Good Evening Lovelies,
I like to say that I surprise write, where even if I do any planning or no planning at all, I am always surprised by something that happens in the story or at the end. When I begin writing, usually I have no idea what the story is going to be about because the idea has not fully formed in my mind so halfway through the manuscript I have an “ooohhhhhh” moment where things finally click into place about what is happening and what is going to happen next.
I rarely know what my work is going to be about when I begin and in some ways, I think that is the best way I can write because if it surprises me as I write it then it is sure to surprise readers when it is read. I only resort to planning things out when the plot begins to get too complicated to keep straight as I am writing it.
When this happens I create a timeline marking down when things are supposed to happen so that I can keep everything straight in my mind allowing me to complete the rough draft. For instance, I started this anti-hero short story a couple of months ago and I was zooming through the rough draft, my hands hardly able to keep up with the words flying through my mind. Suddenly things began to change and more intense with the characters and the plot and I was on the edge of my seat as I typed as fast as my fingers would go, unable to wait to see how things would end and where the book would take me.
When the pieces finally clicked as to what needed to happen at the end of the book I was surprised. It was like I knew what needed to happen, but didn’t really admit it to myself and I didn’t know how I was going to achieve the ending that the book needed, but it flew out of me before I could even think about stopping it.
It surprised me, but that was the ending it needed and that ending only got more honed as I began to edit it. I still get teary-eyed and surprised every time I read through it fixing little things and improving phrases as I go along. It is only getting better and I still enjoy it every time I read through it.
The best books, can’t be stopped by anyone, no matter how hard they try. This one just couldn’t be stopped, not that I wanted to stop it. I could barely keep up with it. This quote that I’ve heard a lot on twitter says it best. If there are no tears in the writer, then there will be no tears in the reader. NO surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”
Celine Rose Marie