I used to waste a lot of time on my first draft. I agonized over each sentence. I filled it full of stuff I would later cut or alter. Revision layers took forever to complete, especially repetitive words. My first drafts are now skeletons. I gradually add muscle and skin and dress the bones in the revision layers. I start with a conflict outline and a timeline (which I generally mess up somehow anyway and have to go back and fix). When I sit down to write a scene, I start with: Date, Time, Location, (Type of ) Conflict # _____ Dick needs to convince Jane to do something. Date, Time, Location, (Type of) Conflict # _____ Jane is caught snooping around Dick's office. For me, scenes are visual. I see the characters moving around the room or characters talking to one another. My first draft consists of dialogue and choreography with a tiny of hint of description. It looks a bit like a screenplay. Dick (insert tag) “ ....” Jane (insert tag) “...” Dick enters (describe ...

This post first ran here on January 1, 2009. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the last two days, I’ve been filling in the details of my outline, working out the timeline, and crafting a sizzling ending that brings it all together. I’m already 50 pages into writing Thrilled to Death , and it felt like to time to solidify some plot points. I know many writers don’t do this; they prefer to wing it and see where the story takes them. ( Stephen King , for example) I rather envy that style. But I write complex mystery/suspense novels, and the outline/timeline has become more critical with each novel. In a police procedural, so much happens in the first few days of a murder investigation that a timeline is essential. For complex, parallel plots with multiple points of view, mapping the story in detail is the best way to avoid writing yourself into a dead end or writing 48 hours worth of activity into a 10-hour time frame. I speak from experience. Then yesterday for the first time, I put in writing...

People may think editors are a little too anal, nit-picking over the smallest detail, but sometimes that smallest detail, when it’s wrong, can jerk the reader right out of the story, and that’s the last thing an author would want to happen. One of the details editors look for is continuity, making sure that the time-line is correct and making sure that an object or a person is properly introduced. You don’t want a character to pick up a gun that was never on the table. In filming, there is a person who carefully notes what is in a scene, where items and people are, what characters are wearing, etc, so if that scene has to be re-shot, everything will be in the right place. That person also watches the time line, making sure that costume and set changes are made when time has passed in the story. For novels, it is part of the editor’s job to watch that time line and make sure everything and everybody is in the right place at the right time. But sometimes that doesn’t happen. For instance...

When you write a novel, make sure it makes sense, not just to you, but also the readers. How do you do this? Look for inconsistencies in your character’s thinking or actions. What image do you wish to project for that character? Does everything that character says or does reflect that image? Example: A shy girl would not swear out loud or wear a bikini, unless a metamorphosis is taking place. Make sure the timeline follows easily . Handle flashbacks with care. Don’t confuse readers by flitting back and forth in time or seasons without good reason. Also, when time periods change, give hints as to how many days or months or seasons or years have passed. Wrong: Graduation was over, yet Larry had no clue what to do with his life. Right: Larry couldn’t believe it was already a year since graduation. He still had no clue what to do with his life. Make sure actions are not confusing. Explain in detail if necessary. Example: When I went through my first edit of Two Wrongs with my editor, Li...