Map For A Journey (NaNoWriMo Prep #6)

Let me go ahead and clear this up: there are two types of writers.
You have planners and you have pantsers.
Let's define, shall we?

• Planners- planners will be your outliners. They may not even make a very detailed outline, but they will start a story with several different pieces of information. Most planners will know their characters and some of their scenes. Extreme planners (take J.K. Rowling) might know absolutely everything about their story before they even dare to pick up a pencil. Planners are people who prefer to have direction and organized ideas before they begin.
• Pantsers- as the name implies, Pansters live to fly by the seat of their pants. A true panster will sit down with an idea and just go. Pansters, most of them at least, prefer to have no plan at all. Maybe they know how it might end. Maybe they know their characters. Pantsers trust their instincts and go for it.

So, which am I?

I tried to be a pantser for a long time, and the result was many unfinished and abandoned stories.

Now I am a planner, this novel more so than my last one. I had a sparse outline last time, and ended up with only 32,000 words. For NaNo, I need almost double that. 

Bring in the detailed outline!

So, to begin, I used Google Sheets and made a spreadsheet. I gave several columns, in hopes of making a better developed scene.

• Scene Number - well, that's self explanatory. It's the number of the scene.
• Name of Scene - this is for my personal organization. I need to name scenes to keep from getting them confused.
• Characters Involved- mega helpful to keep track of what characters are where, doing what.
• Point of View - My story is always in a third person limited point of view, and with a limited point of view I am allowed to choose which character I want to focus on. Think like in a first person shooter game, when you're behind the gun you normally have the option to zoom out and view the back of your character. I find it a better vantage point than actual first person, both in gaming and in writing. They're similar, but with third I find it easier to switch between character views.
• Main Action- this is to give me a guideline for how I want the action to play out in the scene. It serves as my summary.
• Reason for Scene - if this blank can't be filled, then there's no need at all for this scene to be in my book.
• Emotional Response - how I want my characters and readers to react to the scene.
• How It Leads Into the Next Scene - I tend to lose direction at the ends of scenes. This helps me keep my mind on track.
• Conflict in Scene - because every single scene needs conflict, be it physical or emotional.
• Resolution of Conflict - again, to help me pull the scene together at the end and carry on.

I hate writing outlines. They bore me.

Creativity is the childish side of your mind. It just wants to play and have fun. Trying to organize creativity is like trying to get a three year old to sit down and pay attention.

Nearly impossible.

Needless to say, some interesting things happen when I make attempts to outline stories.

I am so ready for NaNoWriMo. 

WRITING AGAIN FINALLY!

One Day More (NaNoWriMo Prep Post #5)

"One more day until the storm..."

Yes.

Admittedly, all day I have randomly been singing One Day More. And I sent a very lengthy email to a dear friend of mine filled with .gifs from the selfsame song.

She had no idea what was going on.

By now, you might have guessed.

One Day Until NaNoWriMo

Yes, I chose the quote 'one more day until the storm' for a very specific reason.

One day more until we begin the mad storm of words that is National Novel Writing Month.

Yes. Thank you, Joly, for summing up
my feelings exactly.

All the prep, all the trouble, all the worrying, it was all just a dress rehearsal. Tomorrow the real struggle begins. The struggle to write the correct amount of words every single day, to push past even the hardest moments in the story and to continue on.

I am of two minds about this realization. Some moments my reaction is more like:

While other moments my reaction is better described as this:

Overall, I would say I am thrilled to begin this venture. I'll be making another post this afternoon with a little bit of insight into what my outline currently looks like.

Well, the NaNo prep series is almost over, so next we will begin the "Surviving NaNoWriMo" series.

Writing a whole 50,000 word first draft inside a month.

Balancing Ideas (NaNoWriMo Prep #4)

I'm trying out a new editing software to make
neat little title cards for my blog posts.
Cool, huh?

A Confession: I Have Too Many Ideas

Ah, yes. It's the frustrated cry of ever author. Too many books to write, not enough time to write them. I am always being inspired to being more stories. In fact, I would say that most of the inspiration I gather is not for the story I am working on at the moment, but a future story that has yet to be realized.

Saying No For Now

A starting note, never say "No" to your story ideas. Don't totally discard them ever. If you're too busy, just promise them you'll make time later. Don't discard ideas, don't discard your writing. Know how to focus.

How I handle these pushy little ideas is to write them down.

I know it's like feeding stray cats, but write them down and put them away. Yes, they'll still nag at you, but the best thing you can do is try not to forget about them and try not to think about it too much. Who knows? They may be your best story ever. Just don't let the shiny new idea take you away from what you're working on.

Watch out about loving something
too much when you're not yet
sure about it.

Don't Love Them Too Much

There is a time and place for everything.

Again, these ideas are shiny and new. They're good at manipulating, as well. "You know that nasty plot hole you can't fix in your current story? I don't have that." "Yeah, I can see, you're getting a little sick of your protagonist there... well, I have a super cool protagonist." "You're at a really boring part in a story? Oh, what a coincidence! I open with a massively epic battle scene. Too bad you're so busy..."

Ignore them.

Don't fall too much in love just yet. Work on the story that's already in progress. Finish it. Then think about other stories. Don't become so enamored with a story you've yet to begin that you forget how good the one is that you've got.

Come Back To Them Eventually

Yes, in time, come back to those older ideas, but only the ones that really, really won't leave you alone. The ones that haunt you even after you've been slowly developing them for months and months. And then repeat the process. Don't let new ideas distract you, but slowly develop them as you go. It's a tough process, but it's about balance and focus. Every story demands attention, you've just got to learn to ration the attention.

What are your strategies for dealing with the sparkly new ideas that want to distract you so badly from what you need to be focused on?