December is almost half gone. The question of whether I’ll succeed in my deadline to complete a rough—very, very rough—draft of a novel this year remains in limbo. Will I or won’t I?
I’ve done a lot of soul searching. How have I written novels in the past? How can I change my methods? My previous works all happened over time. This is the first novel I’ve tried to shove into a deadline.
I thought, maybe I should create an outline. Except that didn’t happen. I am a pantser. To outline is not even possible for me. Why? Because my stories only move forward by my getting inside my characters.
Although—many times what comes out first from my pen is dialogue. Often I don’t even knowing who is speaking. Could I outline using dialogue alone? N-o-o-o, I don’t think so. There needs to be action, not simply talk.
Anyway, today I am taking stock. Of the 56,000 words in my file, I’ve printed out the last 15,000, which have not been neatly (or even roughly) slotted into chapters. My characters and their time lines need to be sorted out.
I’ll report back again to tell you of my progress. Meanwhile, I have 15,000 bits to sort and piece together. Speaking of which, I once told an agent at a writing conference that I don’t do short pieces. I told her I’m a quilter, meaning—it takes a book for me to figure out what is going on.
So consider this a very intricate quilt I’m piecing in these last weeks of 2023. And the climax is still to come!
Kate Harrington 