by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I’m just about to wrap up a fleshed out outline for the first draft of the first novel in this thriller series I’m working on. A lot and I mean A LOT could still go wrong, but at least I have some sense of the story I’m trying to tell.
I’m in the third act of the outline and I need to distract myself for a little while to figure out how I get from point A to point B in the plot in as creative and interesting a way as possible.
One thing I like about the way I’m doing all of this is I’ve drained the process of any uncertainty or giddy excitement. This is no longer about “Wow, I’m writing a novel!” It’s now about being as serious and clear minded as possible about the process and figuring out how to tell the best story possible. It reminds me of how I felt when I was at the height of DJing in Seoul — when I cued up a song, it was just sound, not music. It was a means to an end — getting people dancing — not music that was meant to entertain me.
I’m trying to follow the general guidelines of Save The Cat Writes A Novel, but I’m not sure that it’s guide for a third act jibes perfectly with the nature of my novel. But, we’ll see.
I’ve come up with such a massive universe and a macro plot that spans four novels and over two decades of time that I’m feeling pretty good. A lot depends now on my actual writing ability. I don’t want to be a good writer, I want to be a popular writer.
I want to tell a great tale that keeps people turning pages for the duration of four novel-length stories. When I started this process, I had no idea it was going to take so long. But, at last, I may be about to actually start writing a my first novel in a way that I will actually write its first draft pretty quick, all things considered.
Once I finish the fleshed out outline, I’m hoping the actual writing won’t take so long. It’s just been serious pain the butt to get to this point.
