Starting a book

Anne here, writing about the process of starting a new book. I'm thinking about this, not simply because I'm starting a book at the moment, but also because a few romance-writing friends of mine are in town and we were talking last night about our different writing processes. And since a few of you have asked about how we approach a book, I thought I'd write about my process today.

When I start a book, there's an initial time when I'm doing very little writing, but a lot of dreaming and spinning story ideas, scribbling bits down by hand in a book or on the back of an envelope and researching possibilities. It's a process of gradual coalescence as odd ideas and aspects of character come together and I start to see the possible shape of a story.

My hero and heroine usually do one of two things -- they either emerge slowly, making themselves known to me over a period of a few chapters. I write and rewrite and change their names and personalities and backgrounds until they come to life and start interacting with other characters and the chemistry is right. This happened with Tallie's Knight -- my original heroine was a young woman called Serena and she was cool, collected, unflappable and ever so slightly annoying. As was my hero, so of course, it didn't work. So I replaced her with a much younger and more naive girl, a vulnerable, warm-hearted day-dreamer with decided opinions, and the moment I put her on the page with the hero, they created sparks and the story was off and running.

Alternatively, characters arrive fully formed on the page and proceed to take over, taking the book in a direction I hadn't planned. Gideon, from Perfect Rake is the perfect example. I'd actually planned to write a hero who was dark and dangerous, and Gideon just strolled onto the page, being funny and flippant and taking right over. I wrestled with him for ages, before giving in and letting him be who he was. And if it sounds like I can't control my characters -- I am aware of how silly that sounds -- but it's true. 

For the last few books I've made story collages. A number of authors I admire use this process so I became curious about it and when I experimented with it, I found I really enjoyed the process. More, I found it revealed to me relationships and story possibilities that I might not otherwise have noticed. And the best thing about having a collage is that it plunges me right into the world of the book -- invaluable after an interrupted working day.

I'd always used location pictures and the odd evocative image, but I'd never had photos of my hero or heroine -- in fact I always resisted questions that asked what movie star I'd have play my characters. I have a clear picture of them in my mind, but there's never a 'right' face of picture. The faces I use in my collages are not so much my characters, but representative of some aspect of them. For instance in this collage for Perfect Kiss, it's the expression on the hero's face that's important, not his features. My hero had darker hair and strange yellow wolf's eyes, but he had that mix of control, confidence and deeply hidden vulnerability that I see in that photo. There's an element of the gothic in that book, and the setting plays a large part -- and you can see that from the collage.

It's quite a different feel to The Stolen Princess Collage or His Captive Lady collage, both posted below. Can you tell which is which?

I also like to have a theme song, or songs. For the Devil Riders series, every one of my theme songs has been a song sung by Katie Melua -- she's a young singer, born in Georgia (former USSR) and raised in Ireland and England, and there's something about her beautiful haunting voice and lyrics that have clicked in my mind with the books.

It wasn't quite my theme song for His Captive Lady, but a song that linked with the mood of parts of the story was Katie Melua's Piece by Piece. Beautiful, heartbreaking song. I won't explain, don't want to spoil the story, but if you've read the book, you'll know which parts the song suits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPgWFj-ZqIE

The theme song of the next story, To Catch A Bride, (Sept 09) is another Katie Melua song - The Closest Thing to Crazy. Listen to it here and feel the gorgeous goosebumps.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DCacIEbAlM

How can I think I'm standing strong,
Yet feel the air beneath my feet?
How can happiness feel so wrong?
How can misery feel so sweet?
How can you let me watch you sleep,
Then break my dreams the way you do?
How can I have got in so deep?
Why did I fall in love with you?
CHORUS:
This is the closest thing to crazy I have ever been
Feeling twenty-two, acting seventeen,
This is the nearest thing to crazy I have ever known,
I was never crazy on my own…
And now I know that there's a link between the two,
Being close to craziness and being close to you.

But finally, all the playing with images and songs and dreams and ideas brings me to the moment when I just have to sit down in the chair and, as Barbara Samuel once said, 'begin to ruin it" — when I try to put the story that's dancing in my head into words on paper. So I write the first page. It's a page that I'll rewrite a number of times--the opening scene is so important -- but sometimes, just sometimes, you can hit the right note first up and it will start the story unfolding in the best, most dramatic way. That's when it's magic. 

What about you? As a reader, do you find it interesting to hear about the writing process, or would you rather not know how it happens? And if you're a writer, how do you approach your stories? And if you have any questions, feel free to ask .

Comments

[theo]

Okay, just a wild guess, but the bottom picture is Stolen Princess and the one above it is Captive Lady?

I love hearing how an author works, how her story comes together. I didn't always understand it, but I'm learning, since I'm a 'pantser' (a word I learned here and describes me perfectly).

I decided I wanted more for my stories and took the HtTS course. I had a new idea pop in my head the other day and so far, I'm working with the 'word collage' of ideas and thoughts right now and things are coming together!

So, maybe this will help to get a more cohesive, better written story (unlike my posts here which tend to ramble ;-) )

Do you keep your collages after you're done? Do you reuse any of the pictures? And where is your collage while you're writing?

