So, it's been a while, but I'm back to a place where I want to blog. Chalk it up to wanting accountability and/or a place to play with pictures. Or, something like that.
Mostly, I've been simmering this idea about novel planning and I want to put it somewhere. Okay, my friends, think on this: PPT can do everything, including helping you plot.
Over the summer, I was listening to someone talk about planning a grant proposal. She said she was such a verbal thinker, and she was so used to using PowerPoint to help her plan talks/lessons, that she made the leap to using PPT to help her outline proposals. Bam! It clicked in place in my head, because any time I'm preparing to do a presentation these days, PPT is where I start. Sometimes, my friends, I think in PPT.
Why not apply the same process to a novel? Right now, I'm puttering around with a novel idea about a golem maker and I have some notes on key plot points. The hard part about notes is that they're hard to move around. When you decide that complication Y should come before plot twist X instead of after, etc. your page of notes becomes a page of notes and doodles. One of the solutions to this is using index cards, but they're still so... permanent. If you want to take plot point Z and chunk it into two parts, you still have to do a lot of re-noting.
PPT is like magic. So easy to manipulate. Plus, who doesn't like playing around with graphics? Add hearts to the scene when the love interests confess their feelings for each other. A dagger is a nice accent to the scene where the body is discovered. For those of us who're visual thinkers, the ease of adding graphics is a definite bonus.
I officially make it my mission to collect my novel notes and translate them all into PPT. I'm also tentatively planning to do NaNo this year, so the two things are natural partners.
Do you have any brilliant novel planning tools? What works well for you?
Showing posts with label Process. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Process. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Apropos
A couple of weeks ago I found myself in an Office Depot during a sale. I walked out of there with two 20-packs of pens plus two loners. Around the same time I bought a new spiral-bound notebook. It made me feel nostalgic. I used to do all my writings with lots of different colored pens in spiral-bound notebooks.
I spent last weekend in Denver, goofing around and eating at restaurants that aren't connected to gas stations. Last weekend, the mousepad on my laptop crapped out on me.
Sometimes, the universe tries to tell you something. Usually, you're wise to pay attention. I think it's time to do some words long hand.
I spent last weekend in Denver, goofing around and eating at restaurants that aren't connected to gas stations. Last weekend, the mousepad on my laptop crapped out on me.
Sometimes, the universe tries to tell you something. Usually, you're wise to pay attention. I think it's time to do some words long hand.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Writing Advice
Jenny wants to know what the best piece of writing advice I've ever received is. How do you like that for a question?
I've got loads of good advice. Things like:
Show, don't tell
Don't rush
Blind re-writes
Just write it
Look at other writers as models
All good, good stuff.
However, if I had to peg the one thing that's most important, I'd say it's, "Write for yourself first." I use it in the context of thinking that anything I write had better be good enough that I'd want to read it, and I'm a picky reader.
This advice also helps tie some other bits of advice together - especially things like using other writers as models. If I love the way someone else does an action scene, I have to ask myself what makes me like it and figure out how I can do something like it. Then, I'm in a better spot to hold myself to my high reading standards when it comes to my own work.
Who do you write for first?
I've got loads of good advice. Things like:
Show, don't tell
Don't rush
Blind re-writes
Just write it
Look at other writers as models
All good, good stuff.
However, if I had to peg the one thing that's most important, I'd say it's, "Write for yourself first." I use it in the context of thinking that anything I write had better be good enough that I'd want to read it, and I'm a picky reader.
This advice also helps tie some other bits of advice together - especially things like using other writers as models. If I love the way someone else does an action scene, I have to ask myself what makes me like it and figure out how I can do something like it. Then, I'm in a better spot to hold myself to my high reading standards when it comes to my own work.
Who do you write for first?
Thursday, August 19, 2010
August Photo Contest
I'm off to photo club soon. Every meeting features a contest, the themes for the year are announced each January with one theme per month. This month's theme was sunset/sunrise, and it was tough. I had a hard time getting photos because there are so many elements that go along with the perfect sunset photo, like timing (obviously), clouds to reflect the sunset color off of, and things like having a focal element aside from just the sunset because have you ever seen a photo of a straight sunset? It's kind of boring, actually. You need good landscape, or a good subject, etc. to really make the photo work. In the end, I'm not all that satisfied with the photo I'll be submitting, but I'm still submitting it because it was the best photo I got for the theme and a huge reason for participating in the contests is the participation itself.
