Thursday, January 10, 2008
My Love Affair with Plotting Methods
In the writing realm, you generally run into three groups of writers: plotters, pantsers, and plantsers. If you’re a plotting newbie, let me give you my take on plotting methods.
Plotters meticulously map out the details and nuances of their novels in order to make sure their characters stay on the straight and narrow thereby alleviating the possibility that their story will derail and of their characters run amok. Pantsers laugh in the face of planning as they sit at their computers and allow their story to spring from their fingers, thrilling in the unknown. And, plantsers are somewhere in the middle. This hybrid group recognizes they need some sort of planning as to avoid wandering willy-nilly about their novel with no real goal in mind.
My first attempts at writing were straight up pantsing. I sat gleefully churning out page after page of creativity, allowing myself the liberty to run wild and free through the story, like Julie Andrews running across the mountaintops in Sound of Music. Ah, the elation! Ah, the wild, blissful abandon! Until I bothered to read what I wrote and realized I had no clue where I was going, how I got where I was, or if I even cared what happened next. Inevitably, I would stare at my computer screen like a child in Walmart who’d lost her mother.
After a few attempts at writing in this fashion, I decided I was sick of my gypsy-like writing tactics and swung completely full-circle. Before I started my next book, I vowed, I would plot the entire thing out, leaving nothing to chance. I would know where I was going, by god, before I started. So, I sat at my computer. I made spreadsheets and outlines. I did character analyses and I did a storyboard. I plotted and plotted until I strangled the very breath out of it. By the time I sat down to write that book, I hated everything about it. The characters felt stiff, the plot felt stiff, and I felt stiff from all that time slaving over it.
My most recent efforts fall in the plantsing category. I began with a tentative outline and some scenes sketched out, but now that I’m in the fearsome middle, I’m afraid my characters aren’t motivated enough and that I haven’t set up enough conflicts along their way. So, again I’m questioning my recent strategy, wondering if there is some other plotting technique that would help me.
I have read a couple of books I’ve found helpful with moving along plot. One is You Can Write a Romance Novel by Rita Clay Estrada. (Yes, that Rita. The Rita that THE Rita for RWA is named after). This book mentions setting up each scene with a goal so that it’s driven by an action and has a reaction to that action. Many writing sites online speak of the multiple plot twist/black moment theory I mentioned on another post. Basically, you set up your book into a few “acts” with each culminating in a mini-black moment before the final BIG black moment.
So, help a fellow wench out. What plotting techniques (if any) do you use/find most effective? Help Help Help, I'm in the dreaded middle! Also, are you a plotter, pantser, or plantser? And what aspects of each method do you like/hate?
Plotters meticulously map out the details and nuances of their novels in order to make sure their characters stay on the straight and narrow thereby alleviating the possibility that their story will derail and of their characters run amok. Pantsers laugh in the face of planning as they sit at their computers and allow their story to spring from their fingers, thrilling in the unknown. And, plantsers are somewhere in the middle. This hybrid group recognizes they need some sort of planning as to avoid wandering willy-nilly about their novel with no real goal in mind.
My first attempts at writing were straight up pantsing. I sat gleefully churning out page after page of creativity, allowing myself the liberty to run wild and free through the story, like Julie Andrews running across the mountaintops in Sound of Music. Ah, the elation! Ah, the wild, blissful abandon! Until I bothered to read what I wrote and realized I had no clue where I was going, how I got where I was, or if I even cared what happened next. Inevitably, I would stare at my computer screen like a child in Walmart who’d lost her mother.
After a few attempts at writing in this fashion, I decided I was sick of my gypsy-like writing tactics and swung completely full-circle. Before I started my next book, I vowed, I would plot the entire thing out, leaving nothing to chance. I would know where I was going, by god, before I started. So, I sat at my computer. I made spreadsheets and outlines. I did character analyses and I did a storyboard. I plotted and plotted until I strangled the very breath out of it. By the time I sat down to write that book, I hated everything about it. The characters felt stiff, the plot felt stiff, and I felt stiff from all that time slaving over it.
