CAROL BURNSIDE / ANNIE RAYBURN

>How weird is it that when you need to finish a book, write an inspiring cover letter, or the best synopsis ever known to man (in my dreams!) your muse runs screaming under the bed and refuses to be coaxed out with either Cheetos or chocolate?  But finish a book, get in the brainstorming phase of another, and she flexes her muscles in front of you, pulling out all the stops to get you to quit all that silly pre-writing nonsense and “WRITE, Fool!”  Sheesh!  

Enter the blog post.  That’s writing, right?

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m on a mission –to try a new method of writing–something that will speed up my production and keep me from pulling my hair out halfway through the book.  I need a better road map, more details up front. So, for the last 4 days I’ve been working on a new idea with an external plot which will drive the action in a trilogy of books targeting the Silhouette Desire line. I’ve also been developing characters–3 couples and a few key secondary characters that I need to know in depth.

Starting with names and pictures, I’ll then choose their archetypes, which tells me now they’ll mesh and clash and change. Then I develop backstory, and take another look at the mesh and clash areas, personalizing them to fit the character.  This is the stage I’m at now.  Hopefully, when I’m done – I’ll have a rough sketch of how their romance will play out. Then I’ll begin a detailed outline starting with the major turning points, then filling in-between areas, fleshing out as I go, until I have a very detailed outline of each stand-alone book.

When I get to that stage, I’ll try writing a rough draft in 30 days.  This will be the hardest part for me since my internal editor never seems to turn off. In the event I can’t make it shut up, I’m hoping for at least a more cohesive and faster written 1st pass.

Just in case anyone out there is reading this and interested, I’ll post updates  – possibly weekly.