Things I like about this photo: the sunset was a beautiful one, with pretty clouds and bright reds.
Things I don't like about this photo: the angle (I think it would have worked better if I'd been able to get a lower angle) and the sharpness isn't all it could have been.
Things I like about this photo: the sunset was a beautiful one, with pretty clouds and bright reds.
Things I don't like about this photo: the angle (I think it would have worked better if I'd been able to get a lower angle) and the sharpness isn't all it could have been.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
100 Colorful Pages
After all of this drafting during the past two months, I think it's time to shift gears and focus on revising.
Jenny does this thing where she prints out drafts on colored paper. First draft is one color. Second draft another, and so on. The idea is that each draft is then color-coded and she can easily track how the work has evolved.
Well, I don't know about all that mumbo jumbo, but I do know that office supplies are fun and they make paper in so many pretty, pretty colors these days. Yesterday, I picked up a pack of bright yellow paper. In this pack there are 100 sheets and in August, I am going to use them all.
My goal for August is pretty straight forward. I'm going to look at some things I've already written and I'm going to print them out on my new colorful paper. Then I'm going to read through the pages and write all over them. Simple, isn't it?
I've got 100 pages to print and write up. Now I just have to look at what I've got in my files and decide what to print. Here goes step one of a great revision adventure. Stay tuned.
Jenny does this thing where she prints out drafts on colored paper. First draft is one color. Second draft another, and so on. The idea is that each draft is then color-coded and she can easily track how the work has evolved.
Well, I don't know about all that mumbo jumbo, but I do know that office supplies are fun and they make paper in so many pretty, pretty colors these days. Yesterday, I picked up a pack of bright yellow paper. In this pack there are 100 sheets and in August, I am going to use them all.
My goal for August is pretty straight forward. I'm going to look at some things I've already written and I'm going to print them out on my new colorful paper. Then I'm going to read through the pages and write all over them. Simple, isn't it?
I've got 100 pages to print and write up. Now I just have to look at what I've got in my files and decide what to print. Here goes step one of a great revision adventure. Stay tuned.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Emotional Writing
Some time ago, I was on a professionally published writer's website. I'll skip her name, but tell you that she's got multiple novels on the bookstore shelves. On her website, I read an update where she was describing how she gets emotionally invested in what she writes. A specific example she described was in the book she was writing, she had just written a scene in which her main character did something "unforgivable." According to the author, writing that scene where her character committed this act was so emotional for her that after she finished, she went into the other room and sobbed. She was... dramatic about it.
My reaction was, "Huh? Are you serious?" Getting that emotional about a made up person committing a made up act that you made them do? Sounded a little unbalanced to me.
Do I think good writing requires emotion? Sure. Do I think good writing makes the reader feel like they're involved in what's going on in the book? Absolutely. Do I think that, in order for the reader to feel the emotion, the writer should feel the emotion first? Sure. But, do I think you should have a nervous breakdown because of a fictional event? Um... there's a difference between reality and pretend.
I was thinking about this last night. Last night I got to a scene where I killed off a main character. It wasn't the easiest scene to write because I was trying to make it as hard as I could on the other characters. I was trying to make it hard on the reader. I mean, that's kind of the point behind killing a main character. But, I have to confess, I did not, in fact, have to go in the other room and sob about it.
My reaction was, "Huh? Are you serious?" Getting that emotional about a made up person committing a made up act that you made them do? Sounded a little unbalanced to me.
Do I think good writing requires emotion? Sure. Do I think good writing makes the reader feel like they're involved in what's going on in the book? Absolutely. Do I think that, in order for the reader to feel the emotion, the writer should feel the emotion first? Sure. But, do I think you should have a nervous breakdown because of a fictional event? Um... there's a difference between reality and pretend.
