Edged in Blue

I said I don’t talk much about the process anymore because it takes time away from procrastinating writing.

I said I don’t talk much at all about works in process because nothing ever goes as planned.

That said, today, I’m going to talk about two works in process:  one organic and one outlined.

Of the first, I’ve discovered organic writing is a risky venture at best.  The novel I started last winter and stopped and started again in subsequent months is back on hiatus.  In the olden days, when Louisiana still had a city called New Orleans, our mission in Iraq was accomplished, and not quite as many people hated Coldplay, I might have abandoned a novel after one or two tries.  Now?

Now I understand why some writers say, “Well, it took me years to write this novel.”

So this book, my 87th Precinct-meets-The Wire-cum-Inspector Brant-con-DS MacRae project is back in fermentation mode.  It’s a mess.  I may burn it down and rebuild it.  I may throw out everything I’ve written since August.  I may decide I like it and run with what I have.

Of the new project, I can say this:  I know how it ends.  I know who the characters are.  I know what the follow-up will be if my agent can sell it.  I know what my research will be.  Why?

The Way of the Cheetah.

I mind mapped this one.  In fact, I’ve got mind maps started on four projects in various stages of brainstorming.  And that’s all mind mapping is, brainstorming.  Tossing out ideas in an almost cloud-like format that gathers thoughts.  I’ve written about it before.  Still, you don’t need a fancy freeware app like I use to do it.  An artist’s sketchpad, a whiteboard, or even a spiral notebook will do.

But that’s what I did with this new project.  I mind mapped all the details – protags, antagonists, supporting characters, setting, even the crime.  It was enough for me to write a 9-page outline.  I plan to write two more before mimicking the stupid writer’s trick known as NaNoWriMo.  (Here’s the secret to NaNo, far too late to help anyone:  You have to outline ahead of time, or you’ll just stall out.)

So why am I doing this?  And why work on two novels at once?  Simple.  One will take years to write, and my agent is going to want something to shop a little bit sooner.  Fortunately, the method I’ve come up with lets me write a quality book in less time without it being rushed.

In other words, I’ve learned to ponder more efficiently.