I'm re-reading A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates by Captain Charles Johnson. I've read it many times, but wanted to come back to it now because it's a plot device in my WIP [working title] The Hot Pirate's Secret Baby. In the WIP, the pirate captain hero reads aloud to his daughter from Johnson's history as a bedtime story, doing some judicious editing on the fly. The governess heroine is less than pleased with his choice of literature, but little Mathilde (who's taken on the pirate name of "Marauding Mattie") loves hearing about Anne Bonny and Mary Read, Blackbeard and the rest. Johnson's book is the ur-book of pirate stories in the West, and much of our knowledge and images of pirates comes from him. The book is entertaining and lively. It doesn't hurt that "Captain Johnson" may in fact be Daniel Defoe, a man who knew how to write a rousing story! It still reads well after 300 year...
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The sun came out midway through my walk this afternoon, which was a delight, as was the walk itself. I worked out a couple sticky plot points for (working title) The Hot Pirate's Secret Baby, realized I needed a name change for one of the characters (thank you, "find & replace") and for the first time felt like I was into the rhythm of my newest work in progress. I often get mental breakthroughs on my daily walk, but this was the first time the WIP and its plot was foremost in my mind. I can't force it. I've tried that and it doesn't work for me, but when I realize that it's happening and the creative brain synapses are firing, it's a good feeling. I returned to the work this afternoon with a renewed sense of commitment, and some excitement at seeing the characters taking shape.
Outline or Organic? Kind of a "Paper or plastic?" question since different writers have different methods that work for them. I'm organic, or a "seat of the pants" writer. I spent yesterday morning trying to outline my new novel, and realized at lunchtime that I'd pretty much wasted a morning when I could have been writing. I do find sometimes that if I pause midway through my first draft and then try to outline, that can work. I need to get some structure down on paper and look at it to determine where the plot holes are and how I'm going to reach that all important Happily Ever After (or at least, reasonably happy and optimistic about the future) ending. We'll see. As usual, I've got a vague idea in my head of where I want to go with my naughty pirate hero and my stern and disapproving heroine, the plot moppet the hero isn't aware he fathered, the missing heir, the murder plot and so on and so on. I know though that eventually, if...