My most recent efforts fall in the plantsing category. I began with a tentative outline and some scenes sketched out, but now that I’m in the fearsome middle, I’m afraid my characters aren’t motivated enough and that I haven’t set up enough conflicts along their way. So, again I’m questioning my recent strategy, wondering if there is some other plotting technique that would help me.
I have read a couple of books I’ve found helpful with moving along plot. One is You Can Write a Romance Novel by Rita Clay Estrada. (Yes, that Rita. The Rita that THE Rita for RWA is named after). This book mentions setting up each scene with a goal so that it’s driven by an action and has a reaction to that action. Many writing sites online speak of the multiple plot twist/black moment theory I mentioned on another post. Basically, you set up your book into a few “acts” with each culminating in a mini-black moment before the final BIG black moment.
So, help a fellow wench out. What plotting techniques (if any) do you use/find most effective? Help Help Help, I'm in the dreaded middle! Also, are you a plotter, pantser, or plantser? And what aspects of each method do you like/hate?
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Ready or Not Here I Go…
I am about to embark on one of the scariest journeys of my life. For the first time I’m going to write an original story of my own. I’m not breaking into the writing world like most traditional writers. My writing experience started in the world of Janet Evanovich fan fiction. *gasp* Yes I am aware of the stigma that surrounds the idea of a writer taking another author‘s characters and creating their own stories. I could argue that Janet Evanovich gives her permission for writers to create fan fiction using her characters. At one point in time, she even had a fan fiction section on her website. That doesn’t stop some critics from believing that fan fiction is a rip off of a published author’s work. But we’ll leave that subject for another day.
Fan fiction has had a tremendous impact on my life from a personal as well as a writer’s perspective. If I had not discovered fan fiction a little over three years ago, I wouldn’t be a writer. I also would not have found some of the best friends I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. (Sin)
When I discovered fan fiction, I consumed story after story trying to feed the obsession I felt for Janet Evanovich’s characters. As you all know I fell in love with her bad boy character named Ranger. For those of you not familiar with Ranger he has enough sex appeal to charm a nun out of her habit. He emanates from the page, and never strays far from your mind once the book is closed. Ranger is the main reason I am a writer. He fueled a desire in me to write a story where he gets the girl in the end, something that I seriously doubt will happen when Evanovich writes the last book in the series. Over 200,000 words later, I’ve given Ranger the girl several times over. I’ve also sexed him up with the girl, had him walk away from the girl, had him shot, had the girl walk away from him and had him die with the girl in a plane crash. In the process I learned how to write, and I gained the confidence to write something to call my own.
Those are the positive points of using fan fiction to break into the writing world, but now I’m struggling on a daily basis from the negatives. Fan fiction has always provided me with some of the most difficult things a writer has to create. I have to create my own canvas now. It’s all about me creating a story from the ground up. I admit in the last several weeks I have been cursing fan fiction, because no longer do I have Ranger as my crutch. I know Ranger inside and out. I know where he lives. I know of his habits, his occupation, and his flaws. I have been told no one gets inside Ranger’s head the way I do. Well good for me right? Now I have to create my own hero and hope I don’t fall flat on my face in the process. For me attempting to write an original story is like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. I’m experiencing the fear of the unknown.
Fortunately, my desire to create my own story out weighs my fear. At least now when I sit down at the computer and attempt to write about my characters I don’t feel faint, or like running from the room, screaming like a little girl.
This brings us to the present, where I’m preparing to embark on my journey. I’ll describe the scene in detail.
The news helicopters are circling above me. The co- pilot is shouting the details of the scene before him in his headset for the story at 11. He reports that another fan fiction writer has decided to take “The Plunge”
So I’m standing on a ledge fifty stories above the city looking down. I can barely see the outline of the net, beyond the black moment, where I will find my HEA. If I close my eyes, I can visualize my computer key board, while character descriptions, plot devices, and the dreaded beginning are dancing through my mind. Ranger is sitting next to me on the ledge whispering “Proud of you Babe.” I look at him; wipe a tear from my eye and whisper, “Thanks for everything.” Then I smile and step into thin air.
