seemed to work. I was really stuck. This major character
would be need to be weaved throughout the story, so I couldn't jump ahead, or
cut them out entirely. What to do?
This went on for more
than a week, and I was getting frustrated.
Not feeling well, I took a nap in the middle of the day, which is
something I only do if I'm sick. You
know how they say if you're thinking of a problem as you drift to sleep, the
answer will come to you? Well that's exactly what happened. I woke up and I had
it.
Unfortunately, the
answer wasn't for Bloody Mary Kelly at
all. An idea that I had back-burnered five years ago, which didn't have a
thought-out plot or conflict, (can't have story without either of those!)
suddenly made sense. I woke up from my nap with the plot in my mind. I sat up,
reached for my iPhone and began surfing for some historical information right
away, to make sure it was going to work within the time period. Not only did it fit the timeline but I
started to find other historical events that gave me the conflict that was
missing from the original idea. Suddenly I had the ending of my novel! I went
to my computer, wrote the conclusion and from there the opening of the story
was clear in my mind. This new story lay itself out for me, needing to be told.
You can't turn it on
like a tap, nor can you control it when it erupts like a geyser. I've decided
to ride that inspirational wave and put Bloody
Mary Kelly on the back burner (for now). Why argue with the creative flow?
So I'm starting a different new novel which, ironically, opens with our
protagonist suffering from writer's block.
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Excerpt of first few chapters of new novel available & bonus material available on official website: http://lutetia.weebly.com/
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