Please welcome S.M. White to the site as a guest blogger participating in the Mega-Dark Book Blog Tour. The Mega Dark Book Blog Tour will feature a total of six authors, including myself, throughout the month of August. Every few days a new author will be featured on each blog. The posts will vary in content and structure, providing insight into the mind of a writer.
The Trouble with Discovery Writing
Writing a novel is a difficult enough endeavor without adding needless complications. And by needless complications, I don’t mean writing while hanging upside down, or writing while fending off a duo of dogs eager to play fetch. No, when I say needless complications I’m referring to the discovery writer’s bane of failed plot points, and inconsistent characterization.
I’ve never been much of an outliner when it comes to writing. I’m far more at ease letting the story evolve organically, rather that taking a more mechanical approach with plotting a story before writing. I think this tendency comes from my enjoyment of reading, of ‘discovering’ stories as they happen. When I write my books, it’s like I’m reading a new book for the first time. I get to to experience all the twists and surprises firsthand, rather than having them waiting for me. This isn’t to say I don’t look forward to events in my stories. While writing I’ll often have thoughts on what might happen to my characters, or what might be an interesting encounter between characters. And I’ll note these in very simplistic terms. Such as: “Character A should meet Character F because of …” or “Character B should go to Destination A because …” Those little notes, though vague, can help spark ideas. Especially if I have to get Character A and F together for their meeting.
But there is trouble on the discovery writing front, trouble that takes the ugly form of dead ends. Now, while I absolutely love writing organically, I absolutely hate writing myself into a corner. This happens quite frequently while discovery writing. Sometimes situations don’t play out, or they lose their emotional impact, or they just don’t fit the story. In instances such as this, entire sections of a manuscript often have to be reworked. Unfortunately, this means a lot of words are going to be scrapped. A lot. To put it gently, I usually write about 5,000 words a day, on average. The other day, I cut 10,000 words of a plot line that was driving me nowhere. That’s two entire days of writing lost. Well, maybe it’s not that dramatic. I did come away with experience, certainly, and there’s probably some descriptive passages that could be salvaged. But for the most part, in consideration of its contribution to the novel’s plot, the 10,000 words were superfluous.
While I can never see myself as an outliner, I sometimes envy those writers their comfort. There’s a unique dread in writing a story, knowing that there’s a possibility of trashing a majority of your work. But it’s all in the effort of making a better novel, and for that the trouble is more than worth it.
S.M. White is an Indie Fantasy Author of “The Pale Hand of God”, “The Dark Arm of God”, and “The Lonely Man: The Witch’s Price”. Check out his website at: smwhitefiction.com for more information about this imaginative author.