Was it intimadating for you to start a WIP? What are your biggest fears now as a writer? How do you over come those fears?
Monday, January 7, 2008
A New Start
As you've undoubtedly read on every blog between here and the moon, it's the beginning of January (in case you were calendar-less) and it's time to start anew. Polish off old resolutions or implement new anti-resolutions--whatever. Resolve to do something. Start it. Take action.
Incidentally, I decided to get cracking more seriously about my new WIP, the "paranormal lite" contemporary where Adam & Eve, upon failing marriage counseling, find new spouses. With the Boatswain, I hammered out a relatively credible "plot" (I have to put it in quotations because it scares me so much. Much like "bogeyman") and she asked questions and by God, I was actually able to answer the questions. I had conflict. I had motivation. I had characters and goals. I had secondary characters who were funny. This has the makings of a funny book. I was excited on Friday with my strides I had made. After all, I had "finished" GOGU back in June--and it's been so long since I've written anything really good. Now I had a list. I had an outline, some structure, some direction. I had a plan, Stan.
Then Saturday, the Quartermaster and I met, had a very productive writing meeting with only about half the tangents of usual and only one bowl of cheese, and I skipped home with a new book about Las Vegas and a new lease on life...er, my WIP.
Then I had to open Word and actually start writing. Now the problem is I'd already written about 4 or 5 chapters. I had liked them at the time, but now I can see this is not the beginning I need. I need something else. So technically what I should probably do is scrap it and just start again. 20,000 words--plip, gone.
Strangely, I've forgotten how much I hate writing beginnings. It's been so long since I've written one. I love new ideas and playing with new ideas, but actually sitting down and committing them to paper and trying to make them sound as brilliant as they do in my head: I hate it.
So I got to thinking about it. I also hate writing the middle of the book. Getting from point A to point Z is a problem and I have to think of some very clever points of B-Y in order to keep my readers reading. It's exhausting. I'm just not that engaging. Besides, this is why I wrote my plot--so I wouldn't have to spend so much time figuring out these points. They'd write themselves. I just don't know when they're going to write themselves.
And then, I realized I also hate writing the ending. Winding up all my strings, tying them into a neat bow, leaving my readers satisfied--I mean I've only managed to write THE END for two WIPs and one had to be scrapped entirely; and the other, well, I'm still editing that mess. Apparently I'm shit with endings too. But I remembered how I hate writing the ending to stuff, because it's not been all that long since I wrote the ending to the WIP, but being I had written the beginning two years ago, I'd forgotten how painful it was.
Now I'm back at the beginning and I'm realizing just because I've finished two WIPs, it doesn't mean it's any easier to write the beginning or the middle or the end. I mean, does it truly get any easier to give birth to a squalling infant just because you've done it a couple times now? I would imagine not. It might not *take* as long to accomplish the same ends, but you can't tell me it didn't hurt any less.
So if you find you're in the beginning stages of labor and that it's painful, I have to tell you it doesn't get any easier. You might get a knack for it, sort of like the woman who has 12 kids, but it's still going to be painful and you're still going to have to clean it up and polish it when it arrives. You might even get accomplished *grins* at creating the little buggers, but it's still going to take nine months and it's still going to be some painful labor involved in the end. But on the upside, like childbirth, there's nothing to do (once you're committed) but to press on and deliver. It'll be worthwhile in the end...in 18 years or so.
Okay, so all you people who've given birth, am I right or wrong? Does it get easier--or do you not dread it so much simply because you know what's coming and you've dealt with it before? Do you like writing--or do you like having written? Do you like writing beginnings or middles or ends?
