Puzzling...

I'm a puzzle writer. When a story comes to me, I do not get it in order of how the story will enfold. I usually end up having one clear scene in my head and then the story builds on that.

Many times the scene that is most clear to me is the opening. The heroine is going about her life as normal and then something drastic happens to spin her world upside down. I usually can't wait to write that scene, so I jot down the bones of it in a file and then put it aside until I can work on it. Since I'm usually working on several projects at a time, I need to keep good files to keep all my stories straight.

You'd think that when the time comes for me to write the story, scene two would naturally be the next scene I work on. Not necessarily. For me, stories come together as puzzles. I know the beginning. I know a scene in the middle somewhere and I almost always have the ending mapped out before I even know how the hero and heroine are going to get there. In fact, if you look on my hard drive, you'll see lots of stories with beginnings and endings already written.

I've tried many times to write in order. When I force myself into this mode, I get writer's block. I've come to realize that I'm a big picture sort of gal. I see the the progression of the story coming together as a whole rather than in a linear fashion. Now that I don't force myself to write in order, I write much quicker than I used to.

I talk about puzzle writing as well as linear, pantsers and plotters in my Understanding Your Writing Profile workshop, which I will be doing this weekend for the New England Chapter of RWA. What kind of writer are you??

I'm already starting to hear from Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense bookclub readers about Her Only Protector. If you in the bookclub and have read Her Only Protector, please drop me a line and let me know how you liked the book!

Until next time, many blessings, Lisa Mondello