I started writing a new book today. Now if you know my
writing you know that's not a particularly unusual or special event. But
it always seems special to me.
No matter how many times I’ve
done it, it’s a daunting task beginning a novel. I have to turn one blank page into some 300
pages full of a different assortment of letters.
I recently came across this old post from way back in 2009 that
works as well as advise for getting started as for finding your way though.
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If there is one thing successful fiction authors have to
have it’s a belief in themselves. They have to believe absolutely that they
have the ability to create a good story.
Plenty of people, probably numbering in the millions, have
an idea for a book or have begun to write one. More often than not, nothing comes
of it, and the work is never finished. In many cases they hit the ‘soggy
middle’ or can’t find their way through a tricky plot point, and give up.
Once you have a book or two under your belt, there comes a
time in which you believe in yourself, or in your characters, and that
knowledge will carry you through.
Case in point – I am a rough outliner, meaning that I have an
idea of how I want my story to progress, and what obstacles are going to impede
the characters. But the outline is drawn in broad strokes only and all the
details have to be filled in as I go.
I’m working on Smith and Winters #4 (2015 Note: The book became Negative Image) in
which there is a subplot involving a series of break and enters when people are
away on vacation. From the very beginning I knew I had to come up with
something that the homeowners had in common. Some reason why these people were
broken into and others were not. But the reason had to be obscure – otherwise
the police would discover it quickly. Cancelling the newspaper, or using the
same house sitter, is too obvious. Trusting myself to think up something
eventually, I made a note on a blank page saying “Reason XX knows these houses
are empty?” and then settled down to write the book. I was approaching the end
of the first draft. Still no idea. Kennel? Kids sports teams? Nope, Sergeant
Winters would have considered that. I have to be smarter than Sergeant Winters.
I didn’t spend much time thinking about it. I trusted myself
to come up with an idea, but I will confess I was getting a bit nervous. And
then it happened - I was taking a walk, thought of something I’d seen, and –
presto - I knew the answer. So perfect it even fit into another plot point
without jiggling.
The moral of the story is to trust yourself. Or trust your
characters. I’m sure John Winters would have thought of it eventually.
