Yesterday I promised I\u2019d talk about how I come up with the plots and characters for my Klepto Cat Mysteries. I was asked just recently if I plan the story and the ending before I start writing it.<\/p>\n
For the most part, I have a place setting and possibly the outline of a theme in my head when I start jotting down ideas. I might write two pages of basic scenarios and then pick one to use as the beginning of my story. From there I start writing and the story develops as I move from scene to scene and page to page. Several of my stories start with a shocker\u2014a frightening, stressful, questionable, precarious, tantalizing stunner designed to make the reader keep reading, eager to discover how the main characters found themselves in this dilemma and how they escaped it.<\/p>\n
From there, for me, the story just evolves as if by magic as I write it chronologically. When I introduce a new character, there are typically no storyboards or character logs. I simply develop the character as I create the story\u2014the character develops along with the storyline.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it\u2019s as if I have a room full of story-writers in my head collaborating to bring a scene or a character to life.<\/p>\n
Once the story is pretty well set, I begin the process of fact-checking, reviewing the time-line so it works, making sure the story rings true, and so forth. This is the longest and most tedious part of the process for me, but I enjoy it. I spend a lot of time checking to make sure I introduced the character properly and at the right point in the story\u2014you don\u2019t want to all of a sudden mention a character who hasn\u2019t been properly introduced. It doesn\u2019t matter that he is familiar in the other books in the series. Someone\u2019s apt to be reading book 10 before reading the others. So it\u2019s important to make your stories stand alone, which means you need to reintroduce characters in each book. But that doesn\u2019t mean you must bore those who have read books 1 through 9 by giving the character\u2019s complete history. It takes some finesse to bring old (and new) characters into a story or a scene so that the story flows for any reader.<\/p>\n
As for the ending\u2014that\u2019s up for grabs. Rarely, when I start writing a new story do I know how it will end. Sometimes it becomes obvious as the story winds down. Other times I struggle to bring the story to a close and to end it with the reader feeling satisfied, but still wanting more.<\/p>\n
For those of you who don\u2019t know, I\u2019m the author of the Klepto Cat Mystery series\u2014cozy mysteries with cats. The main cat character is Rags, an ordinary cat with some extraordinary habits. Rags has entertained readers through 13 books so far, and counting. The latest book is \u201cA Picture-Purrfect Christmas.\u201d The Kindle and print versions available here: http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Picture-Purrfect-Christmas-Klepto-Mystery-Book-ebook\/dp\/B016BBY2GY\/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448629276&sr=1-1&keywords=a+picture-purrfect+christmas<\/a> Or order it from me and receive an autographed copy AND a bookmark. http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/Klepto-Cat-Mysteries\/Picture-Purrfect-Christmas.html<\/a><\/p>\n Please, if you\u2019d like more detail about my techniques or you have a comment, send it to PLFry620@yahoo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday I promised I\u2019d talk about how I come up with the plots and characters for my Klepto Cat Mysteries. I was asked just recently if I plan the story and the ending before I start writing it. For the most part, I have a place setting and possibly the outline of a theme in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21,4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t