A bit of an update. I hired an editor who is willing to work within my limited budget. Yay! So the first book of my (yet unnamed) series is in her hands, and she is editing it as I write this. I’ve heard of some authors publishing their first books without the use of an editor, and some have done reasonably well. I knew mine wouldn’t. The quality was nowhere near what I wanted and felt it should be, but I had taken as far as I could on my own.
Having my book in someone else’s hands has presented me with an interesting problem. I am working on book two in the series and I haven’t figured out what my actual writing process is. I’ve been working on the first story for so long, I feel almost lost now that it’s out of my hands.
Book two has a lot of the same characters, but there are a few that were only mentioned in the first book. They appear in this one, and I realize I don’t know who these people are.
When starting the first book, I had well-developed characters in my head and individual scenes thought out before I wrote a single word and I never outlined anything until I was over halfway done and could feel myself getting a little lost. Then I outlined what I had and filled in the gaps to connect it all together.
I also feel lost with this story. I know where the story starts (I think) and where it ends, but have only been able to plot half the story. The few scenes I have written involve the characters I’m used to dealing with, but very little with my new characters.
I’m attempting to plot this story instead of pantsing it, but I think I need to learn about and get to know these key characters before I can continue.
My question for you is, are you a plotter, pantser, or somewhere in between? Which comes first for you, character development, story, or something else?
L.A.Baker 