The Structure I use to outline…

It’s Tuesday morning and I’m cozying up with my coffee cup. Morning’s are so hard, but after a couple more cups of coffee, I’ll have this thing in hand…

Ok, so I promised part 2 of my outline process would be about structure. And I always do my best to live up to my promises…

Structure!

Outlining gets me through the writing progress, but as I stated in my last post, there needs to be structure, the bones to the writing.

Now, this is the way I structure my writing process. It works for me and I hope it works for you.

Start your book by introducing your main character. Don’t overdo the backstory, but let your reader know who the main character is all about, what they are looking for, or what they need to happen. Maybe it’s looking for Mr. Right or solving a mystery.
Then, of course, things can’t go exactly right with your character, that would be boring. So, something needs to happen that changes their course, maybe setting them up for an exciting change. Maybe it’s an obstacle that’s put in front of their goal.
At this point, the character will want to give up, but they press forward.
In the middle or somewhere near it, your character should be at their breaking point. Your reader should be asking, what will happen next? I call this the top of the hill.
As you start to let things happen that go right for the character, you need to toss in one last zinger. Your reader has started to feel like they know how it will end, but then…
Now, and only now do you let your character have victory. This is when they slay the dragon, win the love, or find the killer.
This is the closing out of your story. Your character marries their love, sees the killer put in prison, or whatever their turmoil was, ends and they see the rainbow, so to speak. Then they walk into the sunset, or fall off a cliff, if it’s a cliffhanger for the next book in the series…

Now, I now this was a very relaxed explanation, but that’s how I roll. I don’t get into fancy words, because that just confuses the situation. This is how I do it and it may or may not work for you. It works for me!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You….

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Book 3 in The Journal Series

Book #30…

Wow~ I knew I was getting close and thought I had one more to go, but upon checking and counting, I found out that ‘Promises Made’ was actually my 30th book to be published. Of course, if you count the books that are combos it’s more, but the 30 are separate books.

This May, I will celebrate five years of publishing and it makes me a little misty-eyed as I go back through my list of books. It’s hard to believe that I’ve hit 30! When I first began publishing the manuscripts that were in my head, I imagined hitting ten books published, then twenty, and now I’m at thirty. Time flies when you’re having fun!

Was it easy? No! Writing isn’t as easy as people think. Anyone can write something down, but can they make it a book? Meaning, can they make the story they want to write flow through from start to finish? Writing is something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve been writing stories since I was a teenager and that’s a long time. But, the moment you publish what’s been hanging around in your mind, you put your heart and soul out there for everyone to see. It’s scary!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

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Gone With The Wind – 75 years old today!

Good Monday morning to all! It’s a beautiful chilly morning here in Georgia. Of course I feel like I’m coming down with my son’s cold. Oh well, tis the Season to have a cold! But I do have exciting news, Gone With The Wind is 75 years old today. If you’ve followed me very long you know this is my favorite movie.

I have posters, snow globes, figurines, newspaper articles, puzzles, pictures, music boxes, etc. of anything GWTW. Shall I go on? I have the book, the 2nd installment not by Margaret Mitchell, but still good and even the book The Road To Tara. And last but not least I have the official 50th anniversary VHS of the movie with extras. I did splurge last year and purchase the DVD. Would you say I like anything GWTW? Well yeah.

I you’re not familiar with the movie then all I can say is “REALLY?” It’s a well written book that was made into a stellar movie. With so many talented actors and actresses it was immediately a smash. Even though it was written about Georgia, it was filmed in California. But when the movie premiered happened it brought all the stars here to Atlanta which was great for publicity.

Of course I have many beloved movies and books, I still go back to this one on rainy days or cold ones for that fact… I just adore Clark Gable. He’s such a charismatic actor and with his looks he played the devilish Rhett Butler with spunk. Then you have Vivian Leigh as Scarlett. Hard to believe she wasn’t a southern lady. But who can forget Hattie McDaniel as Mammy for which she won an Academy Award. I just loved her and her spunky attitude as she told Scarlett exactly how she felt. I just love when she leans out the window to yell at Scarlett, makes me laugh every time. Scarlett needed Mammy’s stern hand and love.

If you haven’t seen it or read the book, Christmas time is a great time to sit down and catch up.

As always, Good Writing and May God Bless You…

Saturday morning writing…

Good morning all! It’s really cold here in Georgia. I’m sitting by the fire with my second cup of coffee and checking my posts. I love this time when I’ve got a little time to write posts, post on sites and work on my writing.

Today I’m working on Ridge, which is the first installment of the 5 Oaks Ranch series. I can’t help but smile as I write each part. As you know me well, I’ve got the outline completed and know basically where the story is headed. Some days I’m so excited that I go ahead of myself. No actually I do. If a certain part is calling out to me, I’ll create a separate word document and get it down. When I actually get to that part, just copy and paste. It helps keep the overcrowding of my brain from completely taking over.

Ridge is a special character to me. He’s got this rough edge that just makes him pure cowboy. The time he spent in Iraq during his two tours of duty have given him a edge that will cut the most unwilling intruder into his world. His only soft spot is his little sister Maggie. The smile she gives him makes some of the stone around his heart chisel away. But the fun part starts the minute he meets Mallory, the new ranch vet. Their sparring will keep you wondering where it’s headed. The fun part is how Ridge avoids things that are unavoidable. Can she break the ice that’s totally Ridge?

For the next couple of weeks I’ll be working on his story. If everything goes well you’ll be able to meet Ridge before New Year’s but let’s just see how it goes.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

What if the words stop…

I’ve been asked many times where the words I write come from. Most people come up to me and just simply ask, ‘What if the words stop coming?’ For a writer that would be horrible, a nightmare come true. But the funny thing about a writer’s brain, it runs on overdrive most of the time. Sometimes we might have a hiccup in the process, but the words flow continuously.

Some have asked how I work on so many books at one time. How do I keep focused enough on each one to make the individual stories work? **Smiling broadly** Well it comes from too many stories going through that if I don’t get them on paper as they go through I’m afraid my brain will explode. If an idea comes through for a new story, well it has to be written out. I love to sit with a pad and pencil and just let the words flow through me. It’s exhilerating, but sometimes when you have a deadline working you have to push the others to the side. Of course that story still nags at you constantly.

But then I wonder if one day the words might stop. Of course for me they’ve been coming at me since I was a teenager and that’s been a long time. No, I’m not saying how long, but it’s been a while. If one day I develop some sort of problem where the words stop I don’t know what will happen. It’s been such a big part of me to put a story together in my mind that I think I might stumble some.

Then again I get a lot of my inspiration from music lyrics, people watching and life, so I guess in my mind, I’ll always have a story coming through. But if the music stops, the people disappear and I stop living, then the story would probably stop. Life has added so many stories in my head that I don’t think I’ll ever run out of material. I’ve experienced life through so many eyes and lives that I always have a new spin on a topic that I’ve touched on before.

What if the words stop… Let’s just say I hope they never do. I’ve come to love my characters that flow in and out of my head. They’re a part of who I am and that may sound crazy, but if you’re a writer you know where I’m coming from. After you spend hours with a character and their life, well it’s as if they’re your best friend. A couple of my books touched me so much that I was an emotional wreck during the process, but the words flowed even as the tears and the memories that spurred the story on came crashing through. Some memories never stop flowing through and they conjure up many stories that fill the books I write.

So, have you ever wondered what would happen to you if the words stopped? Scary thought…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…