My online friend Ferdous asked in a recent comment: how do you keep track of the story without plotting? Do you find yourself veering down a wrong path requiring rewrites of a previous chapter? Well, let me tell you, even when I plan, the characters often drag me a different direction. Despite the most in depth character sketch, the character might reveal quirks about themselves I never would've thought of. I think it's that organic bit I love most about writing, the constant learning, not only of mechanics, but also of each person we create.
- Newly fallen snow
- My baby's smile. She does this scrunching of her entire face, wrinkly nosed thing...well, you prob have to be there.
- The hubby doing dishes without being asked.
- My baby's laugh, a rarity really, because even when tickled, she more grunts then giggles.
- A lazy Sunday morning.
- When the sister's and I get together because craziness ensues.
- When my mom and dad smile at one another. Really. Their marriage might have been arranged, but they are one of the lucky couples who really learned to love each other after.
- When baby girl tries to pull cranky cat onto her lap. She adores the fatty but the feeling's not so mutual.
- Pride and Prejudice. I literally smile every time this movie plays. Book's pretty good too. ;)
- Chocolate. The kind filled with caramel's the best!
Thanks for answering my questions. As mentioned before, its the first time I'm writing without intense plotting. I'm concentrating on doing a first draft without worrying about plot holes, inconsistencies and etc as these will all be picked up in later drafts. I am enjoying writing like this but the true test will be after the first draft is done, whether I will need to do an intensive repair/rewrite to make it a readable story.
ReplyDeleteAs for voice, I think the more we write the more our 'voice' will be revealed. I read somewhere that your voice only starts shining after the 4/5th MSS.
LOL, then I should be getting pretty close to the discovery. :) Oh, and I should have said that when such epiphanies occur, I make a note of it and then try to sprinkle the change through previous chapters. Yes, I have rewritten entire chapters to accommodate, but I sacrifice the old pages to the writing gods hoping that they will then bless me with some foresight in future manuscript so as to avoid the whole burning thing all over again. hehe.
ReplyDeleteHey Hetal :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see your occasional post ;) along with the ten sweet things about you :-D
Count me in along for the panster thing, since apart from starting with a vague idea of the story, anything else I do seems to hit a dead end. In essence, when plotted, the story seems contrived instead of engaging - even to me as a writer :)
Hence I had some light bulb moments on my novella, somewhere in the middle, where it got stuck and I had to go back a few chapters to unravel the kinks.. and its really a satisfying process when the story comes well.
As to your other comment of brain fried state, I felt that when I ate, drank, and slept writing ;) the month before the pitch. Well, later when I got back to normal life - trying to maintain a balance, my brain un-fried itself :)
I guess, once you complete the book or make some good progress, you'll kind of relax a bit.. so keep your enthu, and finish the story soon..and welcome to real world after that ! Take care.
Hey, do check out the beautiful blogger award for you at my blog :) along with the 5-5-5 tag !
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