WIP Wednesday: What I Want it to Be

While sorting out the plot of my long suffering WIP Ghost Mountain, I’ve found my mind drifting towards the stories intended Mood and Tone.

I know how—I’ve done it before and to varied degree’s. It just feels so vital for me to think on it now. Setting the right Mood and Tone for my novel is like starting the heart beat of a living thing to me. I want this beasts heart beat to be strong and I want it to be right.

I think my concern may be due to the multiple genre’s mixed together in this story. Paranormal Romance with a side of Mystery, Suspense, Action, Drama and a fair amount of Humor. I’ve dabbled in mixing genre before, but not this many. I feel it is doable and even feel confident in my intended mix. I just—I just…

I want you, the reader to go through my story and feel the heart and wonderment of a Steven Spielberg film. To feel good that you’ve met my characters and believe in their story. I want you to care so much about their journey, you’ll believe anything I put them through. I want you to pay attention to the details, the way JJ Abrams made me for six years and counting. And then I want you to feel gotten in a good way when you get to the end, like M. Night Shyamalan (the earlier works).

I want the suspense, the twists, turns and thrills of Deaver, Koontz, Grisham, Crichton, and Patterson. I want the foreboding foreshadowing and fear of King, along with the dance he does with good and evil, human frailty and human strength, the everyday and the paranormal. I want dialogue like Elmore Leonard—plain, simple but colors the readers mind and lets my character breathe like real ‘folk’. The real complexity is in simplicity kids. My characters will show you what there made of, not tell ya about it.

I want to give you a world where you find yourself on your back in the bed of a pickup truck, watching stars and fireflies on a cool clear night with a lost love. And then in the same chapter, have you chasing ghosts through burning buildings right after being shot at by a gun toting granny. I want heat to radiate off the stares my would-be lovers will throw and laughter when they make fools of themselves in the pursuit of love and forgiveness.

I want all this and more and maybe something will fall short or drift away in the editing. Maybe not. But whats in my writers mind and heart right now are all the above things and more. But most of all I just want to finish…

Wyatt tilted his head back and let out a deep huff of breath into the chilled autumn air.

It was nights like these he found himself talking to the stars. Not like they would talk back or give answer to all life’s mysteries. He just liked to say his peace to something bigger and grander than himself, hoping to find perspective in the process. And sometime—sometimes, he could hear a old voice…

“Now boy, let me tell you about that mountain.”

~~~Chapter 1: Just Howling at the Moon. Ghost Mountain.