Finding One's Way

I'm not the sort of writer who sits down at the desk/table with the germ of an idea and just wings her way through to the end. Not a "flier into the mist." I have to have a roadmap, I do.

But then, neither can I plot out exactly what scene goes into what chapter, or work out the back story of everyone in the town where my story takes place. I tend to figure out only as much as I have to know to get the job done--and much of the time I don't figure it out until I reach the point where I need it.

In other words, I have to work out the Big Picture before I can really get started with writing, but the Details come later. For instance, when I started writing The Eternal Rose, I knew that the Daryathi were taking Adarans (My heroine is Adaran) as slaves. But I didn't have a clue as to why. Not until the family paid a visit to Obed's cousin. Then it all came clear.

The story I'm currently working on--a romantic science fiction--or maybe a science-fiction romance--is going really slow because I keep having to stop and figure out all the details.
I did work on my world-building before I got started, but even if you know a lot of the whys and wherefores and most of the whats, the little things can still stump you. And sometimes, once you know all that stuff, you still have to figure out the HOW. My hero, a court-savvy, cynical, empire's-capital tough-guy, has to go to the frontier, where he's never been, to investigate troubles in the family business. And I keep thinking of ways he could do it better, and going back to fix it.

Lots of writers say that one should just keep driving for the finish, forget about editing and going back to fix--and for the most part, I do that. I certainly don't go back to polish. And I stick--mostly--to my outline. And I rarely go back more than a few paragraphs. A page at most. But if I decide my hero ought to go to the outer sectors disguised as a dandified bureaucrat with dyed-pink hair instead of wearing a scruffy spaceport tough, that's something I need to fix right away, or it will throw me off my stride. I'd rather fix it as I go than write multiple drafts. I hate multiple drafts. (I say that now, anyway. Watch. I'll probably have to write six drafts of this one poor story...I think I've written as many as two for one story, ever. I frequently have to go back and strip out a subplot, or explain things in my main plot, which means I go over the story a number of times, but they're not really new drafts...)

Anyway, I keep thinking this story is really giving me trouble--except I'm a page over my usual goals two days this week. Not bad...

Intros, Second Printings and Stuff

So, this is my introductory posting to the Juno authors' blog. Hi! (waving madly at everyone) My name is Gail, and I'm a bookaholic.

Oh, wait. This isn't a support group meeting--well, except in a nominal way. And honestly, I don't really want to be cured of my addiction. Even the fella has learned to put up with it, though he does get a bit exasperated when I'm reading while (sorta) watching television and I have to keep asking him what just happened. Or when he's talking to me mid-book, and I miss half (or more) of what he said. I love stories so much, I started making them up at an early age, and eventually got round to writing them down.

Anyway, I've been meaning to stop by here and post something for a while now, just hadn't got round to it, (my picture is also under the definition of 'procrastinate' in the dictionary) until our lovely Juno editor shared a bit of news with me this week that I really wanted to share with the rest of you. The Eternal Rose, by Gail Dayton, (that's me) has gone back for a second printing.

This means there will be lots and lots of books out there for y'all to pick up and read. Nobody has to go away hungry. :) Yes, Eternal Rose is the final book in a trilogy, but I think you can read it and enjoy it without having read the first two. Of course, if you read the first two books, it will give the third greater depth, but...

The book has magic, and gladiatorial-style trials-by-combat, and sex, and vengeance, and demons, and all kinds of fun stuff.

It's been a long and bumpy road to reach this point, and I am truly happy Juno has given me the chance to publish this book with them.

I'm going to work really hard to get back here and post at least once a month. If y'all want to drop by, I have a personal blog at Dreaming in Daylight where I post at least weekly--sometimes more often, if I'm feeling industrious (and not lost in too many books--the less I read, the more I do stuff like post blogs). I write about my walks on the beach, and the events I get to attend with the fella and sometimes I write about the writing. It's hard for me to write very much about that, because it's almost like--if I talk too much about it, all the fairy dust will get away and it will lose its magic. And that's what storytelling is to me--capturing the magic and getting it down on paper.

Speaking of which, I'd better get busy. I have revisions on my shaman-warrior princess story to put into the computer, and world building notes to type in for an SF story about psychic gene-altered people in space. I have them written out, but I want to put them in the computer so I have a couple of back-ups.

Y'all take care. And if you haven't read The Eternal Rose, why not?