It seems really early to talk about my favorite scene in LEVEL TWO, because it’s still a year out and I really don’t want to give anything away. I’ll try to talk about it as vaguely as Jay did yesterday (although I am sure I won’t be half as amusing – sorry!).
I’m a big believer in the adage “If it’s boring, cut it.” But I go a step further – if I think it’s boring, I don’t even put it to paper. When I’m drafting, I know the basics of the story – the beginning and the end and the general character arc as well as some of the big twists. Then I brainstorm scenes that will not only tell the story, but will also be fun for me to write. Only after I have an idea for a scene that really excites me do I start writing. And I’ve been known to sift and tweak ideas for scenes for days at a time.
In one such case, I knew that I needed to show my main character’s special bond with her father, and I thought a father/daughter trip might do the trick. Now I’ve travelled to over 55 countries, so I had plenty of my own travel experiences to draw on, but after thinking for days about the elements of the trip, none of the locations I had personally visited really fit what I had in mind (vague, I know). I actually ended up taking inspiration from a trip that my husband took without me, which strikes me as rather ironic.
But oh was it fun to write!