Incidentally, I decided to get cracking more seriously about my new WIP, the "paranormal lite" contemporary where Adam & Eve, upon failing marriage counseling, find new spouses. With the Boatswain, I hammered out a relatively credible "plot" (I have to put it in quotations because it scares me so much. Much like "bogeyman") and she asked questions and by God, I was actually able to answer the questions. I had conflict. I had motivation. I had characters and goals. I had secondary characters who were funny. This has the makings of a funny book. I was excited on Friday with my strides I had made. After all, I had "finished" GOGU back in June--and it's been so long since I've written anything really good. Now I had a list. I had an outline, some structure, some direction. I had a plan, Stan.
Then Saturday, the Quartermaster and I met, had a very productive writing meeting with only about half the tangents of usual and only one bowl of cheese, and I skipped home with a new book about Las Vegas and a new lease on life...er, my WIP.
Then I had to open Word and actually start writing. Now the problem is I'd already written about 4 or 5 chapters. I had liked them at the time, but now I can see this is not the beginning I need. I need something else. So technically what I should probably do is scrap it and just start again. 20,000 words--plip, gone.
Strangely, I've forgotten how much I hate writing beginnings. It's been so long since I've written one. I love new ideas and playing with new ideas, but actually sitting down and committing them to paper and trying to make them sound as brilliant as they do in my head: I hate it.
So I got to thinking about it. I also hate writing the middle of the book. Getting from point A to point Z is a problem and I have to think of some very clever points of B-Y in order to keep my readers reading. It's exhausting. I'm just not that engaging. Besides, this is why I wrote my plot--so I wouldn't have to spend so much time figuring out these points. They'd write themselves. I just don't know when they're going to write themselves.
And then, I realized I also hate writing the ending. Winding up all my strings, tying them into a neat bow, leaving my readers satisfied--I mean I've only managed to write THE END for two WIPs and one had to be scrapped entirely; and the other, well, I'm still editing that mess. Apparently I'm shit with endings too. But I remembered how I hate writing the ending to stuff, because it's not been all that long since I wrote the ending to the WIP, but being I had written the beginning two years ago, I'd forgotten how painful it was.
Now I'm back at the beginning and I'm realizing just because I've finished two WIPs, it doesn't mean it's any easier to write the beginning or the middle or the end. I mean, does it truly get any easier to give birth to a squalling infant just because you've done it a couple times now? I would imagine not. It might not *take* as long to accomplish the same ends, but you can't tell me it didn't hurt any less.
So if you find you're in the beginning stages of labor and that it's painful, I have to tell you it doesn't get any easier. You might get a knack for it, sort of like the woman who has 12 kids, but it's still going to be painful and you're still going to have to clean it up and polish it when it arrives. You might even get accomplished *grins* at creating the little buggers, but it's still going to take nine months and it's still going to be some painful labor involved in the end. But on the upside, like childbirth, there's nothing to do (once you're committed) but to press on and deliver. It'll be worthwhile in the end...in 18 years or so.
Okay, so all you people who've given birth, am I right or wrong? Does it get easier--or do you not dread it so much simply because you know what's coming and you've dealt with it before? Do you like writing--or do you like having written? Do you like writing beginnings or middles or ends?
Here We Go Again
I sort of had a very busy year in 2007. You might have read me whining about it somewhere. I don't mean to whine, it just happens. And I know that I'm my own worst enemy but I'm starting this year fresh with a positive attitude and lofty goals. Both in writing and for life in general.But one week in and I'm already worried. This weekend, I was elected conference chair for my local RWA chapter. That means I am the top-dog, chick-in-charge of putting together our writing conference in November. The good news is, I have a co-chair and we are teaming with another chapter about 90 minutes away so I'm not completely alone in this. Delegate, delegate, delegate is my new motto. *g*
But I'm a planner and my instinct is to look ahead and see how things can fall into place. In my juggling act, I have these little balls I have to keep in the air and they all have something written on them. Work (so we can have a home and eat), college (so we can have a better home and eat better), single-momhood (because my life would be meaningless without her), writing (because these voices would drive me crazy if I tried to shut them up), planning my company's year end holiday party (because I have to) and now planning a large annual writers conference (because I'm an idiot and glutton for punishment). Let's not forget my blogging duties upon this ship. But that's a true labor of love so we'll let it slide.
