One thing in particular that has helped me a lot, especially with Adah's Quest, has been the simple question, "What if?"
For Thunder, this doesn't work a whole lot, because I already have a pretty good idea of where I want the story to end up. That doesn't mean I can't still ask the question, but at this point I don't think I will be changing it up too much.
With Adah's Quest, however, this question has helped me tremendously!
What if…the cabin burned down?
What if…she got caught in a blizzard, far from the cabin?
What if…she went to leave the mountain and her car wouldn't start?
What if…she fell down a mountain?
What if…she decided to quit her job and live on the mountain permanently?
What if…she ran out of wood in the middle of a storm?
What if…horror of horrors, she ran out of coffee? (I ran out of coffee the other day…well, not totally. But the other kinds we have are not my favorite by far. It's too hot to drink coffee anyway, so I'm not suffering too badly!)
This story is a bit different than anything I've written before. I am attempting to write it in first person and for the most part that seems to be working, though it does limit certain aspects.
It is also different in the respect that while I have an end goal for Adah, I do not know how I am going to reach that goal. I have a vague plot planned, but for now, I am just taking it one page at a time and asking the question, "what if" often. It's fun to explore the different twists and turns my plot can take J
For a brief writing update:
Adah's Quest is at roughly 20,000 words. I haven't had as much time to write, but in the few moments I have had, I was pleased to note that I am still not experiencing writers block with this story. At this point, I have no idea when Adah's story will be ready for you all to enjoy, but hopefully it will be sooner than later. Perhaps I will post an excerpt soon.
Thunder is progressing very slowly. Knowing how I want the story to end, and actually getting the story to that point are two very different things! I am still hoping to have Bethany's story out by fall, but with taking the entire month of June off for our Alaska trip, I will have to work furiously when we get back. I did manage to write 1,000 words the other day, which put me at just over 6,000 words total.
Now that TCCAS #1 and #2 are published, I have turned my attention to TCCAS #3-The Stranger and the Lost Mine. The rough draft is approx. halfway completed. I am hoping to be able to publish it next spring, to keep the series on a yearly release schedule, but we will have to see how it goes.
Speaking of Bannie, here is a video of him and I doing some spring work getting ready for summer riding :)