I also love character based stories. I wrote two novels (one is a novella, if you want to get picky like writers do) based on a character I created. An unlikely pirate in the 18th century. Then I decided he would be a better as a secondary character so I created a character to be the lead character. Then I created other characters I loved to interact with him. It is mainly about the characters for me. And I love first person also.
They are adventures with humor, action, and romance, set in the 18th century, so I knew they would have little appeal to traditional publishers. Plus they are a bit wacky with names like Baron Britpop Blastfurnace. 🤣 So I self published them. And serialized them on my Substack. I actually wrote the second book one chapter at a time on my Substack and got helpful feedback.
I did outline them. Which I rarely do. But the outline started very vague with items like “adventures in France” and grew as the story unfolded.
A traditional editor would have probably hacked them to bits, if I could find one that didn’t reject them outright, so self publishing was my preferred route. Readers get what I envisioned, like it or not. 🤣
It’s really neat to hear about your novels, Meg. (And five in one year?! That’s a hell of a feat!)
My writing process is similar to yours. I do like to start with a basic outline in mind (the beginning, ending, and some “waypoints” in between), and I tend to find it helpful. Most of the time, my characters end up driving the story in a completely different direction. I don’t let the outline box me in. Better to let the characters drive the story and tell their tale!
Since I do a bit of plotting and just as much “pantsing”, I think I fall into the realm of plantser. 😄
Damn Meg, that is an impressive amount of output. I appreciate the fact that you write about love proudly. I find that regardless of what I write love is always a thread that runs through it.
Wow! Reading this post felt a lot like reading about myself. I am a pantser, through and through! I am fully on board with character-driven, first person, love stories right now. They are my absolute go to read (and write) for the last few years! Who doesn't love a good epilogue? It was super cool of you to share these things about yourself and your novels. It's so fun to learn the 'inner workings' of other writers. We're all similar and way different at the same time!
I also love character based stories. I wrote two novels (one is a novella, if you want to get picky like writers do) based on a character I created. An unlikely pirate in the 18th century. Then I decided he would be a better as a secondary character so I created a character to be the lead character. Then I created other characters I loved to interact with him. It is mainly about the characters for me. And I love first person also.
They are adventures with humor, action, and romance, set in the 18th century, so I knew they would have little appeal to traditional publishers. Plus they are a bit wacky with names like Baron Britpop Blastfurnace. 🤣 So I self published them. And serialized them on my Substack. I actually wrote the second book one chapter at a time on my Substack and got helpful feedback.
I did outline them. Which I rarely do. But the outline started very vague with items like “adventures in France” and grew as the story unfolded.
A traditional editor would have probably hacked them to bits, if I could find one that didn’t reject them outright, so self publishing was my preferred route. Readers get what I envisioned, like it or not. 🤣
I have one more to go in the series (at least.)
Best of luck on your novel journey.
It’s really neat to hear about your novels, Meg. (And five in one year?! That’s a hell of a feat!)
My writing process is similar to yours. I do like to start with a basic outline in mind (the beginning, ending, and some “waypoints” in between), and I tend to find it helpful. Most of the time, my characters end up driving the story in a completely different direction. I don’t let the outline box me in. Better to let the characters drive the story and tell their tale!
Since I do a bit of plotting and just as much “pantsing”, I think I fall into the realm of plantser. 😄
Thank you for the enjoyable read!
This is my third, fourth time reading this ... and I still like it!
Damn Meg, that is an impressive amount of output. I appreciate the fact that you write about love proudly. I find that regardless of what I write love is always a thread that runs through it.
Wow! Reading this post felt a lot like reading about myself. I am a pantser, through and through! I am fully on board with character-driven, first person, love stories right now. They are my absolute go to read (and write) for the last few years! Who doesn't love a good epilogue? It was super cool of you to share these things about yourself and your novels. It's so fun to learn the 'inner workings' of other writers. We're all similar and way different at the same time!
Fantastic, revelatory piece. It's like you know what kind of writer you are, or something. What a treat.