Here's the thing – I'm looking forward to all of this. Ok, not so much the school stuff but it's a means to an end and I'm not about to quit now. But everything else, I'm ready to dive right in. I know, I'm crazy.
What I've learned about myself is if I'm not doing at least two or three things at one time, I'm not happy. Other than writing, sleeping and driving, there are very few times I do only one thing exclusively. Even when I'm driving, I'm usually making calls or listening to an audio book. I seem to plot while I'm trying to sleep so even then I'm multi-tasking. Writing is my only escape and without the pressure of everything else, I might not find the enjoyment in it that I do.
I used to think all this multi-tasking might be doing more harm than good but now I've changed my mind. I'm a born procrastinator and having to get so much done is the only way I would get anything done. And I still manage to slack. Seriously, you should see my house. On second thought, no you shouldn't.
I was talking on the phone this weekend with a writer friend and the subject of Nora Roberts came up. My friend said, "Wouldn't it be great to get up everyday and have nothing to do but write?" Let me note here I KNOW Nora does much more than write but hang with me. At first I thought, sure. But the more I think about it, the more I think I would hate it. And I don't mean I'd hate just writing, I'd hate doing anything if it was all I did. I guess I need the chaos to feel in control. Does that make sense?
How about you? Do you thrive on chaos or do you need calm? Do you have my problem of taking on more than you probably should or are you to the point where saying no comes as naturally as breathing? And if you've mastered the word "no", can you let me know how you did it?
Aside: In my defense, they tried to elect me conference chair and publicity coordinator and I told them I could not do both. That's progress right there. LOL!
Friday, January 4, 2008
Mental Blocking
Say it’s Fourth and Goal. (If you don’t know football, you think I’m talking gibberish, but I’m really not. It’s the equivalent of the last page of a novel. All this football on TV is getting to me.) Your offensive line is standing in front of you, you quarterbacking. The ball is set; you’re looking at the formation of the defense. You know they are going to rush you, and you need to do the sneak to make it that last little inch that will help you reach your goal, but the defense is there to stop you. You hike the ball, it’s in your hands, and you freeze.You freeze. Time stops around you. You’re looking at everyone, frozen in position, waiting to be moved, waiting for their turn to be perfected. And you’re blank. The plan you had is gone, the slate is wiped clean.
So what do you do next? You still have to move forward. You still have to make it that last inch to complete the down; because if you don’t, you just wasted all that time, all that hard work and effort. But you can’t think of your next move. You can’t think past the next second. So you take a step back, reading the lines of defense- you’ve only got one chance to make this right.
Suddenly the defense comes to life, rearing up, looking you in the eye, daring you to come forward. Your offense is covered. The beating of your heart, now pounding with all the thunder of elephants stampeding. Your mind is racing. A plan. You need a plan. It comes to you.
You need a Hail Mary.
The finish line is right in front of you. The defense will try to block you. There will be some part of you that feels like you can’t go any further but you have to just do it. Go for it. Take that chance.
So what does this all translate out to? Well if you know football, then you might understand, and if not. You’re the Quarterback- the writer. The defense is everything that you find wrong in what you’re working on, may it be pacing, characterization, goals, motivations, grammar, spelling.. etc. The offense is the meat of your novel. The plot. The characters. The goal line.. come on! You know that one. The football is your pen, keyboard, whatever you use to write. Each new set of downs is a chapter written. But when you get to Fourth and Goal it’s time to do your thing or get off the pot. It’s time to buck up and get the job done.
Mental blocking is a lot like defense. Mentally we get to a certain point and we don’t have the capacity to go any further. It can just be for the night or it can be the novel. You hope its just you, but sometimes no matter what you do, that mental block just grabs a hold and you can’t shake it.
