Set Pieces

When it comes to actually working, I'm a bit haphazard. I too practice BICHOK--but I give myself breaks, I laze about, I try not to force it too much if I'm not inspired.

I don't really outline, aside from a sketchy synopsis.

But I do plan my set pieces.

In a film, a set piece is a big action sequence, or a big Important Scene. I plan my books this way. I try to make sure I have at least five or six of them, something to keep the tension high and the action flowing smoothly. That way they come along steady as heartbeats, ever five chapters or so, each one bigger than the last.

Sometimes as I write I worry things are moving too quickly. Probably because I don't plan a detailed outline, I always hit a point--usually a couple of times--where I worry there isn't enough story.

Then I remember my set pieces. The touchstones on the way to the story's climax. And I realize even if I cut out everything else in the entire book, those scenes alone will probably equal forty or fifty thousand words.

So I relax. I write from A to B, then B to C, and C to setpiece, and the story churns along smooth under the surface, and before I know it I've written a book and my hands hurt.

My goal is 2500 words per day. I don't always make it, but I do well enough, especially since when inspiration really strikes I can easily do double that amount.


And that's it. If I plan the high points and the low points, the rest tends to fit in. :-)