I am a linear writer. I start at the beginning and write on through to the end. As I go, I also spiral back to look at what I wrote recently and revise and tweak and then write more forward progress. This has been my process for five novels now.

But I’m having trouble with novel six. I don’t know where the beginning is. So I can’t start. And yet I must. I’ve tried some tricks and exercises to find the beginning, but so far, no luck. So now I’ve decided I just have to break out of my habits and start writing scenes that I know will take place. As uncomfortable as that will be, it will be less so than not starting at all.

The problem with me in . . . oh, let’s call it splatter writing (that’s pretty not linear, right?) . . . The problem with me in splatter writing is that usually I get to know my characters through the course of writing and it takes me about 20-30K words before I feel connected. If I start in the middle somewhere, I should already know them by then and know exactly how they’ll react in situations.

I’ve done some interviews with the three POV characters to understand them better. That’s helped some. So I’m hoping this will work out for the best. But the efficiency part of me (yeah, there’s a little bit of someone like that inside me–don’t laugh) is worried that I’ll write these scenes and then either have to get rid of them all together because they won’t fit in the final product, or that I’ll have to revise them drastically.

Boohoo. Welcome to writing. It’s all about revision and cutting a lot of words happens often. So Bite Me. Take that efficiency-self!

So I am embarking on a terror-filled process (because it’s so unfamiliar and it might not work).  Keep your fingers crossed that works out. I’ll let you know.