The Politics of Plotting by Anna Campbell
Shhhhhh!
I’m plotting.
And you know how the captain hates the idea of his crew plotting. In fact, it might be considered mutiny and I could end up having to walk the plank. And I haven’t got a thing to wear for the occasion!
Ahoy, Pirates!!! Great to be back here. I always have a great time with you girls. Rum, mayhem, plundering, Captain Jack, swabbing the decks… Uh, maybe not swabbing the decks! I’ll leave that for someone who draws the short straw after the party is over and I’ve stumbled home to the Bandits lair.
I’d like to know how you come up with plots. This topic is endlessly fascinating (well, at least I find it so!). Are you a plotter or a pantser (awful word and I’m about to suggest an alternative, so hang onto your rum toddies!)? How does an idea arrive in the first place?
I’m often asked where I get my ideas. I say, perfectly honestly, EVERYWHERE! It’s true. Finding possible ideas for stories isn’t the problem – something takes your interest and you say, “What if?”
Sometimes the inspiration for a story is something that’s lain dormant in my brain for years and years (sadly, lots of stuff lies dormant in my brain – there’s a whole school of thought that says my brain is completely dormant but those people are just NASTY!). Sometimes it’s something I’ve read while I’ve been researching another story. Definitely elements of Olivia’s character in TEMPT THE DEVIL came together from all the reading I did about Regency courtesans for CLAIMING THE COURTESAN.
As you’d know, not all the ideas you come up with are viable for a book. Or perhaps they’re viable for a book but they’re not viable for a Regency noir, my current dish of choice. But I’ve learnt that the good stuff sits at the back of my head and attracts other good stuff (although it’s not always obvious how the links will be forged, but they WILL be forged).
Eventually (and the timetable on this seems to be completely in the lap of the writing gods, like so much of the writing process, I find), all of this stews away and I’ll have an opening scene, two characters with a problem, sometimes a villain, and a very, VERY vague idea of where the story might lead me.
Then I start to write.
What happens after that is an organic process (which is much nicer than ‘pantser’, don’t you think?). Scenes grow out of the characters and how they interact and also out of the problem deepening and spreading and causing all sorts of mayhem – which is just what you want on a pirate ship.
If my middle sags (the middle of my book, that is. Sadly my REAL middle needs scaffolding to avoid sagging), I go back to that original idea for the problem. Or maybe it’s that I’ve stopped listening to the characters – they almost always know where they want to go next.
A technique I’ve found really useful when I’m stuck in those mid-ocean doldrums is to re-read the whole manuscript. The subconscious is an odd beast. It almost always gives hints in earlier chapters for where the story needs to go.
Needless to say, this is a messy process but I speak from experience when I say you do end up with something you can work with at the end of it.
Anyway, what’s your process? Do you have a single process or does it change with every manuscript? Let’s get together and plot! And one lucky plotter will win a copy of my latest release TEMPT THE DEVIL!
Special note - if you click on Anna's lovely picture up there, it will take you to her website (it's so beautiful!) and if you click on this killer cover right here, it'll take you to Barnes & Noble so you can order the book.
Books by the Crew
90 comments:
Hi Anna,
I'm not so much of a plotter - instead more a flimmer (pantser). Though in my current WIP I do have an outline. Still I'm finding things changing as I write - new characters and ideas pop out of nowhere and say 'here I am and I'm not going anywhere'. Funny really.
cheers
Eleni
Anna I don't plot at all, but I so love reading your books I highly recommend To Tempt The Devil to anyone who hasn't yet read this book it is awesome.Anna's writing takes you right into the story and I felt so much for Olivia and Julian WTG
Have Fun
Helen
Hi Anna! Hello me hearties! Great blog, Anna, although I must admit I became momentarily distracted by that interestingly posed gentleman below your post:)
I'm plotting, musing, procras...no, just mulling over my next plot at the moment. However, as much as I try (and fail) to write the book in my head first, I now have to sit down and do it, and the plot will often take an entirely different direction once the words are on the page. Like you, I'm *organic*--I so agree about the inelegance of the pantser term!
OK, tough question for you--when do you know you have the right plot for a Regency noir?
Pantser, definitely. The more I plot, the more I hate the story. I can't seem to write a straightforward plot, either -- they're always complicated and a little twisted. I'll usually start with the characters and a central idea for the story, and write the opening in a single burst. Then comes the hard work. I'm always surprised when things come together along the way, almost as if my mind had it all plotted out to begin with, without letting me in on the secret.
Hey, Eleni, always great to see you! Thanks for popping over. Flimmer even sounds better than pantser, doesn't it? Actually I know a lot of people who start with an outline kind of as a jumping off point and often end up with a completely different story to the one they started out to write. I think there are SO many different ways to put a workable manuscript together.
Hey, Helen, ma Buddy! Thank you for the plug. Honestly, every time you say those lovely things about Tempt the Devil, I want to wrap up a carton of Tim Tams and send them to you! Thanks for checking out the blog too!
Yes, Christine, the scenery here is rather...uh, untamed, shall we say? ;-)
I spend such a long time thinking about the book before I write it but I think that's part of the process, even though the actual story usually goes in a completely different direction. This is a very odd business we're in, isn't it?
Ooh, what a great question about Regency noir! I kinda asked for that, didn't I? I think I need something edgy, something with the opportunity for lots of conflict and emotion and drama, something dark to go with the noir moniker! Let's say I can't tell you what it is but I know it when I see it ;-)
Becke, I've come over many to years to realize the subconscious is an amazing place. I just wish it would let me know what it's up to half the time! So many times, my conscious mind has tried to work against those deepest instincts. Deepest instincts have always won (largely because my characters refuse to budge if I'm pushing them around) and then it turns out that the instincts were right all the time. I suspect people who write so strongly on their instincts are the organic writers.
