J.K. Coi

Guest Author: Emily Bryan

J.K., thanks so much for having me here to share my newest release, VEXING THE VISCOUNT (Feb 24th-Leisure Books). Since you are so generous with other authors, I thought I’d pay it forward a bit with a little writerly advice.

There are as many ways to write a novel as there are people who try it. This isn’t just my opinion. English playwright S. Somerset Maugham says, “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” So you see, no one can tell you the definitive process because everyone’s brain works differently. What helps me be creative may be a serious irritant to you.

However, I have noticed most writers fall into a few loose categories—pantsers, plotters, layerers, or puzzlers.

Pantsers write “by the seat of their pants.” They wake up and wonder where their story is heading, discovering motivations and plotpoints by following their characters around. I started like this because I didn’t know any better and I did manage to write MAIDENSONG (my debut written as Diana Groe, Leisure Books, May 2006) in this way. The down side is that pantsers can get sidetracked, write themselves into corners and wander around in search of an ending far too long.

Then when life intervened and I had to get a 40 hour-a-week day job, I knew I needed a more orderly system. So I became a ... Plotter, of sorts. Serious plotters interview their characters, develop spreadsheets and storyboards, and research like demons. One of the pitfalls of serious plotting is that plotters sometimes get so bogged down with backstory and plot points, it’s hard to actually break away from the planning to write the story.

I’m not a totally committed plotter. I do my research, write brief character sketches outlining my h/h’s goals and a detailed working synopsis. I treat these tools as a map, from which I may deviate if I spot a more interesting side road to wander down. But with a limited amount of pre-planning, I was able to maintain a schedule that allowed me to produce a 400 page manuscript every 6 months even with the day job.

Then life intervened again. Now I’m a full-time writer and able to do a little experimenting with other methods. Like . . .

Layering, sometimes called the “Snow-flake” method. The point of this is to start with a 60 second premise and it needs to be a powder keg of an idea. Here is the premise for a paranormal I’m playing with:

A time-traveling archaeologist must bond with a Light Elf to re-hide the Doomsday dragon chrysalis she’s unearthed.

Once you have the premise, move on to a cover-style blurb, character sketches, working synopsis, detailed synopsis, rough draft, 2nd draft, etc. With each pass, the point is to add layers to your story.

I haven’t been able to make this process work for me because once I have the working synopsis, my linear plotter gene kicks in and I start writing in earnest.

Puzzlers seem almost magical to me. These writers claim the story comes to them in chunks, like magma rising from a super-heated core, out of order and disconnected. Then once they have all the scenes necessary to tell the story, all the puzzler needs to do is put them in order and write the transitions from one scene to the next. Diana Gabaldon writes this way, so no one can argue with the results.

But how on earth do puzzlers develop a character arc? Somehow, the puzzler’s subconscious adds character growth as needed even when the scenes aren’t in chronological order. See why I say a puzzler is magic?

The point to this post is that if you are a writer, only you know the way to tell your story. It may be helpful to try other methods, but in the end, you’ll do what works for you. And don’t let anyone tell you different.

Now I’ve used up all my space without telling you much about VEXING THE VISCOUNT. Here’s my 60 second premise:

Daisy Drake will do anything to help Lucian find the Roman treasure he seeks. Whether he wants her help or not!

If you’d like to read an excerpt, please visit http://www.emilybryan.com.

Thanks again, J.K, for hosting my 50day/50blog tour today! I’d like to give a free copy of VEXING THE VISCOUNT (buy link) to someone who posts a comment or question here. And please check back tomorrow to see if YOU are my daily winner.