I was thinking about this last night. Last night I got to a scene where I killed off a main character. It wasn't the easiest scene to write because I was trying to make it as hard as I could on the other characters. I was trying to make it hard on the reader. I mean, that's kind of the point behind killing a main character. But, I have to confess, I did not, in fact, have to go in the other room and sob about it.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Sit Down and Shut Up!
Deb sometimes talks about this guy. He's the worst kind of guy. You know the type. He never has a good thing to say He's always finding the negative. He never builds anything up, but instead is constantly tearing you down.
And you want to know the very, very worst part about this guy? He's not really a guy. He's the voice in your head. He's the Inner Heckler. When you're writing a scene, the Inner Heckler whispers in your ear, saying things like, "That dialogue is awful," or "I can't believe you thought this plot development was a good idea. It's soooo lame," and, "Really? That's the best you can do?"
Most of the time, my Inner Heckler doesn't act up too much while I'm doing a rough draft. Usually, he bides his time, waiting until the rough draft is finished and he can be dismissive about my chances of ever getting it polished up to be good enough. See, my Heckler and I have a system.
For some reason, with this contest, he's breaking the deal. The past week or so, my Inner Heckler has gotten brave and he keeps hollering at me, which has put a big kink in my plan to write the most words. Dang Heckler, I bet Jenny's paying him off. I wouldn't put it past her to try bribing him to act up.
But, the good news is I've put in a call to Security and they're hauling him off, even as we speak. He's been disruptive and now I'm putting him in his place. It's a place with a sturdy lock and that funny-looking stuff they put on the walls of music studios to soundproof them.
Take that, Mr. Heckler.
And you want to know the very, very worst part about this guy? He's not really a guy. He's the voice in your head. He's the Inner Heckler. When you're writing a scene, the Inner Heckler whispers in your ear, saying things like, "That dialogue is awful," or "I can't believe you thought this plot development was a good idea. It's soooo lame," and, "Really? That's the best you can do?"
Most of the time, my Inner Heckler doesn't act up too much while I'm doing a rough draft. Usually, he bides his time, waiting until the rough draft is finished and he can be dismissive about my chances of ever getting it polished up to be good enough. See, my Heckler and I have a system.
For some reason, with this contest, he's breaking the deal. The past week or so, my Inner Heckler has gotten brave and he keeps hollering at me, which has put a big kink in my plan to write the most words. Dang Heckler, I bet Jenny's paying him off. I wouldn't put it past her to try bribing him to act up.
But, the good news is I've put in a call to Security and they're hauling him off, even as we speak. He's been disruptive and now I'm putting him in his place. It's a place with a sturdy lock and that funny-looking stuff they put on the walls of music studios to soundproof them.
Take that, Mr. Heckler.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Slow But Steady
The writing contest is trucking right along, with most folks keeping a pretty steady pace. Me, I took a few days off to concentrate on other things, but I'm trying to make up the distance I lost. My usual writing bribe tends to be Twizzlers, but lately I've been trying out Mountain Dew's summer flavors, so that's been my bribe of choice ;)
Between the soda and doing a lot of out of the house pages, I'm feeling pretty good about where I am right now in the contest, though I do need to step it up a bit.
Bring on the caffeine and sugar!
Between the soda and doing a lot of out of the house pages, I'm feeling pretty good about where I am right now in the contest, though I do need to step it up a bit.
Bring on the caffeine and sugar!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
From the Starting Block
The starting pistol's been fired and the race is on. My June goal is simple: write, write, write. My aim right now is more about consistency than quantity, and I'm making it my goal to average at least 3.3 pages a day.
One other thing I did to help me was that last night I took a page from Debbie's book and spent some time with index cards. I wrote out the next chapters for Oracle with one to a card. I don't have too many yet, but it's a start. On each card, I wrote a couple notes about what happens, making it clear which POV that chapter should be in, and then I wrote a note titled "Main Conflict" and things like "Sedge wants..., but..." to help me focus on having tension in each chapter.
Writing out the cards was interesting and helpful. I'm curious to see what writing pages with them will be like.
One other thing I did to help me was that last night I took a page from Debbie's book and spent some time with index cards. I wrote out the next chapters for Oracle with one to a card. I don't have too many yet, but it's a start. On each card, I wrote a couple notes about what happens, making it clear which POV that chapter should be in, and then I wrote a note titled "Main Conflict" and things like "Sedge wants..., but..." to help me focus on having tension in each chapter.
