Sunday 24 May 2015

Chapter Outlines Complete...

I've been lucky to have some undisturbed time today, so I've made good use of it by getting my chapter outlines written up and printed out.
It's the chapters...

I found it really useful with my Nottinghamshire novella- that was planned from the start- and even though some bits moved chapter position, it made it easier for me to work through. The plot ideas were already formed and it reduced how much was still swirling around getting in the way of the 'maybe' stuff.

As I'm already up to Chapter 12 in my contemporary romance the first few pages were done quite quickly, so the brain work started with Chapter 13.

Of course, by the next draft the number of chapters may have changed, but I'm not really too concerned about having some short chapters versus longer chapters- I go for where it feels right to end a chapter. So I may actually end up with twenty by the time it's completed!

This afternoon I've written a little over 1,200 words, and could finally see where everything was going, rather than realising I'd missed something important because my brain's too clogged up with possibilities.

Actually I was even seeing snippets of scenes developing in my mind as I wrote some of the chapter outlines...

Now I just need to get my character bios done. I do have some notes on the main ones, but I need more detail as I've discovered more about them as I've gone along; and neither my hero or heroine are quite as I imagined them at the start- she's stronger minded and daring than I thought, and he's less confident than he appears.

I'm certain that I can make much better progress on my word count once the bios are done this week...






Illustration courtesy of Stuart Miles at www.freedigitalphotos.net



4 comments:

Unknown said...

Agree, end where the chapter needs to. I've seen people ask, "How long should a chapter be?" As long as it needs to be. I'm sure The Dead School contains chapters a few words long but others several thousand. 1,200 words is great for an afternoon, too!

Carolb said...

Thanks for commenting, M J. :)

I think I got so much done because I was just emptying my head of how I saw the story progressing. And as I tend to be a one finger typer, 300 words an hour was quite quick! :-)

Teresa Ashby said...

I love the way your characters are developing almost on their own - it's a good sign. I agree to end a chapter where it feels right. I like reading books with chapters of varying lengths xx

Carolb said...

I'm always surprised the first time a new character starts going their own way, or telling me I've missed something important, Teresa. :-)

Today on the way to my hairdressers appointment, my heroine's sister started justifying her bad behaviour...