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I Want To Write, Hear Me Roar
By: McKenna Jeffries

          After I had finally broke through my fear of writing I was ready to write. I know as soon as you get an idea for a book or novel you first immediate thought is to start to write it. That is what I did until wham just as I felt I was hitting my groove I hit this unbreakable wall called the dreaded writer’s block. This is a formidable foe and I COULD NOT GET AROUND IT. I tried going under, over, and begged for it to let me pass but to no avail. So I decided to take a look at the fruits of my labor. When I went to re read what I had written there was no format or structure to it. I had contemporary, paranormal and mystery asking for attention in the same novel and it was so confusing. I couldn’t understand it even though I wrote it. I actually thanked my writer’s block. Imagine thanking writer’s block for stopping you from writing. We’ll I did because writer’s block taught me a valuable lesson. When you decide to write a novel you need to decide what you are going to write about before you sit down and actually write. Yes, you can write down the idea you have and any detail you may want but before you sit down to do some serious writing. You need an outline so that what you write makes sense.

          So I then had to back track and get some details on writing an outline. This means research, research. I looked all over for places on how to do that dreaded outline for the novel I was writing and found some great places. I still could not get around the writer’s block it was an alabaster around my neck I could not shake. I sat down and reread everything I had written and could not believe the drivel that I had come up with. I had previously written short stories and such but this was my foray into novel writing and I was becoming disappointed in myself. I gave up and refused to write another word until I had that outline.

        There are a lot of good places to get information on the perfect outline. First I needed to decide what type of genre I would like to write for. You would be amazed of how many sub categories there are under Romance writing these days. Futuristic, Romantic Suspense, and Contemporary are just a few of the categories. There were so many I was overwhelmed as to what category I wanted to choose until I finally sat down relaxed and let my mind wander. Then focused on the characters I saw in my mind. I was seeing steep picturesque mountains and a man walking mourning the lost of his family> Crying out in rage for the change in his brother and sister. He is a leader of his people and has supernatural ability. He is the strength of his race but has no one to share the burden. I saw the woman who would not only be his partner but his deliverance. That is how the Guardian series was born with Rawaler. I also saw his siblings and people their whole race that was in a battle to find their place finding their own love.  I rushed and wrote the outline and his family history.

          I was so excited and raring to go as the words flowed but then the scenery changed to contemporary setting where a woman was at work thinking about her last family get together. The twins (boy and girl) who were both so much alike but so different in their choices. The sister who followed her dream of being a dancer but became hard at life’s lessons. The carefree sister that refused to let anything stop her but was hiding behind the smile. The friend who is like family that has changed and withdrawn. I saw the love and closeness between her siblings and friend but felt her denial that something was missing. I saw her meets a man who instinctively made her want to run and hide but she could not.

        This man was also running through my mind and giving me his own thought of his brothers all successful in life but unsuccessful in emotional attachments. They were men who played hard but worked even harder. The artist, singer, security expert and corporate mogul all come together to protect their baby sister who is trying to make her own way as a person but is traumatized. The ideas and personality for these two dynamic families just kept flowing.  This is when the Bancroft’s and Dupree’s were born.  

        Maybe you are seeing a swashbuckling count or a corporate lawyer who is just dying to be unleashed.  A Victorian lady who will conquer the rogue or the skydiving daredevil who plays as hard as she lives. These characters have been popping up in your dreams screaming “ tell my story please”. There is no limit to what you want to write there are many authors who write in across genre lines. No matter what genre I decided to choose I had a lot I wanted to write about.

         I sat down and wrote out all that I had felt about these characters personalities and feelings but I did not start to write my book. I had learned my lesson from the first time. The outline was my first step after I had all the characters down. I didn’t use a strict outline. I just let the story unravel in my mind from beginning to end like a movie. I wrote the outline for them all and now the problem was where to get started they were all clamoring for attention. I still had a lot to learn about the craft but I had made the first step to make my idea come to life.