Purpose of the IWSG: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
The Insecure Writer's Support Group posts the first Wednesday of each month to talk about whatever is making us insecure. Or writers. Or whatever requires support.
When Planning Fails
So I did my first IWSG post as we were swinging into NaNoWriMo, and I was worried about pulling it off. Now, 60,000 words later, I have a new worry. Obviously, I can spew an adequate supply of words. And I'm not even too worried by the fact that they are, many of them, superfluous or merely badly chosen, since that can and will be fixed. No, what worries me is that I need about 20,000 more words to finish up, and my rather hastily-constructed and unfinished outline has gone the way of the scythe and the plowhorse--left behind by progress. As a result, I am left, watching each person through the door hoping they'll drop some clue to tell me who the heck committed the murder (the novel's a mystery, the 3rd in my Pismwallops PTA series).In other words...my efforts at outlining failed. Two years ago, I put together a great plan for Death By Trombone, and sailed through to the end with some surprises but nothing too disruptive. This time, I started with only about 2/3 of an outline (more on my outline technique here) and a lot of unanswered questions. Then I killed my prime suspect halfway through. That was a bit disconcerting, and maybe if I were taking my time about things I'd have gone back and changed it, or spent the day or three needed to re-work the outline (and finish it). Instead, the corpse remained a corpse, and on I went. Now that NaNo is over and no one is looking to see if I've written 1667 words each day, I may want to take a day or two and go back to working out some of the questions.
Meanwhile, I'm facing a few other writerly challenges. As I was sending the final draft of Death By Trombone to the proof-reader, I got some comments from a rather intelligent reader of Death By Ice Cream that led me to re-write the ending (thanks, Rodney!), so I added that to my burden of tasks during NaNo. The result is, I believe, a decided improvement and awareness of a mistake I won't make a third time. The publication date has been pushed back to January 8 (okay, I never dared set a date until now. That should keep me in a panic).
Then there is the really big writer's challenge: the annual family Xmas letter. This one really is tough this year, because, well, this author who publishes at least one book a year...hasn't managed to finish a holiday letter in 4 years. Distilling those 4 years into a modest bit of readable text and a bunch of photos is a daunting task by any standard! On the other hand: if I master that one, move over Hemingway!
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| Coming January 8! |
If you haven't already, grab your copy of Death By Ice Cream today--because it's only 99 cents until I log in and change the price back up!
Working on my 12th book now, and yes I have a thin outline for it. But I often find the plot takes a different route when I get going. And that's fine. You start with a plan and if you can find a better way to achieve the outcome, that rocks! Nice to meet you, Rebecca.
ReplyDeleteHi Melodie, thanks for coming by. I'd be happier with a better outline, because it's so easy to mess up a mystery (don't ask me how I know this :D ). But this is where I am now, and it is a good motivation for writing--if I don't finish this book I won't know who did it!
DeleteThat's so funny what you wrote about the family Christmas letter. A few years ago, I wrote a silly one and everyone loved it. Now it's become a "thing" and people tell me they're looking forward to reading this year's and I haven't even started it. Talk about pressure! ;)
ReplyDeleteFunny about that, too! I am much more nervous about making something people won't like there than in my novels!
DeleteI went into NaNo with more of an outline/set of scene cards than I usually do, and it worked well for me overall. Of course, the story has no ending, but still.... :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your writing projects and that Christmas letter!
Thanks! I'm going to need it. Have managed about 200 words today...
DeleteI've always been a pantser, which has caused me no small amount of headache in the editing phase, though I've just started a couple of WIP with clearly defined outlines. I have no idea if they're going to work or not yet, so I'll have to get back to you.
ReplyDeleteWhat has worked for me, and may work for you at this point, is to write an outline AFTER the first draft. Now that you know your characters and the general plot and have lots of scenes to work with you, you can move everything around and figure out where best it needs to go. It's good for identifying what works, what doesn't, and what you need to add. It's way more work, but I find it really helpful.
IWSG December
Oh, yeah, that outline of the first draft is a key part of my editing strategy. Then I know what I have, and can move things around better, or note where I need to add bits. Good luck with your outlines this time--hope they help!
DeleteHmm. Maybe this means you need a sequel. I've never done NaNo, but experts say to take a break. Distancing yourself might just be what the murderer ordered.
ReplyDeleteSince you're a ninja librarian and Alex is a ninja captain... are you two related?
DeleteLOL! Not that I know of. But obviously we share certain proclivities :D
DeleteCongratulations on doing so well with NaNo! I need to continue working on my WIP throughout December but I will get it done. I love your titles! I also agree with you when it comes to the Christmas letter, I can't seem to finish one...
ReplyDeleteWell, I figure nearly everyone needs to work on into December, or should, because 50K words is pretty skimpy for a novel, unless it's juvvy (maybe next time I'll do a kids' book for NaNo, since that way I could actually finish a draft in the month).
DeleteGlad you like the titles! I've been working on the 3rd in series under the title "Death By Adverb," though it doesn't really fit and I'll probably have to find a better one (well, actually, I think it's a great title, it just didn't end up matching the content!)
I love your titles and your covers! I'm not a huge outliner, but I usually have a general sense of where I'm going. But I've had some stories work out pretty much how I planned, and some go out in left field. I'm not sure why that is. The current one I'm revising went according to plan, but now I'm waiting for something to go utterly wrong. It just can't be this easy. I know you'll figure out what happened. Sometimes it takes me time and thinking about other things (or working on other projects) to finally have the puzzle pieces come together.
ReplyDeleteYes. I think I might leave my characters right in the middle of a mess and go write that Xmas letter! That will serve them right for wandering away from my plan :D
DeleteI'm looking at tying up all the loose ends in a five book series and scared silly!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's a lot to tie up--endings in a big way! I'm not sure that a mystery series faces the same kind of tie-up needs. Seems like most of them just...stop. Sometimes with a tidy tie-up of the sleuth's personal life or something, but that kind of series is more loosely tied together.
DeleteKeep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteI'm as fascinated by your comments today as by your post! :D
The comments are the best part about a blog hop, aren't they?
DeleteCongrats on finishing NaNo! That's awesome. I'm feeling the same way - like I need a little time off to just think and figure out where my story is going.
ReplyDeleteI've left the whole lot of them on the cliff, metaphorically speaking, and been working on that holiday letter!
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