Writing out the cards was interesting and helpful. I'm curious to see what writing pages with them will be like.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
The Race Plan
The two-month writing race starts on Tuesday, and it's going to be a doozy. So, I need a game plan. Namely, I need to figure out what I'm going to write.
Key parts of the figuring:
1. It's a writing contest, not a re-writing contest, so edits don't count for word count, which means
2. My original plan to be working on revising my old Oracle material right now won't fit, but
3. I'm going to need a CWC submission during the contest and I'm really wanting to make progress on Oracle and not just sideline it in favor of a new project, so
4. I've decided to continue with the blind re-write, but
5. This is going to be a marathon race, not a sprint, and sometimes I get stuck. If all I'm working on is Oracle, running into a road block means game-over, so
6. I spent a lot of time over the past two days coming up with and developing an idea for a new novel to start on if Oracle stumps me, therefore
7. I've got a plan.
I'm going to keep on keeping on with Oracle without going back to the pages I originally wrote, and I'm working on my project B if I get stumped. Doing a blind rewrite on a whole novel is not something I'd ever have planned on, but it seems my best option right now. While I could just dive into project B for the contest, and submit it for my CWC obligation, it seems like cheating to me and it's been so long since my first try at Oracle that I'd really like to get it done instead of shelving it again.
I am totally intimidated by a two-month long contest, and I have no idea how this is going to go. But, I know that I'll get some pages written and, however it goes down, it should certainly prove interesting. Whether or not I'll cry remains to be seen, though I know Jenny's hoping for tears, that meanie.
Key parts of the figuring:
1. It's a writing contest, not a re-writing contest, so edits don't count for word count, which means
2. My original plan to be working on revising my old Oracle material right now won't fit, but
3. I'm going to need a CWC submission during the contest and I'm really wanting to make progress on Oracle and not just sideline it in favor of a new project, so
4. I've decided to continue with the blind re-write, but
5. This is going to be a marathon race, not a sprint, and sometimes I get stuck. If all I'm working on is Oracle, running into a road block means game-over, so
6. I spent a lot of time over the past two days coming up with and developing an idea for a new novel to start on if Oracle stumps me, therefore
7. I've got a plan.
I'm going to keep on keeping on with Oracle without going back to the pages I originally wrote, and I'm working on my project B if I get stumped. Doing a blind rewrite on a whole novel is not something I'd ever have planned on, but it seems my best option right now. While I could just dive into project B for the contest, and submit it for my CWC obligation, it seems like cheating to me and it's been so long since my first try at Oracle that I'd really like to get it done instead of shelving it again.
I am totally intimidated by a two-month long contest, and I have no idea how this is going to go. But, I know that I'll get some pages written and, however it goes down, it should certainly prove interesting. Whether or not I'll cry remains to be seen, though I know Jenny's hoping for tears, that meanie.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Small, Slow Edits
I'm making slow, but steady, progress on my big revision expedition. Right now I'm still going through the first part, which I went through once already a few months ago. The edits right now are small, but my pace is not as quick as one would think.
The funny thing about these minor edits is that you lose time on the scavenger hunt part of it. A little bit here, a little bit there, and you have to find the spots first. Up to a certain limit, big edits go faster 'cause it's just a matter of taking out a certain page and re-writing it. You're honed in, focusing on just that certain scene.
Small edits, tweaking edits, are more all over and they creep up on you unexpectedly, like when I was doing one edit and realized I had to pause to do a find & replace jobbie on two characters' names that changed over the course of drafting.
Once I get further into the pages, I expect my pace will quicken as I run into the parts that need bigger chunks revised. Or, maybe there'll be so much in those big chunks that I'll slow down. Hard to say right now. I'll find out soon enough, though.
What about you? What kinds of edits can you do the most quickly? What kinds of editing take you the longest?
The funny thing about these minor edits is that you lose time on the scavenger hunt part of it. A little bit here, a little bit there, and you have to find the spots first. Up to a certain limit, big edits go faster 'cause it's just a matter of taking out a certain page and re-writing it. You're honed in, focusing on just that certain scene.
