Another New Story

I've started a new story that is tentatively titled, A Ghost of a Chance. It is going to be a romance with paranormal aspects but isn't going to be a paranormal romance. With the moderate success of my first attempt at a semi-romantic story, A Mystic Romance, I thought I'd try another romance.

The synopsis (for the moment): A woman's husband dies, she buys an old farmhouse in NH, leaving her life in NJ behind, and starts to renovate it. While she's working she discovers it is haunted and the ghost, Daniel, helps her forgive and be ready for love again. The renovations aren't going well so she has to hire a contractor to help her. They start out bumping heads but reach a compromise so they can at least get the project finished. Eventually they fall in love but she's not ready yet so she runs back to NJ. When the project is completed, she comes back to see the work and bumps into the contractor. And they live happily ever after. Or something like that.

I actually wrote out a full page (legal pad size) of plotting for the story. I wanted to get down all my thoughts for the story before I forgot them. It is just a very loose outline that gives a bit more detail than the synopsis, which is what I wrote first, but doesn't really delve into the details. If I stick to the outline it will be the first 'plotted' story that I will have written, though there's still plenty of time and opportunity to deviate from the story. It is going to be a hybrid method as much of it is still going to be 'by the seat of my pants' as I know very little about the characters yet. For example, I didn't know the husband, Shane (who started out as Stan on my notes but was changed, mostly because I'd forgotten I called him Stan my outline) is an elected local official and has presidential aspirations (rather, had ... he doesn't live through the first chapter). I also discovered Kimberly, the main character, doesn't like having the job of representing the couple, and furthering Shane's political career, on local community committees, social clubs and charity events.

I started with 775 words yesterday while I was at work. I was too busy last night to do more writing on it. I'm hoping to change that today.