I was getting into the characters and the world I was creating. So much so that each time I was sitting down to outline, I was essentially creating the entire interactions that were making up the scenes. I felt I had reached a point where the only thing left to do was write.
Despite these urges to just start, I felt I was still teetering in a state of limbo. I felt that although I had a strong sense of the characters and what needed to happen, I felt some things were still missing. The first was that although I knew what plot points needed to happen, I didn’t always have the bridge scenes to get from one to the next.
I also wanted to make sure that if I was writing a Western, that it would have the tone and atmosphere of one. When I’m starting a project that is genre specific, for instance, I like to read and watch stories in that genre to make sure that what I’m writing will be infused with that same type of feel. For example, before I sat down to write Lock the Doors, part of my outlining was watching horror movies, specifically ones in the Friday the 13th series.
I feel this is a vital part of writing that you don’t always see in stories, but if you’re trying to attract the audience of a genre, they’re coming in expecting that type of story arc and tropes. You can definitely add elements from other genres into it, but when doing so, its important to make sure that it fits with the established genre.
I had a couple Westerns around the house, namely The Man with No Name trilogy, and while I was preparing for a second marathon, I started listening to some Westerns on my runs by Louis L’Amour and Elmore Leonard. I also ordered a collection of 10 essential Westerns to watch as I prepared to start a first draft.
I felt I was getting close.