Again at the middle school, while subbing today, I had another "aha" moment. It gave me an idea for one more element that will tie in with Ben's conflict. I love how ideas for writing come from so many different places in my life. Part of being a writer is being observant--of human nature, of what's going on with a horse, of what detail my piano student might be missing, of interesting words or conversations, of just everything. Another aspect of writing is being able to see how  these pieces-parts might be related and could work together to create a story with various sub-plots and conflicts. Perhaps I developed this ability through my love of jigsaw puzzles. Or perhaps that is why I have always enjoyed puzzles--because my mind likes to find connections. So it's always fun to see how a seemingly unrelated piece of life, like a sixth grade reading assignment, can play into my book idea!

During the past three months, I have been brainstorming ideas for my book. It was coming together, but two missing pieces stood in the way of progress--a title, and a name for the new character. Both of those pieces fell into place last week, so now I feel I can move ahead. As soon as I had the title, I had a better focus: a better beginning, a better ending, and new details that would tie things together nicely. I know some people create a title last, and can even begin writing before they know what's going to happen, but that doesn't work for me.

When I wrote the first book, I started writing at the beginning and wrote it straight through, stopping every time I got stuck. On the second book, I was pleased to discover that if I got stuck, I could just jump ahead in my outline and continue expanding it until that part shaped up, and later I could back to where I got stuck. I liked that strategy so well that I'm thinking I may not even start at the beginning this time. I have sketched out the story and am adding details to my outline as I think them up, anywhere I please. I will continue doing this until it rounds itself into a complete book. This strategy feels kind of "freeing" and less intimidating. I'm kind of excited to see how that works out!

So the news is, I am finally starting another book! I will admit that following the publication of Starting the Colt, I had no more interest in writing. I had a rough idea for the next book (even for several more books), but I hadn't been able to develop it enough to motivate me.

For awhile I struggled with guilt, wondering if I was being a "quitter." I felt quite blessed to have two published books, but I had sacrificed other interests in life in order to do that, and selling my books continued to take a big chunk of my time. Maybe some day I would feel like writing again, but until then, I chose not to feel guilty. There was nothing to blog about, so no need to feel guilty about not blogging about writing. I wanted to ride, not write! When people asked me if I'd been writing, I always did a double-take, not sure what I'd heard, and countered, "Did you say riding? or writing?" Funny how those two interests were so related in my life, even sounding the same.

The only problem was my subbing. Kids at school often told me how much they loved my books and asked me if there was going to be another one. I would give some vague answer, not wanting to say I was done writing books but not wanting to give false hope. I'd say, "Well, I'm not sure, I'm not working on one right no"; I'd say that writing a book is so time-consuming, especially when you have a job besides writing.

The turning point came one day this past week at the middle school when I was just overwhelmed by how many kids talked to me about my books. Then a few days later, at the ranch hand rodeo, I had a big conversation about writing with one of the vendors whose son was also a big fan of my books. It seemed like there was some conspiracy going on to mess with my mind!

After the rodeo, I was shocked to find that I was actually toying with the possibility of a third book! I dusted off my idea and did a little brain-storming. Lo and behold, it started to shape up and grab me! I still didn't say anything about it to anyone--until today. Subbing at the middle school again, I got brave enough to verbalize my plans to my class, telling them how they and the kids at their school had played a big part in my decision. They were so excited! While they worked on their stories, I enthusiastically worked on my plot, crafting the various conflicts that would center around the new character I was introducing.

I'm glad I took that little vacation from writing--apparently it was needed. I don't guarantee there will be a third book, but as of today, I am officially working on it! Cold weather is here, daylight savings is over--it's high time to start a new book!

As anyone can see who reads this blog, I hate writing about myself. I put it off as long as I can, and ignore the whisperings of my guilty conscience. I know I am not the only writer who struggles with publicizing her work--many writers are, by nature, introverts, and we would much rather bury ourselves in writing or writing-related projects, guarding our privacy. At the same time, I enjoy doing presentations and talking about my books, so there is a tension there.

Rereading my last blog post, about a student writing activity last school year that didn't go as well as I had hoped, reminded me that later that year, I had just the opposite experience. One day I was subbing and a girl asked me how to write a book. An idea popped into my head, and, seeing we had some extra time, I decided to use her question as a class activity.

I wrote a basic story idea on the board, then we played with it. The class helped me add detail after detail until we had the whole board covered with possibilities. Not only was it fun and instructive--at recess two teachers came in, saw it and asked me about it, so I explained what we had done. One asked if I could come to her class and do the same activity! So a few days later I popped into her room (which just happened to be my granddaughter's class) for an hour and we did the same thing. Then she used it as a class assignment after I left, to write the story we had outlined.

