Sketching Ideas

Sometimes an idea takes the form of words - description or dialogue. Sometimes it's a little more abstract. This is an example of the latter. It's the beginnings of an idea for something that started with an image instead of character or plot.

Sure it's not quite perfect, and it's sort of lopsided here and there, but ideas are like that. They come out in various stages of completion and inspire further development of things that never would have been considered without them as a jumping of point.

In this case, it was part of the creation of a genie story. I had the idea for this pretty purple bottle, sketched it out and painted it in Photo Impact. (For full illustrations, I usually use Prisma Colors). Of course, words are necessary to make the story, but they're not always necessary to start it.

Outlining, or the Lack Thereof

After spending time on Absolute Write*, I've discovered that writers fall into 2 categories: Those who outline and those who don't. And the 2 don't always get along when the subject of outlining comes up. Tempers flare, middle ground disappears, accusations of little intelligence fly, mod-sticks come out... no one's happy.

For myself, I've always been in the "no outline" category. I like an organic approach to writing that lets the story happen as it happens. I might sketch out a summary/synopsis in advance, but beyond that, I don't like outlines. (I tend to think of them more rigid than they actually are.) However, yesterday, I located a Post-It pad that was apparently made for The Jolly Green Giant. (Technically it's made for those presentation easels, but come on... it's a sticky note pad. They should not be that big.)

I tacked the thing to my wall and started writing out notes on it about the scenes I'd already figured out. Suddenly, other things started filling in the gaps. The plot laid itself out in a somewhat structured path from beginning to end.

Gah... I was outlining!!!

About a month ago, I downloaded a trial of a program called Liquid Story Binder which lets you save each part of a book as a separate document. One of the functions is an outline builder. I plugged in the parts I'd put down on the Post-It and more plot points popped up. Not sure if I'll become a regular outliner, but for at least yesterday it worked pretty well.



* Absolute Write is an awesome resource for writers. One I'll promptly link to once (and if) I ever figure out how to make a link thingy in my side bar. If you have writing questions or need help hashing out a plot, that's the place to go. It's also got great information about specific agents and publishers to help you figure out which ones are good fits and which ones aren't quite so legit.

The Question of When

Part of craft of writing comes when determining the best time to reveal information.

I say the "craft" of writing because it's inherently different than the "act" of writing. The act of writing, at least for me, is more like a system purge. You get all of the information out in whatever form it comes. The end of this process will probably resemble a narrative, but it's also most likely not complete.

Infodumps and darling passages overpopulate most 1st drafts because they're necessary components of creating the world and characters. When I type out hundreds of words full of backstory in the middle of a passage, it's usually because that's the first time I've thought of that particular aspect of the character's life. I realized this today as I was reading over 3 chapters of one of my WIP. There's a piece of very pertinent information in there that has absolutely NO business being there.

Not only does it slap the reader upside the head and shout "Look! You need to know this for later!", it interupts the flow of the narrative. So, it's being surgically removed for use elsewhere. The information is still required, but there has to be a better way to reveal it.

Drat those stories that know they can be better than they are. Once they figure it out, they won't settle for good enough, and they won't let me do it, either. Sometimes it seems like I read through something I wrote and passages almost highlight themselves, pointing out that they don't belong. No, I'm not hallucinating :-P, it's just a matter of them "sounding" off when I read them back. The only thing to do is tinker around until they sound right.

Obviously, I'm still a rambling blogger, so I'll stop as not to make anyone's eyeballs bleed from reading.

GRRRRR.....

Growl.
Snarl.
Hiss.
Spit.

Dear Migraine,

Please take this as formal notification that you should vacate my cranium without further delay. You are no longer welcome on the premises. Your things will be left on the curb for you or the garbage man to pick up. Don't forget to take your stupid slobbering pet "Writer's Block" with you or I'll have it neutered and/or put to sleep.

Sincerely,

Josie

Blogger the Terrible

If I were a viking this would be my name. (If I were a Viking, I'd also be a foot taller and most likely blonde, but that's a different rant that I would be unable to make as a Viking because most Vikings are off having dinner at Valhalla and didn't speak English, so back to the blog...)

I've earned the name Blogger the Terrible because it's been almost two months since I posted a new entry. I even missed the perfect opportunity to turn myself around by making it a new year's resolution (unless I wait for Chinese new year and try and make this the year of the blog as well as the year of the ox, which could work I guess).

Once November hit, a few things aligned to keep me from blogging to mostly empty space. 1st, NaNo - I'm pretty sure I have a total of 50K, but not all on one book, so I disqualified myself. I can't turn off my internal editor and let myself write garbage no matter how hard I try. It's like trying not to sort my crayons by color as soon as I open the box - it's not gonna happen. Once I settled on NaNo - NoMo, the family tidal wave known as "the holdiays" hit. Vacation meant that I was suddenly not the only one who wanted my computer. Apparently writing is "playing" and someone else thought they could do just as much while busting brightly colored bricks on screen, so I was outsed. Once the TV found itself locked in the "on" position for weeks on end, it was time to give up on trying to think of anything other than the questionable dialogue on screen.

Yes, those are excuses. Deal with it. :-P

So, now that it's the end of Christmas break, I have the opportunity to reclaim my computer chair and try to hammer out those last 30K or so to finish my current favorite WIP. YAY *tosses confetti*

Hopefully, I won't be Blogger the Terrible for very long (it was horrible to come over here and discover I'd missed a comment from my favorite shark.)

/ramble.

A False Start

So, here it is, NaNo: Day 3, and I'm on novel #2.

No, I didn't do a suicidal marathon typing binge and hammer out 25K a day for two days (though it would be interesting to try that, hmm....) Apparently, my original story has abdicated to its successor.

Story one was like pulling teeth. I know how it goes, but can't quite get it on paper yet. Story two is being more cooperative. 10,190 words and counting. Woo Hoo.

Back to the WIP.

NaNoWriMo!!!

Who knew novel writing had its very own month? (You'd think a writer might know that, but well... I didn't.)

Apparently, every year for the last 11, November has been National Novel Writing Month, where participants are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in one month by hitting a goal of just over 1,600 words/day. (On the same novel, of course ;-))

I've decided to try it out this year and see what happens. Hopefully having a concrete level and goal will help with time budgeting.

I know I'm capable of that many words in that period of time (I wrote 800K words last year alone, which comes out to around 66K a month) but they were on multiple projects of varying lengths.

So, now I'm going to stop procrastinating and get back to my totally awesome WIP.