20,000 words into the first draft of a YA thriller, it’s
tough to admit that I’ve lost the plot! I’ve spent the last three weeks desperately
editing, revising and rewriting, but I finally have to accept that the story just
isn’t working. All that effort – for nothing.
OK, maybe not for nothing. This is a new genre and a new target
age-group for me and I’ve learnt a lot, most of which I hope to be able to put
to good use at a later date.
When it comes to plotting, I am definitely a planner
rather than a ‘pantser’. I need to know the story from beginning to end before
I actually start writing. I have tried – and failed – to write a fast, first
draft and work out the plot as I went along, but it just doesn’t work for me. I
need a plan – not that I necessarily stick to it. It’s like a map I can go back
to if I get lost – or a lifeline, if I get stuck.
That said, it’s taken me a while to work out exactly what
went wrong this time around. I’d done the research. I had a detailed
scene-by-scene outline. I had a synopsis. I knew my characters inside out – their
background, what they wanted, what made them tick... and I knew whodunit.
In two of my books for younger readers – Spike and Ali
Enson and Spike in Space, due out in August – I blended realism (adoption,
sibling rivalry) and fantasy (aliens, space travel).
This blend of fact and fiction was the starting point for
this latest project, but the present-day real event – or series of events – is harrowing
and by adding an element of fantasy, I was left feeling that I was not doing
justice to either strand of the story. So, I've had to choose between the two (more on that later)... and start plotting all over again.
Of course, this whole process has made me feel like I've lost the plot in more ways than one. Anyone else know that feeling?
Of course, this whole process has made me feel like I've lost the plot in more ways than one. Anyone else know that feeling?
