Every new novel feels like the beginning of a whole new life, and in some ways, it is. I’ve got new people to discover, new adventures to plot, new risks to take. And while it feels very good indeed to have completed my 4th(!) novel, I’m not one to sit back and take time away from writing. Basically, I can’t not write.
This will be my first ‘new’ novel start in over a year (I finished the first draft of Aurum in June 2013). I like to think that I’ve learned a lot since then. I finished the soon-to-be-released, Legacy Soul and wrote a dozen short stories since that time, two of which have sold to pro markets.
This one will be a new genre for me: a thriller. No speculative elements at all. I developed several thriller plot outlines at a recent workshop, but I haven’t decided which of those I’ll use (or if I’ll come up with something new). I learned a lot of techniques on how to deal with multi-threaded plot lines and pacing–I can’t wait to try them.
So over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be fleshing out an outline, developing backgrounds and goals for the main character(s), making lists of technical details I need to clarify with experts, and charting out the scenes and pacing. I expect to start writing the first scenes before the end of the month. Brothers of the Fang took nine months from the first idea to the completion of the first draft; Aurum took seven. I’ve said it before: I’m not a fast writer, but I am consistent. I expect to complete the first draft of this novel (and again, I don’t yet know much more than the genre yet) by the end of October. At the same time, I’ll continue to try to write two short stories a month, as per my goal for the year.
And so it begins.