In her Daily Lines this morning (which I usually never read), Diana Gabaldon shared the first chapter titles and the title of the first section of the next Outlander novel, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone. The novel is still being worked on and written by Diana, and as far as I know, it is still on track for a 2019 release. It should be noted in Diana’s quote below that sometimes the chapter and section titles change before publication.
“Writing a book (for me) has multiple phases. As many of you know (from having heard me talk, or reading THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION books), I write (for a long time) in small, disconnected pieces and scenes. Eventually these start sticking together to form Chunks, and in the latter stages, the Chunks begin to line up along a sort of mental timeline (composed of historical events I want to use and personal events that transpire with one or another of the characters), and–in the fullness of time, I begin to pull together related Chunks and scenes, to write bridges (where needed to connect the pieces, establish a time or place, or provide a quick summary of what’s been happening that I don’t mean to show directly), and…generally, come up with something vaguely resembling a novel.
I begin to see the shape of chapters, and to be able to put them–gradually–into a reasonable sequence and shape (though chapters do move around for awhile before settling into their final place in the story).
That’s where I am now, in terms of writing/assembling the book. I’m still writing it (naturally…), but a good deal of the daily work now includes the pulling together of pieces and the formation of chapters, sections, etc.
So, for your entertainment, here’s the Title list of chapters from Section One of GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE. (NB: Chapter titles do sometimes change–if I think of something better, which I do all the time–so this is by no means a guaranteed final list–but this Section is completely assembled. (So is a lot more of the book, but I’m not showing you everything at once…)
Have fun!
SECTION I: A Swarm of Bees in the Carcass of a Lion
CHAPTER 1: The MacKenzies are Here!
CHAPTER 2: A Blue Wine Day
CHAPTER 3: Meditations on a Hyoid
CHAPTER 4: Home is the Hunter, Home from the Hill
CHAPTER 5: Dead or Alive
CHAPTER 6: Visitations
CHAPTER 7: Animal Nursery Tales”
Source: Diana Gabaldon on Facebook, Image: From Diana’s website