Anna -- permission to come aboard? :-) I fancy myself a plotter of grand intent. I plot and fuss and think about where the story's going to go. I even map it out with the 3 act structure. I feel I have to do all of this just so I can write the synopsis for my agent and editor.
But I've learned to always leave room for change. And the book will change from that outline as I write and get to know the characters. As the story comes together, it often ends up quite different than I first imagined. I like to think it ends up much better too!
So, I guess I'm a bit of a plotter/flimmer. A plommer, maybe? Or a Flitter. Yes, definitely a flitter. ;-)
Hey, Kate! Permission to come aboard granted with trumpets! Well, spoons played on empty rum bottles anyway. Have you visited the Revenge before? It's the rootingest, tootingest pirate ship on the romance waves!
How interesting about the three act structure. I had a friend who was doing a screen writing course and the sort of structure they were teaching here was amazing. Hey, if I get a broken pipe, can I call you, seeing you're a plommer? Oh, dear! Yes, that was BAAAAAAD!
Hey, everyone, Kate's my guest at the Romance Bandits on 5th February where she's going to spill all her secrets (hear that, Kate? You didn't know you'd signed up for that, did you? Bwahahahahaha!) and talk about her new release NIGHT AFTER NIGHT.
My process? Sit down in front of the computer, and hope to hell I can actually write something half decent! Lol.
I'm a pantser, without a doubt. I love the freedom. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! No idea where my characters will take me, but I love them all the same.
Actually, Monique, while I think I often concentrate on the painfulness of the ORGANIC process (OK, you can be a pantser if you want!)- the false trails, the rewrites, the slowness of it - you're right, it does give you a lot of freedom. Thanks for dropping by!
What a fabulous blog! I do love me a pirate and all things naughty, er, nautical. :)
Hi Anna! I plot and write lengthy outlines but then don't look at them again once I start writing. I guess my outline is a VERY rough first draft. If I'm stumped somewhere, I will go back and re-read my outline, which usually helps me get back on track, though not always in the way I first imagined.
Hi Anna, On behalf of the regular crew, welcome aboard!
Visiting pirates will find gallons of rum below deck in the bosun's cabin. For more discerning tastes the scotch is hidden securely in the Captain's cabin. :wink:
Fascinating comments on the role of the subconscious. In a wider context, there are so many interesting ideas and theories about this circulating at the moment and no-one really understands it!
'Claiming the courtesan' was my first 'dark regency' and it was a 'page turner' for me. At times I felt it needed a dash of humour to lighten the tension but it was a fantastic read. Did Kylemore's evil mother rise up from the subconscious or did you analytically construct her in the plotting stage ... she kind of reminded me of Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth. Is it possible that a collective writer's subconscious exists and this nasty piece of work evolved from other characters in literature?
Living in the UK I love reading the scene descriptions for areas that I know. Was Kylemore's Cairngorm lodge based on a real location in the mountains?
I see that 'tempt the devil' can now be downloaded as an ebook so I'll be off to fictionwise after posting this!
Thanks for some great reads Anna!
Hi Anna, Plotting? I thought that was about making sure I eat the last piece of cake. I’ve never had a clever idea in my life I just read and dream (then sometimes plot (about cake) over coffee). Thank you for the new read. ----- Eric
Ahoy there, Anna!
I'm another organic wordsmith. Actually, I'd like to more of a plotter because I'm an organic "grasshopper". I get these ideas for scenes that I think will be great to use further into the book - you know, stunning, truly inspired, description-defying, amazing scenes... superlatives fail me ;) - but by the time I write up to them, they need to be changed or (sob) deleted! And I hate to part with words once I've put them on a piece of paper!
Anyway, good luck with Tempt The Devil - it's a treasure!
:)
Sharon
Ahoy there, matey! Hic! That rum's going straight to me head.
I used to be a diehard flimmer, but I now my process changes with every book.
My fourth book was totally plotted out before I started writing--it all came to me one night when I was trying to sleep. My pushy heroine insisted I tell her story. I'm sure she would've forced me to walk the plank if I didn't. So I wrote it in a *very* short time (but spent months revising). If only that happened all the time!
The novel I'm finishing now began life as a flim-job. When I got stuck at page 100, forcing myself to write a synopsis gave me the direction (and the kick) I needed.
Hey Anna, God I love a fine Pirate. :)
Is the fellow below your blog one of the pirates on board ? Then I could do a lot of plotting, :)
But seriously I 'm just an avid reader who loves your stories.You can let them ideas stay in your head as long as you want because the final outcome is awesomw.
Carol
I plot and pant through a novel. I usually go back and reread when I'm stuck in the middle too! And I don't necessarily know my ending, but I kind of know the events that will lead up to the hea :)
Anna, I'm smack in the middle of reading TTD right now, so I can be removed from any drawing. I did the happy dance when I found the book in my little local book store (and NOT at Wal*Mart---boo on them). I'm so glad to be called organic---sounds very 21st century. I really can't plot much---have a few scenes from which to hang my hat, but then the wind blows and the hat might wind up anywhere. I must say I get frustrated by my process, but can't seem to do it any other way.
And I do the same thing---re-read. Right now I had to give myself permission to write out of sequence (I'm at 40,000) because the middle is indeed a puddle of poo. But things are about to get livelier. Congrats to the Queen of Regency Noir!