I found it amazing that the unplanned idea turned out so good that I know I will use it again and again, yet the one I had slaved over did not turn out as well as I had envisioned. This often happens in writing. Books, or characters in books, sometimes take on a life of their own, beyond what you had originally planned.

I recently presented a student writing activity that didn't go as well as it had in my mind when I planned it. That learning experience helped me this past week, as I worked up a creative writing activity for a student writers event coming up soon. I realized there could be a different outcome than what I imagined. I looked for weaknesses in my plan and "tweaked" my steps and directions until I was satisfied. When I was done, I found it interesting how the activity had evolved. I ended up with something quite different than what I originally envisioned.

Writing a book often follows a similar process. You begin with an idea, not knowing exactly where you will end up or how you will get there. You type up your original idea, then stare at the screen and mull, add a little, subtract a little, mull some more, drag this part around and drop it somewhere that fits better, stare some more, etc. In fact, this ease of computerized writing and editing has freed me up immensely since the days of pen and paper, when my words looked so much more permanent, and seemed so much harder to rearrange.

Sometimes you realize that a whole section just isn't working, no matter how you move it around or tweak it. Your creative voice says, "I can't just delete that whole section! I spent a lot of time creating that!" But your self-critiquing voice says, "Yes, you know you must delete it. Be a big girl and just do it." As soon as you do, you feel relieved because you can see that now you are in a better position to get where you were going.

The more you write, the more ideas you get. Some you try out, then discard, then try another direction. The very process of thinking, writing it out, and editing leads to more creative thinking. As you go back and read aloud, you fix typos and find words that don't sound quite right. Even creating this blog post followed the exact scenario I've described.

Sometimes I am leery of starting a new writing project because I am not confident in my ability to come up with good work. Yet every time I make myself begin, I find I can trust this process, and I gain more faith in it. I choose not to listen to my excuses.

Something exciting has been happening the last couple months--I have learned a new way to write! And it's been working great! No one told me to try this; I didn't read it anywhere (that I can remember, anyway). I just kind of stumbled into it.

I wrote The Orange Slipknot straight through. When I got stuck, I stopped and thought until I figured out what would come next. I had lots of time on my hands in those days--chunks of several hours of unbroken quiet time, several times a week, to think and write. One of my frustrations with writing the sequel has been that my life is busier now, and it's hard to write in short chunks of quiet time here and there, or when my husband is home and the TV is on.

One evening I was sitting in the recliner with my laptop (where I usually write), staring at my synopsis, distracted by the TV. Because I couldn't write, I decided I'd just add a couple of thoughts to my synopsis. That wasn't so hard...so I added a little more. I kept staring absently at my screen, not really thinking about trying to write--half listening to the TV.

I noticed that one section of my synopsis was getting pretty detailed. It was about a conversation between Ben and his dad. It occurred to me that perhaps I could just edit that section a little and turn it into actual conversation. I added quotation marks, paragraphing, changed the wording a little, and suddenly, I had half a page of finished dialogue! Wow--I laughed out loud!

It didn't fit where I had left off in the story. It didn't even fit in that chapter--it was "future." But that was okay--it was a chunk of good writing that was ready and waiting for when the story arrived at that point. I wondered if I could do that again, somewhere else in my synopsis. I began playing with the synopsis, every time I sat down to write--adding ideas and details, then turning some little part of it into a few finished paragraphs.

One day I realized I had enough finished chunks to make a chapter! I just had to sketch in a few transitions, a chapter opening and ending, then a little editing to smooth it all out. I couldn't believe I had created a chapter like that--I had never done anything like that before. I had written it all backwards, but it worked! I didn't know yet how I would connect this to what I already had, but I could go back later and work on that. Meanwhile, I would work on little sections that "grabbed me."

I'm not an artist, but perhaps it is like painting a picture. You don't just start at the top and work your way down. You might start by sketching out some outlines and some ideas for colors. Maybe you work on one part, then a bit of another part, then maybe even get some details on one particular part. Then you might step back and look at it, making sure it's all going to balance out before you get too involved in one particular part. Here and there, you fill in, round out.

When I realized that I didn't have to write "in a straight line," a big burden lifted. Instead of staring unproductively at the place I was stuck, I could skip ahead and "play" with my synopsis. I am getting very excited about finishing this book!

I have written almost four chapters in the last two months using this method. I'm on the home stretch--the final fourth of the book--and I've had several new ideas that add to the plot. One came to me while watching the news. Another, when my husband happened to use the word "snudge," leading to an interesting conversation. One character that originally had a minor part in the story has developed more of a presence than I originally foresaw, adding a nice sub-plot and sub-theme. Several other possible ideas seem to be headed for the virtual trash can. I have one more tricky place to work on, then it's pretty well lined out.