The Saturday Morning Blogger – Continuous vs. segmented

James Barrington

I have written five previous novels. None have been published. I hope I am learning with each successive effort. While the idea of having a legion of fans of my writing is appealing, I have found each effort personally rewarding whether they ever leave the confines of my hard drive or not. In each of my earlier efforts, I have essentially written from start to finish as ideas flowed, but in my current effort I’m finding that the ideas are coming in interconnected but not continuously flowing patterns.

Perhaps my disjointed story segments result from the nature of the story – a twenty-year class reunion being the “current day” and the events of the intervening years laying background to peel back the layers of motivation and character interrelationships. As I mentally “see” action unfolding, my mind begins telling me the roots of the latest developments.

I’m finding this technique challenging, but stimulating at the same time. Mainly I’m finding it a great opportunity to put more depth to each character. I believe it will produce a better product in the end. I’m also finding the wordsmithsix critique group extremely helpful in keeping me grounded with suggestions and questions that I realize I should have already considered.

The Texas High Plains Writers will be meeting today (March 18) at The Oasis on Canyon Drive at 9:30 a.m. For anyone interested in writing, there are always great ideas, great information, and great fellowship. See you there!