It seems this is the time of year to blog about writing plans. I saw three similar posts this week, and emailed a writing friend myself, outlining the stories I want to tell this year. Or not outlining, because that would be too much work, but I did bullet point them, and gave a vague description to each project I want to tackle. This year is all about no stress, which means giving myself the freedom to work on multiple projects as the mood, and the muse, strikes. My next release is a procedural suspense, and of course I want to revisit those characters asap. Writing now in three genres and under three names, Mica Stone, Alison Kent, and (with my husband as) A.K. Stone, gives me a lot of options for indulging my imagination.
Here is something I learned this past year: After fifty-something books, you’d think I’d have figured out this gig by now. But since my first book sold in 1993, I have written EVERYTHING else from a pitch or a proposal. I’ve not once in all those years completed a manuscript that wasn’t already contracted. I did write one novella that I self-published, but that’s it. And having the freedom to run off on tangents without a deadline pressing down makes things so much less stressful. I can see what works best rather than forcing the story in a particular direction because it’s the idea I sold. Sure, we all deviate from our synopses, but once contracted, it’s stick with the story until it’s done because that’s where the money is.
I kinda like being able to play with all the strange ideas that pop up. To see where they go, if they’re worth exploring. It’s part of the refilling of the creative well, just letting the imagination run wild without the need to rein it in and make it behave.
I aim to misbehave.