X is for Xenophobic

If there's anyone who is afraid of change, it's me. I'm not nearly as bad as I used to be. I couldn't even buy a new comforter without a panic attack. But one place I have always been comfortable making change is in my writing. I love finding new things to do with my novels, different kinds of structure, different writing methods. Changing it up is the best way to grow in your writing.

Every time I start a new novel, I decide on something different I'm going to do with it. My first two novels were what I considered to be normal: It was first person, past tense, chapters that contained multiple scenes, a mainstream novel, and your basic love story. Now, I still love a good love story, but a lot of things have changed along the way. In my third novel, not only did I write a little sci-fi, but I also wrote in the present tense, a feat which was very difficult to accomplish and that I will never try again. In my fourth novel, I wrote from the point of view of a mother and a daughter, each telling their part of a timeline in each chapter. In my fifth, sixth, and seventh novels (all parts of a trilogy), I wrote from the POVs of two people but both told the story in first person, which was challenging and fun, especially since one was a girl and one a boy.

In my eighth novel, well, I didn't really experiment with that one. This was primarily due to the fact that it was for NaNoWriMo, and I was keeping it pretty basic for the sake of getting it done.

In the novel I'm working on now, the story is separated into four parts, in honor of George Orwell's 1984. I thought it would be a great way to allow myself to skip around and tell a story that took place across a longer span of time than I was used to. It will also feature titled chapters.

Finding something new, even if it's a tiny little thing, to do in your novels is a lot of fun. It opens you up to new things, and gets those creative juices flowing even faster. Give it a try!

xoxo,

Vicky