[Mary Jo Putney]

LOL about Barbara Samuel's "begin to ruin it." Such an apt description of when we move from the dream of story to the nitty gritty reality. :)

Your process sounds not unlike mine. I think of it as the 'Eternal Crockpot of the Creative Mind." Some story bits stew away for years before I find where they fit.

I'd never heard of Katie Malua, but she's wonderful! A haunting mixture of Slav and Celt, it appears.

Mary Jo

[cheryl c.]

I love the collages. I am a visual learner, so I understand why using a collage could help an author. The collages look attractive enough to frame them for your office. Do you do anything like that with them?

[Anne]

I love to hear about the writing process! I'm a writing teacher and writer wannabe, so I love hearing new ideas. The collage thing is something I've just started hearing about in the last year and think it's wonderful! No reason why we have to keep everything in our heads all the time. :)
Great post!

[Janga]

I just posted about you and your Stolen Princess, Anne, in a discussion on another blog of dastardly deeds authors do. I haven't forgotten that puppy! :)

I think the collage idea is fascinating, but I'm hopeless at them. What I have found that does work well for me is an idea I adapted from the Noodlers' video collage suggestion. I have slide shows for all my characters and the places they inhabit. Like you, I'm not interested in features. I prefer the ones in my head. I use the slide show to help me see body language, emotional responses, isolated moments. I use music the same way. One of my favorite scenes in my WIP came when I was stuck and listened to Keith Urban's "You Look Good in My Shirt."

[Linda Banche]

Anne, I love your stories, so whatever you're doing, keep it up.

Like theo, I'm a pantser. More than once, I've thought of a great title and wrote the story to match the title. I do write an short outline, but the story will probably vary from the outline.
I find the main scenes come out fully formed, but trying to write the connecting scenes is awful. And then I sit there and rewrite and rewrite and rewrite. Curse of the pantser.

I wonder if it would be easier to plot more. But one thing I'm positive of--this writing is very hard work. Anne, and all you Wenches, I'd glad you persevered to write all your great stories.

[theo]

Linda, I am SO there! I had several scenes for one book but I couldn't write the connecting scenes to save my life! I was so discouraged, I put it away and went back to my linear writing. I have a few opening lines or a scene, I know the ending and I write from point A to point B.

I am trying this different approach, but if some things don't work for me, I know I'm not 'stuck' with them, that I can maybe utilize parts of the process and incorporate them into my own 'style'.

And I just always feel so humbled when any of you Wenches posts how you write. You all make it sound so easy. :)

Back to my obscure Greek mythology research....

[Maya M.]

I'm fascinated by these collages. I think I'd like to try doing one for the story just finished (better late than never!) and see if the process (ha!) of doing that makes me want to tweak anything in the MS.

So - at what point would you do such a collage? When you're still figuring out or when it's firm? Because if you change anything - does that mean you go back and glue new pictures over the old, no-longer-applicable ones?

[Louis]

I find it interesting... the thought processes that result in a readable and enjoyable book.

Thanks for writing for my enjoyment.

[Patty]

The first time I heard an author talk about her characters as people who take on lives of their own and take a story in their own direction, I was fascinated. The author I am referring to is Linnea Sinclair who writes character driven science fiction romance stories. Every time I hear another author say the same thing, I am even more impressed with people who can write.

I am an avid reader and not a writer so the whole idea of having characters living in one's head blows me away. I'm also a teacher and this year we have a new writing curriculum. One of the units is writing fiction stories. We have to go through a lengthy process of helping our students develop characters. With that in mind, I'm really glad that authors are willing to share the background behind their own writing processes. I shamelessly share what I learn on-line from each of you...and I do give you credit! Thank you!

[Susan Scott]

It's always fascinating to see what inspires other writers, and also to see how none of us follow the same path. Many thanks for sharing yours, Anne! :)

[Jana]

I am a wannabe writer, and I found the idea of using a collage very fascinating. There are so many ideas and images that I imagine, but with out seeing a concrete, sometimes it's hard to harness them, put them in order and march them out onto the page, painting a true picture of what I've imagined. I am always so amazed and impressed (and humbled!)by the authors of the books I read, who manage to do this so beautifully. Sharing their processes is a wonderful gift to those of us who are trying to join their ranks!

[Anne Gracie]

Sorry for the delay in responding -- I've been away from the computer.
Theo, I'll never forget a wonderful and very dignified romance writer shuddering at the term 'pantser.' "We are organic writers, Anne," she said. "Remember that -- organic."
Which is better than an image of underpants flying in the breeze... LOL.
And yes, you identified the collages correctly.
I do keep the collages -- I couldn't imagine tossing them out, as a friend of mine does after she's finished the book. I'm actually very fond of mine. I have the old ones propped up on the top of the bookshelves in my study. They're not framed, but pinned onto very light cork boards (which you can see from the pics) and I buy a new board for each collage. The current collage hangs at eye-level when I'm sitting at my computer, so instead of sitting staring at the screen, I can turn my head a little and stare at the collage.

