Lofty goals

I should have written this post yesterday before the crazy struck my home. My 4yo has been suffering a stomach bug since last Friday. Last night her fever hit 104 so I rushed her to the ER. I felt kinda silly about it at first...and then she vomited in the bathroom of the waiting area. My poor girl; she suffers, but she doesn't cry about it. Her stomach is cleaned out and she immediately asks for something to eat. No tears, no fuss. I love her so.

NaNo is nigh. Seriously, only a couple of hours away. In the back of my head I'm hoping for an average of 2500 words/day. If I can keep to this, I'll have a complete first draft by the end of November. Here's hoping I keep to it.

I'm going to check over my outline one last time and then hit the sack.

Good luck to my fellow NaNoers!

2 days to NaNo - are you ready?

Two posts ago (from two years ago), I expounded on what a Pantser I was. Well, the reality is that I like my little boxes and plot points in those little boxes. It took me two years to really see this in myself, but recognizing this makes me realize why I failed so miserably at writing by the seat of my pants.

My character outlines haven't changed much since I created them, so I feel like I know them pretty well. Their backgrounds, motivations, and crutches are familiar to me, so it shouldn't be hard to think like them. The basic rules of my world are set in stone, but little "what-ifs" keep popping up giving me ideas for continuations. Never a bad thing.

Thanks to Larry Brooks' Story Structure series, I know what high points should be happening and at what point in the story. By studying movie writing, I gleaned an understanding of what an audience is looking for at those points.

I'm furiously filling in my empty story holes right now. With only two days before the mad writing begins. I have no time to lose.

What's your favorite source of  information?

Reset

Hello writing world. You might not have missed me, but I missed you. I needed some time to mull on what type of writer I want to be, who I want to write for, and ultimately, what would excite me. For some time I was content letting my dream collect dust. Not anymore. There is one idea demanding my attention, so I will try to do it justice.

I haven't had time to think about this dream of mine for almost two years. During that time I rejoined the workforce, almost immediately got pregnant, worked like a fiend, moved, had my baby, worked a lot more, and have just recently changed jobs. It wasn't long after attaining this lower key, more life-manageable position that I realized that the voices I thought were gone forever had only been temporarily silenced. They're back with a vengeance.

I've decided that the best way to jump back in is to commit to NaNo. I've registered at the popular NaNoWriMo site, as well as on a Savvy Authors where a team will be holding me accountable for making my word counts. Don't know about you, but this is exactly the kind of motivation I need to dive in.

Anybody else NaNoing? 

Plotting

Now, if any of you know me, you know I'm not so big on the plotting thing. I like the story to unfold organically and allow the characters lead me. I like to be in their head and let them do the talking so I can react the way they would. Sometimes it works...

But it's like pulling teeth, let me tell you. There are times they'll go halfway through the piece then dig in and say "no thanks, I'm done now". Is this because I'm not providing them enough stimuli or does it feel artificial? I know Jane must go with John, but she's a bit stubborn, a lot independent, and wants none of that. She's not going to act against her nature to make me happy, and when I force the issue, well, she gets stilted and doesn't give me much to work with.

John's worse, because, well, he's a man yes, but more important, he's an alpha man who has more important things to do than deal with some woman and her accompanying baggage. He's got his own problems (saving the world type of problems) and can't risk being distracted by Jane. Inevitably, he'll have to swoop in and save her from her own mistakes while the bad guy gets away. Are you kidding? No thanks, he's got better things to do.

(By the way, my character's aren't nearly this extreme in their views though it's kind of close.)

So the romance is about forcing them to make time for each other. It's about creating believable adhesion that will keep them with one another - whether emotionally or physically - without providing too many outs. Of course they'll want to refuse and scream and kick me, but I'm going to ignore them and do what I believe is best for them in the long run no matter how taxing the journey.

And therein lies the problem: the journey, the progress, the story within the story.

This probably seems like a silly statement, but the truth is a lot of effort goes into He meets Her, they spark, they fall apart, they come back strong, something bad happens, is resolved, and they live happily ever after. Yes, that's the gist of every romance (with a few more ups and downs in between) but what about the scenes are going to lead them to this place? What will make them confront their issues, not only with each other, but within themselves, as well?

Thanks to some wonderful girls at Savvy Authors, I stumbled upon Larry Brooks's site StoryFix.com, where I was provided the most helpful outline ever! Since I'm doing this rewrite - and of course second guessing everything along the way - I started filling out his checklist to esure I had all the parts to make the car run.

You know what? I think I have every nut and bolt in place this time, but it's nice to see the truth. Try this outline yourself, then tell me what you think. I'll probably never start something new without it again. No joke. I already saved it the computer.  :)

~Hetal

Etiquette?

Every cushion, mattress, and pillow has been overturned without any sign of the thumb drive with my most crucial MS. Perhaps it decided to sacrifice itself to the writing gods/muses/higher powers. I've started to rewrite the piece, which is coming a lot easier than expected, but now I have another dilemma.

What should I do about the request? If I let it sit for too long there's no doubt in my mind Deb will lose interest in the idea. I would like to send her a note stating my situation, but everything tells me to be professional. Excuses are not professional in my book, so I'm sitting on the fence.

I've read the submission guidelines at the Sourcebooks site, and they state when mailing sending the first four chapters is appropriate, but could I do the same electronically (when I've completed the first four) after a specific request for the full?

I'm about to write this off as a loss, no joke. My first request, and I have little more than nothing. I hope this doesn't brand me a tease in the world of writing. I don't need that kind of rep following me around. :P

~Hetal