A Small Glimpse into Ed Calkins' Fourth Novel

So Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara, sent me this outline this morning of his fourth novel's table of contents, although, including which chapters are already drafted.

So while I've dealt with medical stuff (again, still) for most of 2025, Ed's been scribbling away in the hopes of entertaining us all!

I'm intrigued; how about you?

I'm farther along than I thought... Still more chapters with be added as I start finishing the unwritten ones.

 

Table of Contents             The Disturbing Whereabouts of Kellen Wechsler

 

 The Quiet Kings of the Damned

 

              Forward: Human Sacrifice   unwritten

 

1 The King of Cows                written

 

2 Tangles and Timelines        written

 

3 A Really Cold Case               written

 

4 Time to Talk Templar          started

 

5 Shoes of the Fischers          started

 

6 The Ghost of Almost           written

 

7 Trigger Treat                         unwritten

 

8 The Internet Never Lies      unwritten

 

Covid Finds Munsonville

 

              9 Hero’s Forest                                        written

 

              10 The Land of a Hundred Kings            written

 

              11 The Privilege of Service                    written

 

              12 Dear Me                                               written  

 

              13 Nun Shall Pass                                     unwritten 

 

Romance, Sex, and Other Trash

 

              14 What Must Never Be Told                         written

 

              15 The Bridegroom Wished He Knew           written

 

              16 What Happened to Two Aging Virgins     unwritten

 

17 What Boys Do in the Shower                     unwritten

 

The Children’s Crusade

 

              18 Show and Tell                                              written

 

              19 The Whereabouts of the Mad King         unwritten  

 

              20 Direct Orders                                               unwritten

 

Taking a Break from the Coronavirus

COVID-19 has been on my mind a lot this past week especially.

Not only am I one of those borderline high risk people (almost sixty, I have asthma, and my insurance just refused to pay for my medicine - but no worries, I paid full price and will continue to take it), I work for a daily publication where updating the community about the pandemic feel near-constant.

Top that with some family emergencies, and it's been an interesting two weeks.

So Saturday, I stopped most of life and "hunkered down" with one of the two novels I've been first drafting and found I'd made some real genuine process.

Last weekend, I'd experienced a slight return of the muse, but not until I re-read last week's work (apparently manuscript distancing slows the spread of the infection "author self-doubt") did I fully realize the progress I'd made.

Part of that is due to a new method of approaching this particular novel (The Phoenix, the first in the Limbo trilogy, yes, part of the BryonySeries).

For my first novel (Bryony), I wrote scenes as they came to me and used them to help structure the novel. It was fun seeing them come together, too. I call this the "Golden Spike" approach.

For the rest of my novels, I used outlines for the book and each chapter. In most cases, I had the first and last sentences of the books and chapters written before I "painted by number with words," working in order of each chapter in a linear progression.

Neither approach was working with The Phoenix.

Over Christmas break, I did outline the novel and each chapter. 

I do have the first and last sentences written.

But I remained disconnected with the characters and overall story line. I started, and then abandoned, character questionnaires because they weren't helping.

So last weekend, I reread through everything and added a little to each chapter. That helped.

I didn't know how much it helped until I re-read everything this past weekend.

So this weekend, I did the same. I added to each chapter in both linear and non-linear ways.

I call this "macro to micro writing."

And I will continue in this fashion until this half of the novel is done.

Not sure if that will work with the other half (the novel is two parallel story lines).

But I will cross that time zone when I reach it.

The Paint By Number Approach to Writing

Some writers dislike outlines; others swear by them. If you don't have tons of time for writing (which is probably most of us), and you're frustrated at slow progress (especially when you DO have time to write, and ideas won't come), here's a trick that's working for me: I take the story and break it into manageable pieces, like this:

1) I title the story.

2) I decide how many chapters it should have and title them, and then open a file for each.

3) I add some notes in each file telling me what information goes in each chapter.

4) I write my first and last sentence for each chapter.

5) I break the chapter into scenes.

6) I summarize each portion.

7) I complete any research.

8) I fill in the blanks.

By the time I get to #8, I'm not faced with the daunting task of visualizing the entire novel, just the small task at hand. After step #4, I do mix things up a bit, but the premise is the same. And now I'm clipping along at a far more satisfying rate. I edit in a similar fashion, which I'll share in another post.

Try it. Maybe it will work for you, too.

Tips to Avoid a Sagging Middle

The other day, a writer posted in WriteOn Joliet that she does a great job with beginnings and endings and not-so-well the parts between them.

We've all heard about how important it is to snag your reader from the beginning. But how does one keep that reader stuck to your story until the end? How does THE WRITER keep him/herself stuck to the story until the end?

In short, how does one keep the spring in your story and prevent the midsection from drooping?

For me, the answer is an outline, not the dreadful (or dreaded) outline many of us remember from our grade school days, but a tailored-to-you type of outline that keeps your thoughts organizedand ideas happening. For me, outlining is a process of visualizing the entire story and then breaking down the tasks into tight components. I actually do something similar when writing feature stories, although the process is brisker and, at time, nearly simultaneous, since those stories are short and dealine is often tight.

1) Write a one-sentence summary of your story. The writer should always be prepared to give a one-line summary of his story. At The Herald-News, that one-liner goes into our daily budgets. If you're pitching to agents and small presses, especially at conferences, that one line might be the only opportunity to grab someone's interest. Know your story well enough that you can pitch it in a single sentence.

Example: "Bryony" is the story of a '70's teen that trades her blood with a Victorian vampire for a trip back into time.

2) Write a back cover summary of your story. If you self-publish, you'll need one anway. This helps provide the details (or summarize them, if you already know them). If you query agents and small presses, you can use this material there.

3) Write a three-page synopsis of your story. This helps expand the details and gets your idea rolling, and, again, if you plan to pitch to agents and small presses, you might be asked to provide this. Writing it now will put you on top of the process.

4) Decide how many chapters you want in your book. Open separate files for each and name them. This mentally formulates where the details of your story will go.

5) Write the first few sentences and the last few sentences of each chapter. This ensures that the beginning and the end of each chapter is compelling and flows well into the next, keeping the string of interest tight. It also narrows what information will and will not go into each chapter.

6) Make notes in each chapter about the details of that chapter. This not only helps with plot and pacing, it gives your a framework for character development. It also lets you know where research is necesasry.

7) Write the chapters. The writing is now simplified, almost like a paint-by-number book, because much of the advance thinking is already done.

8) Refine as needed. As you write, you may decide to change elements of the plot or characters that aren't working, or you may expand parts that are. That's perfectly fine! An outline is not meant to be a static rulebook of adherence, but a flexible mold to get you started and unleash the muse.

And there ya go! :)