So in the exciting life of Chris von Halle (and it really is quite thrilling), it appears as though I have finally landed on the project that I will be writing next (cue exciting music that inspires both myself and blog visitors).
The ironic thing about my next project is that it is not any of the potential projects I outlined in my last post (I believe there were six ideas total). Pretty strange, huh? Especially since I was so sure the next book I was going to write would be one of them. But here's the thing about that...in hindsight I realize that none of those projects truly spoke to me. Sure, they were all good, solid premises/ideas, and they each certainly had captivating elements that caught my whimsy and fancy (like sparkling butterflies), but at the end of the day I just wasn't "in love" with any of them. Funny how I didn't realize that at the time, since the very fact that I wasn't sure which one I wanted to write went to show that I clearly wasn't riveted by any of them.
But now, thankfully, I have a project that I'm whole-heartedly excited about and ready to dig into. The funny thing about that: the inception of it came from a friend of mine who was randomly spouting story ideas one night recently in our apartment (he's not even a fiction writer, btw). An element of one of those ideas latched into my head - right onto my brain, in fact - and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Within literally two days I had a whole, fairly detailed plot skeleton outlined, and was rarin' to get crackin' on the actual manuscript (that was about a week ago).
Yes, it happened THAT quickly. And that's sometimes how it works. Sometimes projects grow on you over time - you keep thinking of new, fun aspects and twists to add to it, and eventually it becomes (cliche alert) crystal-clear that you want to write that story. But sometimes an entirely different type of approach occurs - a random idea suddenly ensnares you and doesn't let you go until you've written everything down about it in a day or two flat, as in with my newest story idea.
I've also realized something about myself as a writer because of this (over-excitement alert) rather thrilling experience. I realized that my approach to writing has altered a bit yet again. I used to start writing as soon as I had an idea or premise I found captivating (a write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of guy), but now I like to write out at least a semi-detailed plot skeleton, or al least know what the major pieces of the plot are going to be, before I start writing. Once I see the shape the story is taking, it's a lot easier for me to make an educated decision regarding whether it will actually be fun to write. Or whether it will even be a good story in the first place, for that matter.
Looking back, I've definitely started writing projects that just didn't have a lot of potential for captivating plotting - and it was because I was way too impatient and just wanted to start writing DAMNIT!!!! haha. Ironically, even though I had those six story ideas I outlined in my last post, a few of them I didn't have any plot skeletons for. That goes to show how little they truly sparked my interest, even though there were intriguing aspects about each of them.
Anyway, enough babbling about my writing (or brainstorming) process. For those interested (and because I pretty much want to tell the world), my new project is a young adult science fiction (though it's a bit of a cross-genre tale, too; the other genre - fantasy), and it's currently called The Castle in the Girl. I'm really excited about this one, guys, and I hope it continues to be as exciting on paper (pun intended) as it is in my mind at the moment.
Another "fun aspect" of the new story: It reminds me of some of M. Night Shyamalan's work.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
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