I have to be honest, since working on my contest entry, I didn’t really think much past it. Our Powder Monkey, Lis, graciously agreed to trade spots with me this week, after a frantic email the night before I would need to post. Only because I’ve been writing like a fiend for the past few days to make this deadline for the Amber Quill- Amber Heat contest. I’m one of those writers that waits until the last minute. I’m a pantser and a procrastinator (equals = total slacker), a deadline to me just means I know how much time I have to slack off. I need a deadline to tell me to get my ass in gear and I knew this deadline was going to be hard to meet because of the holidays, but it came up so soon *laughing* Sometimes I can’t even believe myself.
I had this plan (sort of) of what I was going to write in this erotica, and as always, it took on life of its own and now it’s nothing like what I wanted. So I took a deep breath, pulled the fic back out and looked it over (kinda) and thought about where I need to go back in order to straighten it out. Plan to rewrite about 5k. Very do-able for me. Probably 3 hours, maybe. But I’ve got 11 days! 11 days to get this done! I’ve got plenty of time…
I’ve got a problem though. I’m standing on the one yard line, my goal line in plain sight- I haven’t frozen yet. My fingers are still moving, but I’m so close. The mental block is creeping closer, trying to get me to succumb. Trying to get me to write something else. Tempting me away by episodes of Blood Ties and e-mails and good books and movies.
But I’m the Quarterback, standing on the offensive line, pen in hand, last page ready to be written and I will not be deterred. If you believe, you have to keep the faith. The inspiration will come, and if not, I’ll pull back and let the Hail Mary fly.
Mental blocking, you have no hold on me. Defense, fall back and stop stressing me. My offense is game. My Hail Mary is good. This Quarterback is about to do the end-zone dance (though it might require lots of rum and a good, sturdy looking… mast. Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. For dancing. Just a living, breathing mast. To do the horizontal kind of dancing. *grin*)
Ever got to that point in something you're working on (whether it be writing or not) that you just can’t go any further? So what’s your Hail Mary plan? How do you get back on track?
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Walking on the Moon, Winning the Nobel Prize, and Other Unrealistic Goals
Well, dear wenches, it’s the new year. This is the time of year when people make resolutions; some they keep, some they wish they could keep, and some they abandon like we pirate wenches abandon ship at a port of call for a rum-soaked evening.
A quick Google search tells me that the Babylonians were the first to make resolutions. One site even claims the Babylonians resolutions usually involved returning farm equipment. Whether it’s eating better, working out, or saving money, most people you talk to are in the mood for fresh starts. It’s a new year, a clean slate, and it’s the perfect time to start again. So, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. (Yep, I don’t have original thoughts. Bear with me.)
However, I have no interest in making resolutions that I will disregard in two weeks. It leaves me feeling like a failure and I have enough failure in my life, thank you. I think the whole idea behind this resolution gig is that we’re supposed to KEEP the resolutions, so that we feel better about ourselves.
Having no unreturned farm equipment handy, my resolution-making mind turned to my writing. While I was thinking about good resolutions for my writing, I decided that making a resolution like, “I will get a publishing contract this year” wouldn’t get me anywhere. It just is not a realistic goal. Such a resolution would require me to have some control over the publishing entities and, sadly, I have none. Therefore, I am going to attempt to make goals that I can control and attempt to reach said goals tenaciously.
The first goal is that I’m resolving to write at least five days a week. Because I am the boss of me, I gave myself the weekends off. (Unless my slacker self doesn’t write during the week and then said slacker will be forced to work on the weekend.) While I will not bore you with the minutiae of my writerly goals for the year, most of them just involve getting words on paper. So, I made a promise I would do that.
The second resolution is to start meaningful critique relationships. I think it’s time in my writing career to let others into my writing circle which, until now, has consisted of, well, me. (Can one person make a circle?) I’ve spent the past year learning a lot about the craft. Had you asked me what GMC was a year ago, I would have responded that it was a brand of car. But, now that I’ve come so far in my knowledge, it’s time to jump out of my comfort zone and start laying it on the line. That means letting people tell me if it’s crap (which, I’m certain, at least part of it is).