Hello Anna!!
Thank you for sharing your process. Your organic process. I'll have to start using that instead of "pantsing". I usually have an idea for a scene. That's about it. I have to think about it for a long while, the scene starts to take more shape, the characters start to walk onto the set and I study them for a while. How they're interacting, what looks like their motivations and whether it seems to be working with the scene. Then I get curious about what brought them to this scene, and what might happen beyond this scene. And at that point if I can see those things, I'll start to write.
Uh - that was meant to be Lair, not layer!
Ahoy Pirates! Swinging in from the Romance Bandits layer. Good to be back on board - sorry it's taken so long to return! Hi Anna!
I'm kind of an in-betweener. I need a road map for my plot - key turning points etc. I need my characters well-developed (though they usually appear in my brain like that) and I like to have certain details for the plot worked out.
But, after that I set off on my journey and let the story flow as I go from the start to one turning point after another. Usually, about three-quarters of the way through, one of my characters will throw a spanner into the works with an unusual twist in the story. I've learned not mind as this will make the wholee story much, much better - even if I have to go back and rework the story to foreshadow that twist!
If I get stuck, I go back to tricks I used in my business life - mind mapping and brain storming. I have a big white board in my office and I scribble possible answers on the board until I sort out the niggling issue.
Waving to Quantum - I just moved back home to the UK from NJ. Good to see another Brit!
I tried "flimming" (sorry, can't get into that. It makes me feel dirty LOL) and now I'm plotting full bore--defining acts, defining turning points, marking scene by scene--and doing the entire novel all over again as a result. The hope is that this time it will actually make some sense. We'll see! Perhaps I just need to get me a copy of TTD so that I can ruminate some more (I am an expert ruminator. It's really my strength).
Ahoy Mateys! Welcome aboard, Anna!
I'm not a writer (author) but I surely am inspired by what you write, Anna. Erith and Olivia are two fascinating characters and their story is one to be savored, like a fine wine...or a keg of rum. :)
I echo Helen's sentiments. If you haven't read this fabulous story yet, what are you waiting for? It's an experience not to be missed!
Maggie, I'm surprised your Walmart didn't have TTD. Mine has it prominently displayed.
Terri, thank you for that very inspirational work of art in yesterday's post! RAWR!
Welcome aboard, Anna! And welcome to everyone who's new to the Romance Writer's Revenge! We're so happy to have you here!
Anna, I'm a plotter, at least for the bones of my story. In each individual scene I allow my characters some free reign. But if I don't establish what happens throughout, it doesn't feel cohesive. This way I can make sure there are a few different "black-ish" moments throughout that keep the action moving.
Where are all the pirates this morning? Carousing below deck, no doubt--or sleeping off last night's carouse.
I echo all the recs of Tempt the Devil. It is a powerful, haunting book, and Olivia and Erith are wonderfully complex characters.
I definitely am not a plotter, but I'm not a pure panster either. I start with characters, but I do detailed character biographies before I start writing, including family trees. I am a non-linear writer too. This means I have fun when I start and then suffer through the stitch-together scenes.
I do love plotting! I work in education, so I'm all about outlines and story webs--which are much prettier, cause you can use different colored pens and have idea bubbles flying off in every direction. :)
I am EASILY distracted, so the poor, cold guy under Anna's blog almost had me forgetting to comment...and Anna, I want your necklace! It's gorgeous!
The fact that your books are uniquely brilliant goes without saying...right? Well, if it doesn't, consider it said! ;)
*stumbling out of the mast and flipping to the top deck* Sorry I'm late wenches. Ranger and I had a late night.
*yawn*
Ahoy Ms Anna Campbell! It's always a pleasure to have you on deck! I hope you hit up Chance for a rum drink already. Otherwise the Capt'n and Ter have probably drank all the glitter.
I love to pants! Sadly I'm a horrible pantser and often change my mind about what I'm doing in mid-paragraph. I find inspiration all around, but mostly I think it might be the conversations in my head with the characters that get me all riled up.
And now it sounds like I should be in a mental institution. I swear, I'm fairly harmless.
Sorry I'm late. I have the day off and took the rare opportunity to sleep in! Welcome to all our new visitors aboard the ship. How wonderful of you to join us. Though Anna does always bring out the masses.
Thanks again for joining us, Anna. I'm loving the new words for pantsing. I've used the organic one before so I like that one. That flimmer one sounds a little too close to another stang we have here in the states so I think I'll leave that one alone. :)
I'm glad everyone is enjoying the eye candy I posted yesterday. I didn't really mean for him to be a distraction, but I guess he can't help it.
I'm a little in between in my plotting, as someone else mentioned. I can sit down and try to loosely outline the next couple of chapters, but mostly I just have some major plot point and scene ideas in my head then try to figure out how to connect them. It can get frustrating but I've found if I keep trying, the characters will eventually tell me when I have it right.
Ahoy Anna!
I'm not a hard core plotter as midbook the characters tend to stage a mutiny and set course for a journey of their own choosing! Just as you look for the edginess in a potential plot - I look for the humor (and we both looks for opportunities to make the book sexy - gotta love this work (grin). I use the W-plot to maintain the direction of the action between turning points, but that's about as detailed as I get.
Now I have to return to my manuscript or my editor will be looking to give me thirty lashes!
Argh.
*pops up from behind the bar, studying bottles.
Been tryin' ta mix up a flimmer, but it jus' won't come together...sorry, honorable guest. Sometimes me job as the bartender comes tagether, sometimes it don't...
