December 15, 2008

I have talked to many people who tell me, “I’ve always wanted to write a book. I have a great idea for a book. Someday I’m going to write a book. And just as soon as—–.”

Notice the key word is “someday”. Why not start writing today? If not today, why not start tomorrow? That’s what I did. I just started.

People ask me if I diagram the plot before I begin writing, as the “experts” say you should do. I tried diagramming, and outlines, and software programs, and other suggested means of writing proposed by the “experts”. They did not work for me. You may be different.

My plots are developed through the conversations between the characters. Much like improvisation. I don’t know exactly how it works, but it does work for me.

My characters come in and out of the scenes at will. They suddenly appear in a scene, almost unannounced. I watch them in fascination to see how they will react to the other characters already in the scene.

My explanation sounds like fiction, and maybe that’s what it is. I do write fiction, you know.