[stylist] Story development/strategy

[Chris Kuell]

Hey Brad,

I think Justin and Bridgit pretty much covered your question, so I'll only 
add that in reading over many interviews with authors, it seems that in 
general, genre writers (mystery, thriller,romance, western...)tend to work 
from outlines, while writers of more literary fiction tend to throw a couple 
of characters into a setting and see what happens. The key in either case, 
as Justin properly pointed out, is a good editor who will point out 
inconsistencies, a dragging pace, characters or sub-plots which are 
inconsequential, flat dialogue, excess verbiage, etcetera. It sounds like 
the book you read your wife lacked a good editor.

Personally, I've tried both approaches and find I work best somewhere in the 
middle. My first novel was written based on a 'middle', as Bridgit put it. 
Without going into the history, I'd read about how about 30% of patients 
with early onset Alzheimer's turn violent. This became all too apparent when 
the mother of a blind friend pushed her down the stairs one day. The idea 
came to me as something like: what would happen to a family who decided to 
keep grandpa home rather than sending him to a assisted living facility, and 
he killed a family member?Like Bridgit indicated, I chewed on it in my mind 
for a bit, then sat down and started writing. It took me 4 years to 
complete, including 4 different beginnings and 3 different endings, to come 
up with a finished work I was happy with.

My wife, an anal-retentive type, insisted I try writing from an outline for 
my second novel. Being an open-minded, curious type myself, I decided to 
give it a shot. About 4 chapters in I started deviating from the outline, 
which seemed to 'plotted' to me. Certain characters had morphed a bit, and a 
great sub-plot arose which I hadn't originally anticipated. I ended up 
keeping the changes and modifying the outline, which I have to admit has 
helped me to keep things moving in the right direction. Personally, I find 
writing the middle of a novel difficult, like you are climbing a big hill 
with that elusive climax somewhere ahead. Once the top is in sight, it gets 
much easier. A loose outline can help keep you on the path.
Everybody is different, and you need to try various stuff and see what works 
for you. Since you have such a strong music background I might recommend 
books by Nick Hornby. His love of music is a part of each of his novels, 
which are all very funny, yet serious. I'm not saying you should try to copy 
him, but check out his style.

chris