Small edits, tweaking edits, are more all over and they creep up on you unexpectedly, like when I was doing one edit and realized I had to pause to do a find & replace jobbie on two characters' names that changed over the course of drafting.
Once I get further into the pages, I expect my pace will quicken as I run into the parts that need bigger chunks revised. Or, maybe there'll be so much in those big chunks that I'll slow down. Hard to say right now. I'll find out soon enough, though.
What about you? What kinds of edits can you do the most quickly? What kinds of editing take you the longest?
Monday, November 2, 2009
Think Globally
Hey look, October's over. Deb and Jenny have already got their November's plotted out. Me, I'm trying to think of a worthy goal for the month. NaNo? No way. It's tempting, but I've got too much revision on my plate, because I'm on the block for CWC in December. We're talking a completely revised Cass, with some overall adjustments to characters & plots. I've got a pretty solid idea of where I'm going, it's just a matter of actually going there. It'll also entail adding a couple thousand words. So, yeah, no NaNo for me.
Though, that leads me to a perfecto November goal. When I talk with my comp. students about revision, I always emphasize big-picture revision (global) over proofreading (local), because if the ideas aren't there, nobody cares about your commas.
Global revision is what I need with Cass. Ergo, this month's challenge is to look at the grander scheme. Details are good, details are wonderful, but you've got to have the bones before you can flesh them out. Whatever project you're working on, now's a good time to take a step back and ask the big questions:
1. What's the point of writing this thing? What am I trying to express?
2. If my reader gets nothing but one thing out of this, what's that one thing? How do I make sure that's what they walk away with?
3. Do all my parts - characters, scenes, complications, sub-plots - somehow serve my grander scheme?
4. What's the best order in which to put all these parts together?
5. Are readers responding to my characters the way I want them to? If not, how can I change that?
6. Am I making things hard enough for my characters? Are their challenges difficult enough?
7. Why today? Why is this plot happening now?
There are plenty more that could get added to the list, but those are some examples of big picture questions I'll be working on during my big Cass revision. Some of the questions - like #5 - come right from critique comments I've gotten. Others - like #1 - are more all-purpose. All of them are good to know the answers to.
How about you, do you have any good questions/ways of focusing on the big picture?
Though, that leads me to a perfecto November goal. When I talk with my comp. students about revision, I always emphasize big-picture revision (global) over proofreading (local), because if the ideas aren't there, nobody cares about your commas.
Global revision is what I need with Cass. Ergo, this month's challenge is to look at the grander scheme. Details are good, details are wonderful, but you've got to have the bones before you can flesh them out. Whatever project you're working on, now's a good time to take a step back and ask the big questions:
1. What's the point of writing this thing? What am I trying to express?
2. If my reader gets nothing but one thing out of this, what's that one thing? How do I make sure that's what they walk away with?
3. Do all my parts - characters, scenes, complications, sub-plots - somehow serve my grander scheme?
4. What's the best order in which to put all these parts together?
5. Are readers responding to my characters the way I want them to? If not, how can I change that?
6. Am I making things hard enough for my characters? Are their challenges difficult enough?
7. Why today? Why is this plot happening now?
There are plenty more that could get added to the list, but those are some examples of big picture questions I'll be working on during my big Cass revision. Some of the questions - like #5 - come right from critique comments I've gotten. Others - like #1 - are more all-purpose. All of them are good to know the answers to.
How about you, do you have any good questions/ways of focusing on the big picture?
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Reconstructing Oracle
Ugh, what a mess. Between moving a couple years ago and getting a new computer, my original Oracle stuff is in shambles. I have no electronic file for the first 50 or something pages (hard to say exactly what I'm missing, 'cause it's gone) and one of the later chapters is likewise missing. What I do have are the following:
It's a bit overwhelming to think of, all together, so I'm focusing on the bits and pieces.