My last resolution has to do with continuing my networking and growth as a professional. While I did join RWA this past year, I’m going to join a local chapter as well. Getting serious means hanging out with other serious people.
What writer goals have you set for yourself this year? And, if you aren’t willing to share, or you just want to gloat, how far have you come in the past year?
A quick Google search tells me that the Babylonians were the first to make resolutions. One site even claims the Babylonians resolutions usually involved returning farm equipment. Whether it’s eating better, working out, or saving money, most people you talk to are in the mood for fresh starts. It’s a new year, a clean slate, and it’s the perfect time to start again. So, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. (Yep, I don’t have original thoughts. Bear with me.)
However, I have no interest in making resolutions that I will disregard in two weeks. It leaves me feeling like a failure and I have enough failure in my life, thank you. I think the whole idea behind this resolution gig is that we’re supposed to KEEP the resolutions, so that we feel better about ourselves.
Having no unreturned farm equipment handy, my resolution-making mind turned to my writing. While I was thinking about good resolutions for my writing, I decided that making a resolution like, “I will get a publishing contract this year” wouldn’t get me anywhere. It just is not a realistic goal. Such a resolution would require me to have some control over the publishing entities and, sadly, I have none. Therefore, I am going to attempt to make goals that I can control and attempt to reach said goals tenaciously.
The first goal is that I’m resolving to write at least five days a week. Because I am the boss of me, I gave myself the weekends off. (Unless my slacker self doesn’t write during the week and then said slacker will be forced to work on the weekend.) While I will not bore you with the minutiae of my writerly goals for the year, most of them just involve getting words on paper. So, I made a promise I would do that.
The second resolution is to start meaningful critique relationships. I think it’s time in my writing career to let others into my writing circle which, until now, has consisted of, well, me. (Can one person make a circle?) I’ve spent the past year learning a lot about the craft. Had you asked me what GMC was a year ago, I would have responded that it was a brand of car. But, now that I’ve come so far in my knowledge, it’s time to jump out of my comfort zone and start laying it on the line. That means letting people tell me if it’s crap (which, I’m certain, at least part of it is).
My last resolution has to do with continuing my networking and growth as a professional. While I did join RWA this past year, I’m going to join a local chapter as well. Getting serious means hanging out with other serious people.
What writer goals have you set for yourself this year? And, if you aren’t willing to share, or you just want to gloat, how far have you come in the past year?
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
It's Your Life so Use It
My life as a pirate is more beneficial to me than any life I could ever lead. Pirates are of a different mind set. We take instances from our lives that may mean nothing to someone else and make them into so much more. How does a pirate manage to take a scene on a deserted island and make it into something far more worthy than the moment? When she picks up her pen, starts with the island scene, and weaves with words a far bigger tale.
Our everyday lives feed us with fodder for our work. We can look at confrontations with co-workers as just another stressor in our day, but it doesn’t have to be. Make it into that angst-filled scene that you’ve been struggling with night after night. A drink after work with a friend, a teary moment over a commercial on TV, and a lighthearted flirty conversation with a member of the opposite sex can all provide our minds with stimulation that can foster another chapter in our WIP.
When you least expect it life hands you the perfect dialog, or an angst filled situation that you’ve struggled to put on paper. Stories waiting to be told can be found at the end of our fingertips everyday. Americans read a billion tons of paper every year, from newspapers to newsletters, to magazines. We watch movies and TV shows and browse the internet. All of the tasks we complete while not writing, can stimulate ideas for our writing.
Some of the best dialog I’ve ever written were words spoken to me in a conversation when writing was the last thing on my mind. I’ve used emotional scenes in my life to write some of the most emotionally devastating scenes I’ve ever written. Our life is filled with defeats, and joys that don’t have to be lived only once. Defeats, obstacles, and shortcomings don’t have to be blocked memories never to be thought of again. Let your characters overcome them for you, and write the ending that you’ve always wanted.
Does your life foster your writing life?
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