Writing

It's a lovely sunny day outside. I am lazing inside, working on blog entries and thinking about writing. I have applied for two jobs, one of which sounds good -- the right number of hours and a nearby location...

The following is a post I made on the Wyrdsmiths blog:

I'm working on two YA novels at the moment; and I keep both in my mind, which isn't a problem yet, because I'm at the start of both, and don't have an outline of either.

I would like to have outlines. But these particular novels aren't taking a clear shape yet. I suppose I ought to settle down and write outlines, simply force myself to make up a plot.

I have worked both ways, sometimes knowing what a story is about when I start it, and sometimes having no idea. Just starting with a situation, an image or a line. Usually, at some point in a story, I figure out the direction and the ending.

But right now I have not a clue. When I do have a clue, I will probably still keep most of the story in my mind. I write down details -- the number of the days in a year on an alien planet, military ranks if I'm writing a military space opera, the number of moons a planet has, their sizes and colors, how they move in the sky...