- A list on a post-it that shows which chapters were in which character's POV
- My original notebook where I wrote the first big chunk out long hand
- Some assorted hardcopies with comments from my original go-around submitting it to the gang (though these assorted hardcopies don't account for all of the chapters I submitted, nor all the missing chapters)
- The synopsis I submitted as I was running chapters through the group (so they could remember stuff that had happened in previous months' submissions)
- My original note cards (now transferred to the Bible)
- A series of individual chapter-files
- My rewritten first chunk from the contest
It's a bit overwhelming to think of, all together, so I'm focusing on the bits and pieces.
- Print out the old stuff
- Dig out my commented-on hardcopies from a couple years ago
- Read through those parts
- Print out the new stuff
- Read through it, and make any corrections/additions I need in order to fit the earlier stuff that I'm going to keep
- Start writing on from the new rewrite, transcribing from what I originally had and filling in what went missing
Friday, October 2, 2009
World Building & Bibles
This past Sunday, the UGWP group got talking about the issue of world building. There was debate about the best way to do it: if you over-plan, there's the danger of getting stuck in the planning phase without moving on to the writing phase; if you don't plan enough, there's the danger of having to wing it as you write, which leads to the danger of inconsistencies & confusion.
Me, I'm finding that it helps to do a Bible. The Bible starts off with me plugging in everything I already know about the story/characters/world, things like main characters, places, etc. This part came together with Cass after I had written a couple of Cass stories but before I started the novel. So, I had a good idea of certain things, but fuzzy idea on others.
Then, as I wrote and figured out details, I added them to the Bible. This worked pretty well.
Today I finally got a chance to put together my Oracle Bible. This came together a little differently than the Cass Bible, because I've worked on Oracle before, and because different things are important to remember in the world. Overall, though, both have a character section, a section for places, and a section, or two, devoted to relevant mythology. For Oracle, specifically, here's what's in the binder: a map; character sheets; location sheets; info sheets on the four major gods; notes on the world itself, like what their technology looks like; and I also added a sheet for all the names of all the characters to make sure I'm not naming everybody the same things - for instance I seem to really like male characters with names that end in "in" or "an."
As a side note, during my first go at Oracle I put together a sort-of Bible which was a small stack of index cards that I kept in an envelope I glued on the inside cover of the notebook I was writing Oracle in. It worked decent, but is kind of inefficient once I got a certain amount of notes to remember. The binder's more streamlined and keeps things from getting shuffled.
So, now we come to the audience participation part of the show. When you're working on a project/world building, what's your system?
Me, I'm finding that it helps to do a Bible. The Bible starts off with me plugging in everything I already know about the story/characters/world, things like main characters, places, etc. This part came together with Cass after I had written a couple of Cass stories but before I started the novel. So, I had a good idea of certain things, but fuzzy idea on others.
Then, as I wrote and figured out details, I added them to the Bible. This worked pretty well.
Today I finally got a chance to put together my Oracle Bible. This came together a little differently than the Cass Bible, because I've worked on Oracle before, and because different things are important to remember in the world. Overall, though, both have a character section, a section for places, and a section, or two, devoted to relevant mythology. For Oracle, specifically, here's what's in the binder: a map; character sheets; location sheets; info sheets on the four major gods; notes on the world itself, like what their technology looks like; and I also added a sheet for all the names of all the characters to make sure I'm not naming everybody the same things - for instance I seem to really like male characters with names that end in "in" or "an."
As a side note, during my first go at Oracle I put together a sort-of Bible which was a small stack of index cards that I kept in an envelope I glued on the inside cover of the notebook I was writing Oracle in. It worked decent, but is kind of inefficient once I got a certain amount of notes to remember. The binder's more streamlined and keeps things from getting shuffled.
So, now we come to the audience participation part of the show. When you're working on a project/world building, what's your system?
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Long and Short of It
Yay! I've just hit the 10,000 word mark for my contest word count. Boudreau's still in the lead, but I'm staying ahead of Deb and Jenny, (until they read this, get fired up, and blow by me).
Today is also interesting for the sake of where I am in the Cass book. For a while, I've been thinking I was at a certain point in the plot, a point that I figured was about half way. But, as I've been doing the contest, having to keep up the pace made me rethink. Basically, I was thinking how certain other things needed to happen before I got going on the final show-down, except I couldn't figure out what those other things were. All I could think of was that I needed more "stuff" because I needed more pages before the big fight. Getting stuck on figuring out that "stuff" brought up a question that I might not have asked myself if I had lots of time to ponder and come up with "stuff." That question: "But, why?"
