Back to the drawing board...

If you check my "Number of Words to Date" stats, you'll see I haven't done much writing over the last week. Not that I haven't done anything. I do have a good...almost great hook for my synopsis. But, in the end, I have nothing if I don't have a finished book.

I tried to get back to writing this weekend but I'm getting stuck. It's not writer's block. It's more that I don't know what's going to happen next. In many ways I see the characters and story so well. It's like a movie in my mind. But once that scene is done, I'm not sure what's going to happen to get them moving to the end of the story.

So, I'm back at the drawing board, fleshing out the characters, trying to list each scene, and find and fill the holes. A couple books have been helpful. One is the Novelist's Bootcamp. The section on characters has been helpful in making more than a list of features and personality traits. At one point the author suggests pretending a character can't talk as a way to develope action outside of dialogue, another of my weaknesses.

The other book is First Draft in 30 Days . This helps me see the overall picture and break it down into small bits. As I write and find holes in the story or characters, I'm able to use the worksheets in this book to help me fill those in.

I have to wonder, is this constant writing and then going back to the planning stages something all writers go through? Or is it because I'm new and don't really know what I'm doing? I'm certain its the latter but after some practice, I hope I'll streamline my book plotting and writing process.

Jenna