Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Story Structure Blues

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted here.

Not like I've had nothing to say, mind you. But when Client Relations didn't sell in the early spring of 2014 (sixteen publishers' rejections in five weeks was enough for my agent to pull it from the market), I was pretty demoralized. Five years of work up in smoke.

My agent's advice? Write another book and make it a bestseller.

No problem.

I ruminated. I shopped online for things I didn't need. I played games on my iPad. I walked the dog.

And as for book two? I posted in September 2014 that I was writing a story about prep school predation, and that I'd drafted ten chapters already.

After that, well I came up with more plotting ideas, then wrapped myself around a flagpole for months about the right story structure. Then I chugged away, still indecisive about whether to write the story chronologically, whether to bookend the present events with extensive flashbacks, or whether (like Client Relations) to sprinkle small flashbacks into the present day plot line.

I'm still struggling with this, since the predator's 'grooming' and actual abuse are so critical to the story. I got smacked upside the head in some writing groups - really hard, the most recent time around. And now I've solidified my thoughts for the umpteenth time. So I'm writing again.

So what if it's a year or more later and I'm still working on the first third of my book?

Sigh.