I pants, definately. But I begin, 80% of the time, from a dream. I be a lucid dreamer and wake up slowly with time ta examine me dreams. Latest WIP was one a' those. Strip away the fruit loopy elements and found a workable place ta begin. I tell meself the story again and again ta get ta sleep, but it often changes when I hit the keyboard.
Characters like ta run me ragged, speak dialogue I hadn't envisioned and draw me inta places I hadn't dreamt. Which is great! I be a fluid writer and sail where the currents pull me!
So, no flimmer...but have a glittery hooha, one a the Revenges signature drinks! Extra hoo?
Cheryl, I know some people who do the outline almost like a first draft. In fact, to all intents and purposes, it IS a first draft! There are many roads up this hill, Grasshopper! ;-)
Hi Quantum! Right now, I'm plotting to break into the Captain's cabin, unless you happen to have a key... And I'm not sure it's a good idea letting the rest of the crew know where the rum is hidden. We could end up on the kerb instead of on the Spanish Main. Someone has to steer this vessel!
I remember seeing an interview with Jung and he was wonderful - he kept saying the point about the subconscious is that it IS sub-conscious. We'll never really understand it. Kind of like that idea.
Thanks for saying you enjoyed Claiming the Courtesan. I would definitely say that what I've read before influences my characters - it all goes into the subconscious soup! Actually my original plot for CTC had his mother disappearing after the first couple of chapters and the climax involved Maria, Verity's sister, running away from school and Kylemore coming to the rescue. Someone in a contest (I think it might have been the Red River Ticket to Write but whoever it was, I'm eternally grateful to them) said I had a perfect villain there with his mother. Why not use her? You know, she was right! The mother had elements of real life figures too - like Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was such a political animal. Although the Duchess of Kylemore was Georgiana on steroids!
OK, I'll send this and then move onto the Scottish question. What an interesting lot of points you raised, Q!
While I've done a lot of traveling around the UK and there's always books and the internet, I'm always VERY aware that I'm writing this stuff at a distance, Quantum. So I'm always fairly vague about exactly where my things are set (unless it's a town like Whitby for CTC or Portsmouth in Captive of Sin, my November book).
The inspiration for the mountainous areas came from my first visit to the Isle of Mull off the Scottish west coast in 1995. I remember looking back at the mainland to the Morvern Peninsula
http://www.bbc.co.uk/naturescalendar/winter/coast/morven/morven.shtml
It was just mountains behind mountains behind mountains as far as the eye could see. And jagged, inhospitable mountains at that! A bit like the cover of the Lord of the Rings book I read in uni! So the isolated glen is in a vague location inland from the west coast of Scotland north of Oban ;-)
The Kylemore family seat is based on a mixture of Dunrobin and Inveraray Castles, that fairytale Scottish baronial style with the towers and turrets and all that gray stone.
The Kentish scenes in Tempt the Devil are based on a visit I made to that beautiful county in spring, 2004. I did a column about that in My Favorite Things on my website this month with photos of some of the beautiful blossoming trees.
http://www.annacampbell.info/fave%20things.html
Eric, thanks for swinging by. I hope you enjoy Tempt the Devil - perhaps a piece of cake with that?
Hey, Sharon, I speak from experience when I say even the bits you delete are good ;-) I know people who write scenes as they occur to them. You know, not in a linear way at all. That wouldn't work for me because, like you, the story morphs as I write it and those scenes just wouldn't fit any more. Guess we all have our ways of working! Thanks for those kind words about TTD!
Delicious article, Anna! I always find the writing process fascinating. At first there is nothing but an idea, sometimes just a kernel of an idea, and it germinates, percolates (I'm mixing metaphors galore here!), stews, and viola! Something is actually produced out of all that, yes! mayhem!
I often find something in real life that sparks my interest and makes me wonder "what if." A woman commits murder in 1909 and is acquitted by an all-male jury who thinks a woman isn't capable of or responsible for such a wicked act.
A woman disappears in 1901 off the eastern seaboard, her body turns up on the banks of the river 37 days later, and the true story of what happened to her is never revealed.
A civil war surgeon returns from war, badly injured by his horse falling on him, finds his wife has cheated on him, and murders the other man. He's acquitted because it's an honor killing!
These are all true events and sparked my ideas for stories! Of course, it's all about murder and justice!
These true events pique my interest and I want to write a fictional story about them.
Vanessa, lovely to see you here! Actually I find the process for me varies slightly from book to book too. I think that's part of what makes being a writer continually interesting (and I use interesting in all its meanings, LOL!). Actually one of the nice things about writing for a long time is that you develop these techniques to help you when you're stuck or when you need some extra inspiration. Because I was unpublished for 27 years, I had a fair idea of what processes would work for me and what wouldn't when I sold. It's been really useful having that experience behind me!
Hey, Carol, welcome aboard! Hey, you get the best seat in the Captain's cabin for those lovely compliments. And I'll see if I can coax that brawny sailor up from belowdecks to entertain you in the meanwhile. Do you want me to wrap him first? Snort! I really feel like W.C. Fields saying never work with dogs and children. Never blog next to a gorgeous naked man! ;-)
Tiff, lovely to see you here! I always have a vague idea of the events leading up to the ending too. To say I fly completely into the mist isn't exactly true. I mean, it's like saying I'm driving down to Sydney but I'm not sure exactly what roads I mean to use. I'll see where the trip takes me. But eventually I WILL end up in Sydney. Perhaps, given the environment, I should have said sailing to Sydney ;-)
Maggie, a puddle of poo???!!!! You crack me up! Sounds like we should send the deck swabbers over to you once they've finished up cleaning up the Revenge! Actually another thing that all that writing time has taught me is that my process may be messy, but it's MY process. Nothing else works quite as well for me. Sounds like you're the same. Hey, cool you found TTD in a little bookstore. Thanks for picking it up and diving in!!! Hmm, perhaps we could get the sailor belowdecks to dive in and save you. Except if he did, I'd forget to breathe anyway, so I think I'd sink anyway!
