Venturing into the unknown
One day in January 2017 while having a coffee at the local Second Cup on Bayview Avenue in Aurora, I read an article in The New York Times literary supplement about treasure hunters that captured my imagination. I went home and got to work immediately on an outline for a second novel.
The timing was ideal. My novel manuscript was away with a fiction editor and I was free to dig into another project.
The experience was exhilarating, exploring South American history, culture and places about which I knew nothing while building the characters and a story arc. I was venturing into the unknown with a crude, homemade map.
At this initial stage, I worked on character motivations as well as the challenges and conflicts my character would face. I worked out the issues of character development in advance of writing the first draft, which helps to avoid a lot of re-writing later in the process.
I was pleased with what I was able to accomplish in that intensive but comparatively brief time. I can compare it only to the way I developed Ardis: A Life on Water, which I approached by the seat of my pants.
For A Life on Water, I had to do a lot of re-writing during later drafts — a mistake that I am determined not to repeat. Some people swear by the seat-of-the-pants approach and I get that. I agree it is vital for a writer to be open to one's own creative inspiration and able to allow a story to evolve in unanticipated directions. Some flexibility in delivery goes a long way.
This time, though, I aim to tighten up my approach, and hopefully, my output. It seems to be working. My story, an adventure set in present-day South America, explores the impacts of 19th century events on families and society today.