by Heidi Main, @HeidiMain
Once you have the SEQ’s for your characters and you’ve walked through the Lindy Hop and you know what you’re going to write, you’re set to write, right?
Maybe, but there are a couple of things you can do to make sure your novel will be solid on the first pass.
Have you ever read a book where most of the scenes happen in the same location? Like the kitchen? Or the front porch? By planning ahead, you can make sure your novel has variety in locations.
Also, for any genre, you will have the passage of time. For example, if you are writing a romance, the hero and heroine will need time to fall in love and make it believable to the reader. So having some type of calendar or plan of days will help as you write. Also, to know the day of the week (is it a workday or a weekend?). Pro Tip: When you allow a couple of weeks to pass between chapters, that’s a perfect opportunity (in a romance) to let the reader know that the hero and heroine have grown emotionally closer.
Using the two above tips, I make a chart (a simple table will do) with the chapters and scenes along the left side and location and date/time on the top. You can add other elements that will vary your story world as well. Here are a few more examples:
- What secondary characters are in the scene (our characters shouldn’t live in a vacuum)
- Whose point of view is this scene from?
- What’s the weather like?
You can add anything to this chart that works for your story. I write westerns and usually have children in them, so for my stories I want to make sure there are animals and children in many scenes, and that I pick varied outdoor locations.
You may be wondering why I selected a cute Jack Russell Terrier for the picture. Well, because he’s adorable, that’s why! Go write something amazing!
Three little hearts have been broken.
Now they must find a way to heal them…
Tragedy turned Walker McCaw from bachelor cowboy to guardian of his late best friend’s three children. Now they’re living on a new horse farm—and it’s a disaster. Trisha Campbell’s arrival couldn’t come at a better time. Together, they’ll need to work to save the struggling farm. But it takes more than hard work to make a family. It takes courage and love…
Heidi Main writes sweet inspirational romance novels set in small towns. She lives in the central North Carolina’s suburbs, but dreams of acreage and horseback riding, which is why her novels include wide-open ranches and horses. Before starting her writing career, Heidi worked with computers and taught Jazzercise. She loves to take walks, garden, play board games, curl up with a good book, and watch HGTV. A perfect Saturday is lounging on the deck with her husband and watching the many birds in their backyard. Learn more about her books at www.heidimain.com.