Hi J.K.! I just realized what auspicious initials you have!;-)Great to see you here too! That's the point I need to get to in order to do that opening scene and hopefully the seeds will be there to lead me on to the next scene and the next, then.
Hey, Anna of the Banditas!!! Great to see you here! Do you think we can kidnap the guy from yesterday's blog to join our cabana boy ranks? Interesting description of your process - I don't feel grownup enough to have a whiteboard ;-) I agree those story twists that turn up out of nowhere are usually the GOOD stuff. I think that's your subconscious working on the problems of the story while you're pottering along doing the sensible thing. And then voila, you get those sudden surges of energy and inspiration in the plot. I love this business sometimes!
Are you sure you'd end up in Sydney driving?
I think you are doing a bit of the paranormal elements now! LOL
Actually, Anna, I think you were channelling the Golden Rooster. He likes a nice layer! ;-)
Keri, I think ruminating is a highly underrated skill! And to do it well is an artform! ;-) You're definitely on the list to win the copy of TTD. You NEVAH know. I'm ruminating on my decision, you see...
Actually flimming does sound kinda salacious, doesn't it? I hope your new process works. I can see huge advantages for planning ahead, finding out about problems before you're halfway through the book and they rise up out of the ground like mud monsters! Good luck!
PJ, you forgot to put trademark Heidenkind on RAWR!!! She'll be after you for copyright infringement. Heidenkind was talking about a hero - was it Jamie from Outlander? - on Romance Novel TV the other day and came out with RAWR! We all thought it was great and have been using it ever since!
Hey, great to see you here! Thank you so much for those lovely compliments for TTD. I still smile to think of you sitting up till 2am to find out what happened! Here, have a whole keg of rum to yourself!
Hey, Marnee Jo, thank you for offering me the hospitality of your fine ship! Isn't it turning into an interesting discussion. You guys came up with the topic - great idea!
I truly, TRULY think doing an outline ahead, however detailed you want to make it, is the most efficient way to put a book together. I'm very slow - a book a year and even that's a push for me. The people I know who can turn out two or three or, shock, gasp, even more, ALL use outlines. I think if you can train yourself to work that way you're going to be way ahead of the game.
Janga, what an interesting process! And obviously one that works for you. Thank you for sharing it. I don't know what I'd call it. I know people who do the character stuff ahead of time and it works really work for them. I also know people who do collages with visuals that they stick up in front of their desk and which takes them immediately into the world of the book. I'm not particularly visual - my characters talk to me before I see them. But I've seen some of these collages and they're works of art. Jenny Crusie was someone who was using this technique, I know. Can't argue with that!
I think the pirates are below decks interviewing the last blog subject ;-) Perhaps I should take my clothes off... (Shrieks of horror from the crew and multiple splashes as everyone abandons ship!)
Thanks for saying those lovely things about Tempt the Devil! As you know, I'm utterly stoked that you loved this story.
Hi Anna!
What a great blog. I'm struggling with this right now, so I love to read everyone's thoughts about how it works for them. When I write into the mist, half of it gets thrown away. And I sweat blood to figure out how to make it work. It's always something I've missed--some aspect of the characters or story that I've blown by in my mad writing "organic process" way.
SO....I've been trying to plot. It isn't working. My plots are too twisted and complicated--which is why I try to plot you see--but.....*sigh*.
I'm trying to save a bit of time by plotting--make myself a faster writer--but alas, I fear I shall always be stuck in the "organic process."
I will say, that sounds very hoity toity...I can just hear the literary snobs saying that..."Writing should be an organic process." But it is a perfect description of what happens when I just flow. Well...somewhere in the middle is what will finally work for me I suppose. If it doesn't, I'll end up with a book every two years, and that's not nearly enough.
Man, things are hopping around here. I almost can't catch up. LOL! I do love that there are so many different ways to approach this writing thing, and no one way is right for everyone. As I've just started, I look forward to getting more experience writing and seeing how my process changes.
Anna - Has your process always stayed consistent throughout the years? And is it different for the Noir material than for the lighter, more humorous work?
Sorry about the absense of the crew members. LOL! My guess is that a the Captain is off work (no internet in her home cabin) as I am. But you guys are all doing a fantastic job picking up our slack!
Speaking of going AWOL, L'il Pirate of mine has a doctor's appointment, so I'm headed out. I totally trust Anna with the ship. :) Be back soon!
Gillian, do you use a whiteboard? For some reason, I can see you getting all artistic with mind maps and bubbles and arrows leading off everywhere! It's a very inspiring picture!
Hey, thanks for the compliment on my necklace. I always wear it with extreme pride. In 2004, when I had my four months wandering around the UK, I went to the Romance Novelists' Association conference (the British equivalent of RWA). I hadn't been published but Courtesan had started to generate quite a lot of excitement on the contest circuit. Kate Walker, who writes for Harlequin, was responsible for the 'virgins' - girls who hadn't been to an RNA conference before - and she's lovely and really made an effort to make sure we felt at home there. Anyway, fast forward to 2007 and my last trip to the UK and I met Kate for morning tea at Betty's famous tea rooms in York (worth a trip, believe me!). She gave me the heart, which is Venetian glass, to celebrate my publication. Apparently she gives one to all her 'virgins' when they sell. Isn't that absolutely lovely?
