Otherways- Fiction Fanatics

Although this entry does (tangentially) concern my latest writing project, it isn't a shameless plug. Instead, while the process is fresh in my mind, I'd like to share how the barest seed of an idea became an outline, and is now well on its way to being an actual novel. I am not claiming that I have the best "method", or that this is the only way to do it, I simply thought someone else might find it informative, and hopefully useful.

You see, by the time I get to actually writing the novel, I rarely remember the spark that started the whole thing in the first place.

In this case, the spark was so clear, and so very unexpected, that it stuck with me. I had the monarch of all stomach flus, and was attempting to distract myself from being both miserable and in considerable pain by reading. That in itself isn't unusual, heaven knows I will read anything at anytime given half a chance. I've been known to read cereal boxes if there isn't anything else available. What was strange, though was the subject matter, and how forcefully a single line touched me.

The book that I'd picked up was a translation of poetry from the Tang dynasty. Most are quite lovely, a few seem to have lost a bit in translation, and one in particular actually made my chest ache. It's an old man, alone in the winter, staring at the moon and wondering how his life took him to this  desolate place. 

I couldn't get the image of that man out of my head, and thus the main character of my novel was born. The poet, writing about himself, probably would not recognize the person I created, but despite the barrier of death and hundreds of years between us, it was his pain that inspired me. That question, "Why?" asked to an uncaring moon, demanded an adequate answer. The man needed a new name, Shen T'ai, and a new history. He needed not just physical characteristics, but human ambitions and frailties. He needed to be, as we all are, both weak and strong.

And he could not be alone. So I created companions for him, both living and dead. As a fantasy novel, I did not wish to set the story in ancient China or Japan, but to use elements of their architecture, social structure, and philosophy to set a mood that matched the characters I'd created. For the two of you actually wondering, yes- I wrote out each characters physical description, as well as their history, temperment, and other factors before I ever began telling the story.

Once the actors for our play knew their roles, and the stage was set, it was necessary to write an outline. There are dozens of ways to do this, and I have used different ones with success. This particular story almost outlined itself, in paragraph format, each chapter cut down to the bare bones like a haiku. That has never happened to me before, but it suited the material, and "felt" right, so I went with it. Rigidity is fine for manufacturing widgets, but not really appropriate in any creative process.

From the outline, the story writes itself, at the rate of about 1000 words per day. I expect, fully grown, it will reach between 130,000 and 135,000 words.

So, from the anguished words of a long dead poet, through a thousand changes, comes a new novel. A stray moment of inspiration that could have been lost forever if I hadn't remembered to write it down. Put to paper whatever questions haunt you, whatever gives you joy or makes your heart ache. That's where your next story lies, and I can't wait to read it.

Cheers,

Michelle