Writing Outside The Lines

My writing style is an enigma wrapped in a mystery.

In other words, I'm all over the place and have no real writing "style," schedule or process.

When a story is hot and heavy in my mind, I can write with a hurricane blowing. But if I need to concentrate the least bit on moving the story forward, it has to be quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

I've never been much on outlining, yet I've been known to scribble notes any and everywhere as chapter scenes come to me.

As I approach book 4 in my Del Rio Bay Clique series, Who You Wit? I thought I'd have some wisdom to impart on others where my processes are concerned. But umm...no.

However, I have learned not to be afraid to write outside the lines.

You know how when you're a toddler and you first learn to color? You're just happy to get that crayon in your fat little fists. So you scribble all over thinking you're DaVinci.

As you get older, you realize how pretty staying inside the lines are. So you aspire to do the same. I always loved the drawings of people who outlined the drawing in dark crayon then colored it in more lightly. So pretty.

But I'm regressing back into an outside the liner, at least as far as writing is concerned.

When I wrote So Not the Drama I was a linear writing, nearly fanatical about writing each chapter in the order they occured. I never jumped ahead.

But as I worked on book 3, That's What's Up! (and a little when I re-worked Don't Get It Twisted) I realized that some parts of the story I just instinctively knew better than others.

There were times when I honestly had no idea what was going to happen in the middle, even though I had a clear picture of the end.

First, I bucked this. I mean, I juggle enough on a daily basis without having to wonder what happened when in my books. But it was actually very liberating to write whatever chapter popped into my head, then place them in order later.

Dare I say, it was kind of fun.

Blocks of "scenes" for Who You Wit? have visited me often. I write them down in a hot pink journal. Today, I came as close to an outline as I'll ever come by taking those scribblings and transcribing them into a word doc.

I think I have the major chunks of the story outlined. We all know the devil is in the details, so I'm not celebrating yet. And I'm famous for changing course once I actually begin writing.

But it's funny. By de-constructing my stories and allowing myself to be a non-linear writer, it's actually making it easier for me to be a liner thinker.

Does that make any sense to anyone but me?

Anyone?