I love the way experienced writers pass the torch on to less experienced writers in this business. It's one of the nicest things I know of.
Uniquely brilliant, huh? Yeah, I think you should say that! And KEEP saying it ;-) THANK YOU!!!
Hey, Sin!!! Oh, right. You've got a headache. (Whispers) Hey, Sin! Thanks for having me as your guest today! I think my glass is empty by the way and a girl gets a dry mouth with all this talking...
Sounds like you're another aural writer like me, Sin. Sometimes they just won't shut up, will they? The weird thing is people in the 'real' world look at me very strangely when I tell them I have all these voices in my head! Or perhaps it's the ax I carry around in my handbag. Bwahaahahahahahaha!
Hi Terri! Thanks for being my official hostess today. And seriously, don't apologize for sleeping in. Because of the time difference, the party was well under way by the time I got back here today.
Oh, no, flimmer really is like a NAUGHTY word??!! I'm not sure I want to know! By the way, imagine the distraction he'd be if he didn't have his hands where they are!
I know when I'm going in the right direction when the characters tell me where to go. It's like they've taken on a life of their own.
Anna hello! I'm so happy to see you here again, and I have not yet had a chance to read TTD, but I am SO excited to do so soon. I just spent a week with a group of aspiring writers (your name came up a LOT might I say, when we were discussing the new direction of Regencies) and everyone kept telling me how wonderful TTD is, and I kept plugging my ears so nothing ruins the experience! LOL
I'm a hard-core plotter, and it blows my mind that you don't (in a good way!). You do an amazing job of keeping things tight and making it look like you knew exactly where you were going the whole time.
Now I will say, nothing ever turns out the way I wrote it in the synopsis - characters do have a way of taking over and doing their own thing without your consent, don't they?
Donna, no flogging on this ship! Although I can't speak for the one your editor is captaining! Lovely to see you popping over from the lair! I agree - I think there's some premises that scream a mood. Humor or dark sensuality or warm family love. You name it. Absolutely making the book sexy is important too - actually to get back to Christine's question way back when, I think part of a Regency noir plot is that the problem involves sex in some way. So the sex is an integral part of the story and the character development.
Hey, Chance, get me that glittery hoo ha! Isn't that the best phrase? It's entered my vocabulary the way jumping the shark has! I remember laughing myself silly when I read Jenny C's original column about the glittery hoo ha being the secret to a great romance story!
Chance, thanks for your hospitality today (extends empty tankard and looks hopeful that sugar will catch more rum...uh, flies than vinegar). As usual, it's a great day on the deck!
Hey, I've had plots that start as dreams too. And when I'm really into a book, I dream about the story too. But if, like me, you get your impetus from your subconscious, it makes perfect sense that dreams should offer up inspiration.
Extra hoo, huh? HOOOOOOOO HAAAAAAAAA!
Hey, Jo, another Bandita! Great to see you! I always find people's writing process interesting too. It's one of those endlessly fascinating conversations, isn't it?
Real life stuff certainly sparks stuff in my stories. For example, I can remember the first time I went to Scotland wondering why it was all so empty. Of course, this led to finding out about the tragic Highland clearances which form the background to Claiming the Courtesan.
Hey, those are fascinating snippets you've given us! I bet the stories are great! It's interesting, though, that often there's a theme or two that appeal to us and underly a lot of our stories, no matter the superficial differences. You obviously respond to stories about justice. I respond to stories about courage and redemption. I think all of my books at heart are about that.
Actualy, you're right - I DON'T DRIVE!!! I wouldn't get out the driveway. Scrap that metaphor. ;-)
Terri, what a great question! One of the luxuries of all that time unpublished was that I had time to experiment. When I wrote that first medieval way back when I finished high school, I basically dove in and wrote like a demon until I got to the end. I was drunk on the fact that I had a complete story to tell and that I could finish it. It's an amazing feeling to finish that first manuscript, however bad the final product! I had no idea about how to disect my work for faults and problems. I thought editing involved tidying up the word choice. WRONG!
The noir stuff seems to mean really tough first drafts and then digging deeper and deeper in every edit. It can feel like removing your own appendix using a blunt spoon! The comic stuff comes more easily for me, partly because it relies so heavily on dialogue and that's something that's always come very easily to me. But then the edits involve that same deepening process although perhaps without the surgical implications!
Oh, Terri, I meant to say I wasted - well, not exactly wasted, that's the wrong word - got diverted when I started writing by every how-to book I read. They all said you had to do detailed character interviews and a really in depth outline or else you just weren't a real writer. I'm so glad that the whole world of pants...uh, organic writers has opened up to me since. When you start, you're not sure what you're doing wrong and what you're just doing because that's how you do it, if that makes sense!
Hi Anna,
Sorry to be so late popping in. As you know I've been absent for some time marauding (no, no, travelling) and am only now getting back into the swing of things.
Let me just say your post has given me hope. Like you my plot development is an 'organic process' (love the phrase) and I'm definitely with the doldrums now (NEVER, pirates, leave a ms part whay through while you absent yourself for 5 weeks!). Reading your comments reminded me that there is hope for this story and that earlier it seemed so full of potential. Must go back and reread and try harder to dive into that world again.
Thanks, Anna!
Annie
Cassondra, another Bandit. I think we might have enough to stage a mutiny. What do you think? Rum and naked hunks for everyone!!!
