I am not a
planner. Now, when I say a planner I mean to the extent that I have every
single detail mapped out on a project. I know a lot of authors who do plan, and
sure, plans change as you dive into a world and start writing a story, but a
lot of writers have guidelines . . . I am a very bad improviser.
Usually, I
will get an idea in the form of a scene. One of the characters will come to me;
they are vivid, and bold, and they give me a segment to wet my appetite. I know
the general details on them, but that’s it. I pretty much dive right on in and
figure it out as I go.
So far this
silly approach of mine has worked, but with my latest WIP I find I am somewhat
torn. I’m going in to the realms of fantasy, and I am creating a whole new
world. I’m sure a lot of writers may have already taken this adventure in one
particular genre or another, but this is new to me; fantasy, and creating an
entire universe from scratch is very new to me.
I’m excited
– of course I am – because this world is one that I have had hidden in my slush
pile folder for the last seven years, but I will admit I am a little
overwhelmed; there feels like there is too much to know and create in such a
short amount of time.
My plan was
to solely concentrate on my Blood Series this year. I have finished reading
through She-Wolf – which is with my editor – and Cranberry Blood, and I was
originally going to dive right in to planning the next book, but then I saw the
most fabulous submission call, and I just couldn’t ignore it.
Decadent
Publishing have a new series called “Beyond Fairytales,” where the author is
assigned a Grimm tale and has to re-vamp it in their chosen genre.
Now, I
could have ignored it, but I was too intrigued. I also could have made things
very easy for myself and picked a genre I had already played in before, but
when I got my assigned tale I just knew I had to go fantasy with it. I usually
don’t apply for things that have a time limit, for many reasons which I won’t
go in to, and because if I don’t make it I will kick myself. But still, I found
myself signing up any way. So, needless to say this project is a huge challenge
for me.
Jumping
back to feeling excited . . . I am. I have snips. I have already met four of
the characters they are an interesting bunch. I have a very rough sketch of how
the world is and the inhabitants you will find there. I know magic is going to
play a huge part, and I have been lucky enough to get a tale where I could
really do anything with it . . .
Now I’m
stuck. Not in a way where I am clueless, because despite the fact that I don’t
plan I have had to do the above. I have had to figure some details out; write
some guidelines. After I drew my map of the world – yes, I actually drew a map.
It’s rough, but it’s a start – I found myself sitting there and thinking,
“well, I can’t do any more than this until I get inside this world and see
where I am lead.”
So, it is
now time for me to get my panster-ness on and see what these characters want to
show me. I have no idea what’s going to happen. I will openly admit that since
Fantasy is new to me that I have no idea if I can pull it off successfully, but
I am going to damn well try, and naturally, I will keep you updated with my
progress. J
For those
of you who have read the Blood Series and are waiting for the next book, I will
definitely be working on that next, and I plan to have She-Wolf and Cranberry
Blood re-released by this summer, 2014.
Wish me
luck!
