Planning Week

My writing cycle goes like this: I write a project; I decide to write another project at the same time; this goes well for about a month, then I get distracted by the two projects and whittle it down to one while the other goes on hold; I finish the project and get back to the other project; I decide to write another project at the same time…

This is how I’ve been doing things for ages, simply because my brain has too many ideas and they cry to get out. And it works relatively well, too. I usually get a fair amount done, even in that stage of distraction. However, with all the multitude of ideas in my brain, I’ve decided to try something a little different.

Planning.

Yep, you read that right.

In general, I’m a plantser anyways. I usually plan out a novel to some extent. The more complicated ones get planned out on paper and the ones that are simpler get planned out in my head. It’s the same sort of planning, but one produces a reference and the other runs like a television show on mute in my mind. (Which is great until I randomly get a song stuck in my head that doesn’t fit the scene at all. Let me tell you, Thomas Dolby does not always fit the story!)

Since I have so many ideas, though, I thought I would take the time to plan them out properly, each with a notebook (or half a notebook, depending on the story) and that way, when it comes time to actually write the story, there is less of a chance that I’ll get severely distracted. Mild distraction in the form of cats and tea is acceptable.

I write romance as Evelyn Grimald and just finished the final edits on a fantasy romance novel. While I could easily jump right back in to working on On Behalf of Death book 7 (I stopped at about 15k so I could finish my other project), I’ve decided to take a week and plan out books instead. I have a bit of time before book seven needs to be ready, as book two was only released a week ago. So, I’m going to try and be smart about this.

One week. All the stories. Okay, maybe not all the stories, as there are about twelve that need planning, but the most pressing ones certainly! I’m going to plan them out. Then, when it comes time to write the stories, I’ll know exactly what I’m meant to be doing. At least, that’s the plan. If life always went to plan, I’d be in a lovely cottage somewhere in the Scottish Highlands, surrounded by plants and books and at least a dragon. Still, it’s worth a go!