Mary Jo, the story bits that sit and stew gently on the backburner or the brain for years are always the ones worth writing I suspect. Some story ideas or shreds just haunt you until they're written, others drop from sight never to be thought of again.

[Anne Gracie]

Anne, collaging is not just a matter of keeping things in our heads, it's also a process of letting the mind play, as the subconscious mind selects and arranges pics in an unplanned way that sometimes gives you insight into the story.I hope you enjoy the process. It's not for everyone, but for me it's fun, as well as being inspirational.

Oh, Janga, you're not the only one who remembers that hapless puppy. In fact I have a friend, an author who I won't name, who occasionally phones me from the US and disdaining the usual hello, announces herself with, "Killed any puppies lately?" LOL.
I haven't seen the noodlers video collage stuff -- I presume you're talking about the wet noodle posse. I'll chase it up. A good buddy of mine is a noodler. Thanks.

[Anne Gracie]

Linda and Theo, I really sympathize. I, too have tried to be more of a plotter-in-advance, but for me, it results in one of two outcomes: I either get bored with the story because I know how it works out, or the characters refuse to cooperate and take the story in another direction completely.

With the connecting scenes, have you ever tried just leaving them out? Readers can easily make the leap from one time and place to another. I know if I'm struggling with a scene, sometimes it's my subconscious telling me I don't need it. Other times it's because I'm not clear on what the scene is doing, so I make a list of what it has to achieve, write it quickly and roughly, mark it for revising later, and move on.

Maya you can do the collage at any time. Some people have it finished before they start it, others add to it at whim. The first one I did (Perfect Kiss) was after the draft had been done. I'd had some pics before that, just pinned on a board, and then I became interested in the collage process, so I used them as the basis and added to it, and in the process, some themes and linkages became clearer. For me it depends on how clear the story is in my mind -- some I can finish quickly, others I add to and rearrange as I write my way into the first few chapters. Then I glue all the pics down.

Glad you found it interesting Louis. It's a different process for each of us.

[Anne Gracie]

Patty, you're welcome to use anything I say here. There are also a lot of really good writing sites listed on the links page on my website.
I did a course once where the teacher made us all complete a lengthy file on each of our characters, including interviews with them, etc. Of course, I did it, but the moment I started to write, completely different (and much more individual and interesting) characters appeared on the page. All the pre-work I'd done was useless. LOL.

Susan I love how we all approach the same job differently. As I said, the post was inspired by a discussion with a writer friend. I'd love to hear how all the WordWenches approach a new book (hinty-hint hint. ;)

Jana, I hope you play with the idea and see if it suits. There are times you'll never find the image you seek, except in your mind, but for me the best thing about the collage is that it's a window into the world of my book. I can't see everything from that window, but it's real and it's there. Best of luck with it.

In fact, best of luck to all the aspiring writers in Wenchland.

[Anne McAllister]

Janga, right there with you on the killing puppies issue, said the nameless author in the US.

I think your collages are gorgeous, Anne. I even tried one, as you may recall. The trouble was, none of the people looked remotely like they ended up feeling in my head. Now I just collect things on the computer and flip through it slide-show like, as one of your commenters did. It helps a lot. I'm not as visual as kinesthetic, as far as I can tell. It's all gut level, with a bit of auditory thrown in.

[Anne Gracie]

Hah! Flushed you out with that one, eh, Ms. McAllister? LOL. I will be doing penance for that puppy forever, I see.

It's not so much the look of the person that's important for me, it's the expression in the pic. And the world that surrounds them.
Anne McA made a story collage on a box once, that I was very taken with. I liked the idea that the story was in the box and the box was just a hint of what was inside.

[Anne McAllister]

But like the movie, it was The Wrong Box! Or the wrong people on the box. And the wrong place, too. But it's a very nice box. It just doesn't go with the story I eventually wrote!

[theo]

Anne, I am leaving some connecting scenes out now. I was one of those, "But these are my words. I can't cut any!" When I first started. Now they all get highlight, delete if they don't want to cooperate.

Right now, I have a scene I've been working on and I'd cut that too, but it's where the H/Hn meet and neither one of them is agreeing on what they want. grrrr

And did you notice? I didn't make one mention about the ***** ? I knew why you did it, but I was still so sad... *sigh*

:D

[Anne Gracie]

Theo, it's a sign of a serious writer that s/he's prepared to cut hard-won words, so well done you on the cutting. But yes, I think you do need to keep the hero/heroine meting, LOL.
Have you tried rewriting the intransigent scene from a different point-of-view, or starting in a different place?
And BTW, I was sad, too about doing what I did to the you-know-what, but it you-know-whatted in a noble cause, and at least it didn't suffer. ;)

[theo]

Anne, you made me laugh with the you-know-what :-) And yes, at least.

I'm going to have to do something. Getting them together isn't the problem really. But the minute I do, the Hn becomes almost a different person and I don't know why! *sigh* I just have to keep working through it. But it sure is a PITA. And I hate to keep moving forward (about half is written) because I never liked their first meeting and what they do and say will affect several things later on.

grrrrrrrrrr