Big Steps

So I've had some issues recently with determining the exact plot of my book. Looking through what I had in place, I realized that it really didn't feel genuine. Everything felt forced and thrown together haphazardly.

Essentially, it sucked.

The book I'm currently working on is the first in a series I'm planning on writing and I had no idea how to end it. I know how the series ends, but each book was a mystery to me. It was actually partially in thanks to Moody Writing's posts about sympathetic characters that I finally figured out how to end the first book. In disaster! I had been trying to avoid major disaster in my writing until later in the story, but it just made no sense to keep everyone alive all the way through to the end. Someone had to die.

As soon as I realized who I needed to kill off at the end of the first book, everything else seemed to click into place. Story began to flow naturally from step to step. No longer did I have to force the characters into the conflicts I needed for the story to move, they went there by themselves. Each book finally has an overarching theme and the character development is finally where I need it to be.

As I continue to solidify the plot, I will start finalizing my character sheets and hopefully get one or two major ones posted shortly for you guys to critique. I apologize for the overall vagueness in what exactly I'm working on, but since it is still in the planning phase I'd rather not get too specific since knowing me, it could completely change by my next post.

I spent this entire weekend not paying attention to my writing which I now regret, but it helped some of the ideas I came up with over the week settle. I wasn't initially sure whether or not they would have the staying power necessary to be acceptable, but I am pleased to announce that they are!

I'm going to remain vague as to the specifics as I continue to nail them down, however I can speak on the general focus of each book. Book 1 is about searching for the truth. Book 2 is dominated by personal revenge. Book 3 is about acceptance and understanding. Vague enough for you?

Before I close this out, I would like some input from you guys about magic and how you feel it should be done. This is not in relation to anything in particular, I just like to see how others view magic and other such supernatural powers and how they would like to see them used in novels. How has magic been used well in a novel? Are there instances where you didn't like how it was used? What would you like to see change or be done?

I look forward to your input.