What's the purpose of waiting? Yeah, the fight itself is going to be kind of short, but there's still plenty of lead up to the fight. Characters need to do certain things, a certain set of actions need to happen. So, why not jump right in? I had an "aha!" moment, which was cool. The biggest problem I was having was second guessing myself - I've started a couple of novels, and even gotten to the end of the middle of one, but this is the first one I'm getting to the end of, and I was worried I was doing it wrong. Bah. Enough of that. Right now is the part where I just write it. Later, if it turns out I actually do need more stuff, I can add it in. It's a very freeing thought.
This morning, I deleted a couple of paragraphs of "stuff" so that instead of spacing out certain events, they were happening on top of each other. It's a lot more fun to write this way.
Okay, back to writing, it's time to beat the tar out of some characters.
Today is also interesting for the sake of where I am in the Cass book. For a while, I've been thinking I was at a certain point in the plot, a point that I figured was about half way. But, as I've been doing the contest, having to keep up the pace made me rethink. Basically, I was thinking how certain other things needed to happen before I got going on the final show-down, except I couldn't figure out what those other things were. All I could think of was that I needed more "stuff" because I needed more pages before the big fight. Getting stuck on figuring out that "stuff" brought up a question that I might not have asked myself if I had lots of time to ponder and come up with "stuff." That question: "But, why?"
What's the purpose of waiting? Yeah, the fight itself is going to be kind of short, but there's still plenty of lead up to the fight. Characters need to do certain things, a certain set of actions need to happen. So, why not jump right in? I had an "aha!" moment, which was cool. The biggest problem I was having was second guessing myself - I've started a couple of novels, and even gotten to the end of the middle of one, but this is the first one I'm getting to the end of, and I was worried I was doing it wrong. Bah. Enough of that. Right now is the part where I just write it. Later, if it turns out I actually do need more stuff, I can add it in. It's a very freeing thought.
This morning, I deleted a couple of paragraphs of "stuff" so that instead of spacing out certain events, they were happening on top of each other. It's a lot more fun to write this way.
Okay, back to writing, it's time to beat the tar out of some characters.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Contest Warm Up
Last time I did the writing contest, it was a spur-of-the-moment sort of thing. This time, it's all more planned out and I've decided to be a bit more strategic about it. Mostly, by that, I mean that I've got myself a warm up planned.
The first part of my warm up is simple - to get some other things done before Monday so I can have those things out of the way as I'm powering through pages. So, part of my warm up list includes writing my bio for the CWC website and doing all kinds of English 099 & 101 grading and planning.
The second part of my warm up is more focused on getting ready for the challenge itself. This part includes things like clearing off my kitchen table so I have a place to set up my laptop. I don't have wireless at home, so using my laptop means I won't have the temptations of e-mail, etc. while I'm working. Another part of this plan is to do some Cass edits to sort out a problem I was having with the bit just before the bit I'll be writing from scratch. This'll also help me get back into the project and ready to go.
Strategy, people. I has it.
The first part of my warm up is simple - to get some other things done before Monday so I can have those things out of the way as I'm powering through pages. So, part of my warm up list includes writing my bio for the CWC website and doing all kinds of English 099 & 101 grading and planning.
The second part of my warm up is more focused on getting ready for the challenge itself. This part includes things like clearing off my kitchen table so I have a place to set up my laptop. I don't have wireless at home, so using my laptop means I won't have the temptations of e-mail, etc. while I'm working. Another part of this plan is to do some Cass edits to sort out a problem I was having with the bit just before the bit I'll be writing from scratch. This'll also help me get back into the project and ready to go.
Strategy, people. I has it.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
227 Photos
I went down to the river walk today because I was in the mood to take some new photos. 227 later, I headed home. Yeah, that's right, I took 227 photos today. Of course, once I get that pared down, I'll have a great number fewer. Among those 227, many are multiple shots of the same thing at slightly different angles and distances to make sure that I get just the right photo. In particular, I took a ton of photos of the fountain that shoots water up in the air, because I want to be able to sort through just the right "moment."
