I got an interesting comment/question this week and Aunie asked if I could answer in a blog post. Well sure. No problem. Here is Aunie’s initial comment:
Hey Mrs. M! I LOVE the Circle C books. Definitely one of my favorite series of all time and not just saying that! I am also an author and love to write/dream up stories and I was wondering if you could share with us your process of how you plan out your stories up to the first draft? How do you outline (do you outline or what does that look like for you?)? What software or platform do you use to write your books? Any tips or resources that have helped you over your years of writing? I would love to see a post (or multiple posts) on this subject!
Excited for the Timberland Adventures!
Blessings, Aunie
And now my less than satisfactory answer, but it’s the truth!
I use a Word Doc, formatted exactly like my publisher would like it: 1″ margins, 12pt Times New Roman, .5″ indents, and double spaced. At least I could tell you that much!
As for the rest of your questions? I doubt I need more than one blog post for this. Before I became a published author (years and years ago, back in the 90s), I simply wrote by the seat of my pants. I got an idea and ran with it . . . usually after watching an exciting Big Valley rerun (or Star Trek, if I was in the mood that way). I’d write like mad, so many exciting ideas of how I could get Andi in and out of dangerous adventures that it was loads of fun–until I ran into a writing brick wall of “What now?” usually after I got to the most exciting part. Eventually (when there was no pressure from a publisher and no deadlines, I would think of how to overcome this slight problem of “what now.” Maybe six months later. Maybe nine months later. No worry. No hurry.
Enter Kregel Publications. By the grace of God, I had two or three books completely finished (rough but at least finished) before I was accepted for publication. That really helped my mental state! However, the first NEW book I had to write for Kregel was painful. And yes, I had to outline it. Chapter by chapter. Stress meter: 9.
The Goldtown Books I had to do this as well, especially the last two. It’s very very very hard. I know of no easy way to teach anyone how to do it. It’s called a story arc, and it takes a ton of time. Right now I am working on the story arc for Trouble in Tacoma. I don’t have it all chapter by chapter yet, but I’m getting there. And I have written 6 chapters (about 11,000 words). yay.
The early readers were easy to plot. Only 800 words per chapter and 10 chapters. Very easy. The Stepping Stones weren’t hard either. It’s those middle grade and YA (Milestones) that just about kill me off. Once I get to the “climax,” however, I rarely need to look at the arc. By then, I’ve gotten my second wind and it’s all downhill after that.
My author/mentor friend, Colleen Reece, always plotted. I always wrote by the seat of my pants. But I discovered one shining truth: If you PLOT it out by what is going to happen in each chapter (a few paragraphs, at least), the actual story is very easy to write.
Tools? Hmm . . . well, my laptop is the important one. I never write on Google Docs. I’m not sure if any of this answered your questions, Aunie. Mostly, it’s more “art” than “English” when it comes to plotting out the story.
Oh, for the days when I could just write for fun! I have a number of Star Trek stories that are only halfway finished. I have no idea where they are going or how they will end. Those are the fun days . . . when I could just say “Eenie, meeny, miney, mo.” Which story shall I work on tonight, while the kids are asleep?
Those days are pretty much gone, especially since I did submit my book proposal to Kregel. I have a link to it right here in case you want to see how I submitted (it’s kind of casual, since I am one of their authors and I don’t have to sound professional, LOL). But it will give you a general idea of what a book or series proposal looks like. I also sent my editor the first three chapters.
BOOK PROPOSAL TIMBERLAND ADVENTURES
And since every blog post should have at least one image, here is something I cooked up using Co-Pilot, my new friend. Another view of Jenny.
Andi Carter's Blog 
wow!
Personally, I cannot write without an outline. And not just any outline, but it has to be an outline that allows me to plan out every. single. detail. In detail. XD If I don’t have this outline, then I can’t even start my story, let alone deal with breaking through writers block throughout, and it’s very likely I’ll just lose interest in my story and give up on it 😅
Johannah Goetting
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That’s impressive that you can create such a detailed outline. that’s a great idea you’ll always get your story done good for you!
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Thanks for the advice! I’ve been working on book ideas for awhile now. But right now I’m just writing for fun.
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Never stop writing for fun! 🤣
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Whoa! That sounds really difficult. When I write stories, I hardly ever do an outline. If I do, there’s barely any detail in it at all. Lol.
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Ah…. The good old days. I didn’t even know what an outline was when I was writing as a teenager. Lol
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This is some very helpful information! Great post Mrs M!!!
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Thank you for sharing! It is so neat to see the ways different authors write. And a word on your just-for-fun stories, I love those fun little stories on your author page! My favorites of those are your Star Trek stories, which is funny because before I read them, I knew nothing about Star Trek. You do a good job with clarifying things in those stories. I could come in with no background familiarity of the series, encounter captivating characters and adventures, and still pretty much understand what’s going on. One thing I like is how the stories kind of build on each other with details from one story impacting a later story in some way. If you finish more, they will be fun to read! 🙂
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Oh my! That is so sweet. That’s the best “review” of those little stories I’ve ever received. It’s wonderful that when readers who are not familiar with the old series can still enjoy them.
Thank you!
And yes, I might have more to add eventually
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You’re very welcome! Thank you for putting your unpublished stories up for readers to enjoy. I re-read the author page stories about once or twice a year and look forward to any you might add in the future. 🙂
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Wow, great post! This is really interesting!
Maybe I should try going the outline way one day, hmm? I am a ‘discovery’ writer and hardly ever outline… sure, I’ll write a few note here and there, but don’t outline the whole story. I should! LOL
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Thanks so much for answering my questions, Mrs. M!
I always find it interesting to hear the different ways people create their stories. Thanks for being an encouragement to young authors… it’s people like you who inspire me to keep writing even if it’s just for me right now because you never know where the path could go from there. Keeping it fun and putting God front and center is so important! It’s gonna be hard at times (before you hit that climax!) but if God put the story in your heart for His glory, He will help you bring it to completion. So, to all of you readers… Keep going! It will all be worth it! 🙂
-Aunie
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*all of you writers 😉
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Hi Mrs. M! I have a question about contacting a publisher. Is there a way for a young, first time author to contact a publisher online about their book? Thx!
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The only way anyone, not just young first-time authors, have any chance of contacting a publisher is by going to a writers conference, making an appointment with an editor, pitching your book project, and then they will usually give you an invitation to submit. But no, not much chance of doing it online unless it’s a little tiny publishing company. You really can’t just contact the larger royalty companies cold. That’s the way it is these days, so sorry to break that to you
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The first (and only) book that I’ve written thus far, I originally just had a vague idea for the premise and started writing. Then I plotted out basically what happened in each chapter. Looking back on it, I don’t think I went about it correctly, because there were certain things that deserved more attention than they got and other things that really didn’t need to be expanded into a chapter. XD XP
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Well that’s the beauty of an outline because as you go through it and write you can change everything to make make things happen just as you want You don’t have to follow the outline completely it’s just a guideline 😉
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It probably would’ve worked better if I’d looked at it a little more like that, LOL. I think another problem was the fact that I had a self-imposed deadline that I was stressed about meeting…
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i really liked getting to know how you write. i almost never use a outline though. maybe that’s why i have half a dozen unfinished stories, LOL.
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