Whenever I start a new writing project, I tend to dip back in to some of my craft books, refreshing my memory on all the things I’m supposed to know. I don’t read everything, but I feel it’s important to keep reminding myself of the important elements that make a good book.
Personally, I tend to focus on characterization and dialogue when I write. My first drafts are usually mostly talking and I have to go back an layer in the introspection. If you’ve ever met me in personal you know why this is (I never shut up), and as a writer, it’s something I try to keep an eye on. I do feel you learn a lot about a person from what they say (or don’t say) and how those words are balanced by actions.
With every new book, it takes me some time to get used to those new characters. I play around with their speech, the rhtythm of how they say things. Sometimes it works…other times I throw it out and start over. My new girl in my WIP is a lot of fun. She’s torn between her current life, the life of her childhood, and a new world she knows nothing about. It will be interesting to see how she makes out.
I always go back to craft books at the beginning of new projects, too. As if I can find some magic.
But it does help. Really does.
I just got a great new book, Manuscript Makeover, Revision Techniques No Fiction Writer Can Afford to Ignore by Elizabeth Lyon.
So far so good.
That’s one of the best parts of being a writer — getting to know new characters. Have fun with your new project!