For me, starting a novel begins with an idea for a character and a setting. So, for example, in my current Work in Progress, my character is Jayne whose life in Chicago has imploded. She flies across the country and takes refuge in a tiny town called Roadrunner Ridge in the California High Desert but then she stumbles upon a murder and the trajectory of her life is changed.
But after these starting ingredients, I’ve stumbled in the past with plotting. Years ago I wrote more than half a mystery novel before getting completely stuck. Eventually I just shelved that work entirely.
Now I don’t want the same thing to happen again so I’ve been reading Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. This is a great novel-writing guide by Jessica Brody, based on work by Blake Snyder who introduced the same ideas for screen writing. The book argues that every story has 15 essential plot points and it uses existing works to demonstrate and teach this technique. I’m using this to guide the development of my WIP, called Flight of the Roadrunner, and so far I’m finding it extremely helpful.
So now … back to writing … 🙂
Diane Carmony 