Cassondra, you've put your finger on one of the drawbacks of the misty approach. You throw away HEAPS! I think I end up writing about five books (at the very least) for every finished manuscript I hand in. I write long then I cut. Then I add, then I cut. Then I... You get the picture. I think that's why it takes me so long to write a book. I think the throwing out process is part of writing the book for me. Perhaps it is for you too. Maybe you need to surrender to your process and it will all go easier? I doubt you'll ever be a really fast writer - I'm NEVER going to be one. But recognizing my process has certainly saved me from second guessing what I'm doing all the time. Actually, that's a lie - I'm ALWAYS second guessing what I'm doing but at least I'm doing it less now that I know how I work.
You trust me with the ship, Terri? You're a reckless woman! I can see why you're the terror of the Spanish Main!!! Hope the lil pirate is OK! We'll keep your rum cold for your return!
Hi, Anna! I'm a plotter - although when I started writing I was more of a "Let's just see what happens next" girl *g* But my editor wants to see a synopsis so I now plot out my stories as much as I can.
I don't worry about knowing every little twist, turn or subplot but I do like having that road map -even though I know once I start writing there will be a few detours along the way to the end :-)
Haleigh! Excellent that TTD was getting some lurve on your writing retreat. Thanks for letting me know. Isn't it terrible when people say TOO much? I've recently discovered the Inspector Lynley books by Elizabeth George and someone told me a major character gets shot well into the series. Because I'm at the start of the series, I don't NEED to know this now. And of course, once you know, it's too late to take it back, isn't it?
Thanks for saying everything is tight in the stories. I've been thinking about it - and you know, I wonder if that cut and cut and cut again process means every word has to do its work or it goes. Maybe that's why that happens! Ha! Great thought. Thanks, Haleigh.
After all this writing, I've decided characters are in charge! ;-)
Anna, thanks for the RAWR trademark! :) I couldn't remember who had said it when I posted then had to go to town so hadn't had time to go look it up. I should have known you'd remember!
You have indeed been marauding, Miss West, up and down the Rhine, the Seine, the Thames and the Liffey. Wish I'd been marauding with you!
It's hard to get back into a story after a long break, isn't it? I think it's finding the excitement of that idea that first made you tell the story. It's there. But you have to dig after a long break. Or at least that's how I find it. Hey, glad my comments helped! ;-) I know we've got another Annie West sizzler on its way to us so I have perfect faith in you.
Hey, PJ, sometimes only a RAWR (TM Heidenkind) will do ;-)
Beth, whatever you're doing, it's working a treat! I loved Not Without Her Family and I'm looking forward to the sequel with much drool. Hmm, not an attractive picture... Actually I have a problem these days that my editor wants a basic synopsis before I finish the book too. I've learned to live with it but I certainly wouldn't say any of those synopses are masterpieces! The good stuff for me seems to come when I'm actually writing the story.
Anna said:
What do you think? Rum and naked hunks for everyone!!!
Well, I can't think of a whole lot wrong with that idea....except...they're going to HAVE to put on a wee bit of clothing or I'll never get any writing done for staring. Naked hunks are REALLY distracting, ya know? Scantilly clad hunks are distracting enough! (grin)
Cassondra, can I make you captain of our ship once we overthrow the present rulers? You're so sensible! Anyway, I like a challenge - getting half naked hunks naked might make a nice after-dinner game in the galley.
Anna said:
Cassondra, can I make you captain of our ship once we overthrow the present rulers? You’re so sensible!
NO WAY, ANNA! You keep coming up with ways to distract me..first the naked hunks, then the challenge of figuring out how to steer a ship! I'd have the pirate ship sunk before the last blog comment is posted. I'm quite content to come for a visit, ogle their hunky hotties, drink their most excellent rum, and toddle myself back to the lair. Though I might take a hunk or two with me if they wouldn't mind loaning some of them out for a bit.....
Actually it kinda nice to pop over for a visit on the wild side with the buccaneers and then toddle back to the lair, isn't it? I've noticed that buccaneers and banditas seem perfectly comfortable in either environment too! Although I'm not sure how happy the pirates would be should you manage to steal away a hunk or two from the brig!
I was merrily reading along Anna's blog and went beyond it to GASP at Terri's art post from yesterday. Goodness gracious! Phew!
Plot. Right. I've tried it every which way: organic, non-linear, inorganic AR, etc. I find a little pre-work makes it much better for me. It is far less anxiety-inducing and I find myself procrastinating less.
TEMPT is amazing! Loved it, loved it, loved it!
Hi Anna,
As always an interesting post.
As for me I'm a Filmmer (so like this word Eleni), I start with an idea and then just write. I did try plotting once and my characters took off that fast it was like watching Hop-a-long Cassidy (now that is showing my age, LOL) racing off into the sunset. Anyway, I had this great storyboard up scene for scene; they wouldn't talk to me until I pulled the darn thing down. Now I call my first draft my 'cultivating process', then I go back and edit, adding information and descriptions that I missed the first time round.
Thanks for a great post
Sandie
Sandie, that's very much how I work. It's messy but if it works, I can't really argue with it. I'm sure our way of working means a LOT more rewriting but perhaps that's how we get to the kernel of the story. I definitely do the deepening and layering and adding detail in the rewrites. So I write long, then cut several times. I think of it kind of like making a nice rich sauce. You know how you get all your ingredients and reduce, then taste and add a bit more seasoning, then reduce. You get the picture! Thanks for coming by! We've had a great Aussie turnup today! Thanks, girls!
Fo's ignoring me. Jus' sayin'...
Who? Huh? What? Did I hear a buzzing in my ears?
