The “ah ha!” moment

Each author I’ve met has their own way writing a book. Some create detailed character descriptions and settings before they start writing. Others plan out the whole plot and put it in an outline. Others just start writing and see where it takes them. Me? I’m sort of in the middle. I’m in the process of finishing my 5th novel. Each one was a bit different in how I wrote it.

The Hidden Sun: I had a basic scene I started with and then I built around it. This one was tricky. I knew what I wanted to have happen in the end, but I wasn’t sure HOW I was going to accomplish it. The solution came to me while I was writing.

The Waxing Moon: This was the most complex book I’ve written to date. For the final draft, I had created an outline and spreadsheet to ensure everything that happened took place when it should. I had the solution figured out before I started writing the book.

The Mirror of the Soul: This one was fun, but also tricky. Since it is based on the song of the same name, I had the basic outline done for me. Yet, in order to flush it out to a novel sized book, I incorporated several subplots that supported the main one. These subplots were mainly based off of other songs by the same artist—Chris de Burgh. Again, the end was known before I started writing the book. (This book is coming out early 2013)

Wall of Faith: While this is a novel, it’s based on real events. Since I lived these events, the beginning, middle and end were already figured out. The difficult part here was to write it in a way that was engaging. The advance copy readers have given great feedback and I’ll have it shaped up in no time. It’s in the editing staged. My goal is to have this submitted to my publisher by September 1 of 2012.

The Zealous Star: The third, and most likely final, book in the Bariwon series has been the most challenging. I want it to be epic. I want it to be worthy of the books before it. I want it to be a satisfying conclusion to the series. To that end, I’ve written some very dynamic characters and scenes. I’ve thrown all sorts of curveballs at my characters. I’ve turned the story on its head. However, for most of the book, I wasn’t sure how I was going to tie it all together. However, just a couple of days ago, it came to while I was writing. While this will work out great (I hope) it’s not a way I’d suggest to write a book. It’s actually been kind of scary to write a book without knowing how it will end. Yet, when I did get my “ah ha” moment, I’ll admit, I did a little jig.