CL Pauwels at Large

While I wait for my publisher to announce a launch date for my next novel (Fatal Errors – new series, new characters, new setting…watch this blog for details coming soon!), I’m following standard writing advice and working on the next book.

Sort of.

Stumbling through that painful first draft is more like it. I’m a confirmed pantser, so no outline, no character sketches, no firm idea of how I’ll get from the opening I’ve got to the resolution I expect (that’s been known to change). It’s always worked in the past.

But this time I’m also doing something I haven’t done in the past: sharing the first draft with my on-line writing partners while it’s still in progress. I’ve always shunned that because I’ve seen fellow writers change their story drastically in response to not-always-helpful feedback on those first drafts. People-pleaser that I am, I fear I might do the same, so I’ve never shared until my first draft is complete. Tangentially, it’s why I’m not a plotter. I’d be so constrained by any outline (if I were even able to create one, which I strongly doubt) that any remaining shred of creativity would be stifled.

On the other hand, the weekly writing group provides much-needed accountability. If I know I have to produce pages for when it’s my turn to share (every three weeks), I can’t continue procrastinating – which I am highly prone to do.

It’s a delicate balancing act. Without a deadline of some kind, I don’t consistently add pages to that messy first draft because it’s just for me, and there’s always something in life that’s more important. But I have to stop myself from writing to satisfy the sensibilities of those writing partners rather than serving the story. So I write, and stumble, and rewrite, and stumble, and edit, and…. At this rate, who knows when I’ll get to type “The End”?

Shouldn’t novel #5 be easier?!