It's just like writing, where you might write out a whole character biography or extended scene, but use only a fraction of it. But, you write it out anyway, because you need the extra so you can decide which part of it is just right.
(P.S. This photo was #7 out of 15+ of the lamp posts on the bridge)
It's just like writing, where you might write out a whole character biography or extended scene, but use only a fraction of it. But, you write it out anyway, because you need the extra so you can decide which part of it is just right.
(P.S. This photo was #7 out of 15+ of the lamp posts on the bridge)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Speaking of Editing...
I just read a good post about editing on The Blood-Red Pencil. Some of the tips are obvious, some aren't. All of them are good. I'm going to be thinking about the 3-Act breakdown as I work on Cass some more. I'm a bit stuck and I think breaking it down this way will help me get over the sticky part.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Ripening
It's been a while since I've put up a piggy-back post, and I think Jenny's latest deserves some piggy-backing. She's thinking about process these days, it would seem. Dickens wrote things out, Jenny sort of writes things out, and then she asks how the rest of us do it.
When I think about it, it seems like the projects I've outlined/pre-written the most, are those I've been least successful with. I'm not sure what the correlation is, but there's something about either why I pre-write, or the pre-writing itself, that trips me up. With the bar novel I started a while back, I did a lot of outlining & pre-writing. The novel never really got off the ground.
With Cass, I've been making notes in the Cass Bible, but those are all reference to make sure technical details - like the color of a character's hair - stay consistent. There's no plot involved. CRP is going smoothly. I'm not writing it linearly at all, I keep skipping around from one scene to another, then back again, but each time I finish one piece, I know which piece to work on next.
A few days ago, while I was re-reading and revising, I came across a scene that I knew I needed to make a little bigger, but wasn't ready to tackle. I inserted the note, "make bigger here, they need to have a fight," and moved on. Yesterday, I went back and wrote the fight. That's as close as I've gotten to outlining.
I think maybe the reason I dislike outlining and have little success with it is because once I make an outline, it feels like the ideas are all on the page and out of my head. When I don't write it down, I keep tossing the ideas around in my mind until I'm ready to write them out in full. It's like outlining for me is picking the fruit before it's ripe.
When I think about it, it seems like the projects I've outlined/pre-written the most, are those I've been least successful with. I'm not sure what the correlation is, but there's something about either why I pre-write, or the pre-writing itself, that trips me up. With the bar novel I started a while back, I did a lot of outlining & pre-writing. The novel never really got off the ground.
With Cass, I've been making notes in the Cass Bible, but those are all reference to make sure technical details - like the color of a character's hair - stay consistent. There's no plot involved. CRP is going smoothly. I'm not writing it linearly at all, I keep skipping around from one scene to another, then back again, but each time I finish one piece, I know which piece to work on next.
A few days ago, while I was re-reading and revising, I came across a scene that I knew I needed to make a little bigger, but wasn't ready to tackle. I inserted the note, "make bigger here, they need to have a fight," and moved on. Yesterday, I went back and wrote the fight. That's as close as I've gotten to outlining.
I think maybe the reason I dislike outlining and have little success with it is because once I make an outline, it feels like the ideas are all on the page and out of my head. When I don't write it down, I keep tossing the ideas around in my mind until I'm ready to write them out in full. It's like outlining for me is picking the fruit before it's ripe.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Double Joy
I've officially hit the 100 page mark on Cass, which is exciting. It feels like it's more impressive to have 100 pages of something than 98. I think it's the fact that we as a culture like numbers that fall into sets, and 100 is a good batch-type number.
Also adding to my fun is my technology adventure yesterday where I managed to buy the last of a discontinued model of laptop that was exactly what I was looking for. It's nothing fancy. As far as laptops go, this one has just about as few bells and whistles as you can find, but it was in my price range and now I get to streamline my out of the house pages. Coffee shop, here I come.
Also adding to my fun is my technology adventure yesterday where I managed to buy the last of a discontinued model of laptop that was exactly what I was looking for. It's nothing fancy. As far as laptops go, this one has just about as few bells and whistles as you can find, but it was in my price range and now I get to streamline my out of the house pages. Coffee shop, here I come.
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