Hey, Keira, hon! Sorry! And how awful of me when you put that lovely line in about how much you liked TEMPT THE DEVIL! Clearly you should pay the naked man below to come and beat me. And good! In fact, if you don't want to pay him, I'll pay him! Anything to preserve on-board discipline!
Glad you're finding a process that works for you. One of the nice things about being pre-published is that you can experiment in the privacy of your own home. Now, why am I suddenly thinking about the picture on the previous blog again?
I'm back! Sorry, hadn't been grocery shopping in about three weeks. I have food again! Whoot!
Cassondra - Feel free to borrow any hunk you like. They know their way back. LOL! We'll pick him up the next time we drop anchor.
Sandee - That reminds me of this scene I tried to write where I wanted it to begin with my heroine being late for work. I spent two days at a retreat trying to write it and it just wouldn't work. Finally, I tried it with her being on time to work and it flowed beautifully. I really wish she had told me she didn't want to be late on that first day so I could have gotten more done. LOL!
Ya all think 'e is a nice hunk, ya oughta seen 'r 'alloween punkin! ;)
Distractin'? Inspirin'!
Terri, I think we have to make the mistakes to know when we're on the right track. Does that make any sense at all? Glad you're not going to stave any time soon. ;-)
Chance, I'm not sure my blood pressure could take anyone HOTTER!!!!
Anna - You should see my stash of hotties. They are sweet enough to send a picture with their applications to join the crew. I have such a difficult job. ;)
I was just happy Celi let me in on the fact she's never late. Told me something else about her I needed to know and I can possibly use the fact somewhere along the way.
Terri, stuff like that is gold. I've learnt if it comes up, I leave it in. I got a whole stack of little bits like that with Olivia and Erith and all of them came in mighty useful later in the story. It's like my subconscious already knew where we were going even though I consciously was floundering. Magic!
Hey, I want YOUR job!!!!
Hi Anna! I love this ship because it's 24/7 or closer to my own timetable than any other!
I am most certainly an organic writer. (What a cool way to say pantser, lol.) It fits more into my writing schedule - if you can call it that.
I've tried plotting but then get so lost in the details that the whole story seems to elude me.
I've also learned not to take feedback as gospel but to take what I need and leave the rest behind. Did you find that you had to do that as well, Anna?
Hey, Santa! We do keep some late hours around here at time. I'm headed off to la la land, but wanted to say THANK YOU to Anna for making this such a great day. We love having you on the ship and hope you'll come back again!
BTW - I'm happy to say I finally found the book. Picked it up at Walmart tonight. Now I get to read what everyone else is raving about. LOL!
Santa, that was one of the things I did have to learn and it's a great skill. I had to remember in the end that I was the captain of this particular ship ;-) I can remember a whole story that foundered because a well-meaning critique group just didn't get what I was doing. It doesn't mean I wouldn't have found problems in that story anyway but I needed to learn to listen to myself and not to others. What I've found since I've been a published author is that you can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but never all of the people all the time! It's quite a freeing experience to recognize that! I think learning that you'll hit a variety of responses to your stuff is one of the gifts of entering a lot of contests. And it's an invaluable lesson! Thanks for coming by. This ship sure does sail 24/7!
Hey, guys, it's been a fabulous day on the Good Ship Revenge! Thank you so much for having me as your guest - I think we've covered some really interesting topics in the discussion.
Don't forget to check back to see who won the copy of Tempt the Devil. In fact, it's been such a great day and I've had so much rum, the sky's the limit. Let's make it TWO copies of TEMPT THE DEVIL! I'm seeing double anyway, hic!
TWO copies? Whoohoo! Looks like we might get a snow day here tomorrow (first time since I moved here over 4 years ago!) so I'll use the randomizer and post the two winners tomorrow. Tune in to see if you won.
First in (nearly) and last out, thats me.
I have learnt a lot from this blog. Organic writers, cultivation processes, .....
I tried googling and got a pile of stuff about compost heaps! *g*
Somewhat confused I went to the Captain's cabin to clear my head with a real man's drink and found captain Jack guarding the last drop of scotch. He looked rather the worst for wear but wore a huge soppy grin (and little else!).
Fantastic Blog
Come again soon Anna! :D
Hey, Quantum (hic!), I have to confess the Bandits did a sneaky silent raid on the scotch. There were too many of us and we overpowered Captain Jack. In fact, it's strange - I haven't seen a couple of my confreres since! But clearly Captain Jack got free to tell you there was no scotch left! Oops, but he clearly didn't liberate his clothes so I fear the worst!
Laughed at all that stuff about compost heaps. Oh, well, I'm sure we can manage a metaphor out of that. Perhaps we should save it for another blog.
Thanks for your great questions. As you can probably tell, I thoroughly enjoyed answering them. Do you know that part of Scotland I was talking about? It really is quite mystical looking.
Hope to board your vessel again soon, Pirates! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Man! Yesterday was a day off and a government day at that, so everywhere I could have gone for internet was closed. But I'm going to read through all the comments and sift through the gold...
Organic writer...isn't that the term Anne Gracie also uses? *grins*
I stayed up uber-late to finish Tempt the Devil. It was worth every bit of missed sleep I'm suffering from this morning. Pretty Woman meets Mr. Darcy...well, sorta. Great stuff!!!
I think organic is the term Anne G uses, Hellion. I'm not sure who came up with it first. Maybe it was one of those in the air things. ;-) I've seen it around with other writers too - I'm certainly not taking credit for it although when I first used it, it did emerge 'organically'!
Hey, excellent news about enjoying TEMPT THE DEVIL. I love to hear of people missing sleep, bwahahahahahahaha!
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