Works in Progress {sneak peek}

Hello, friends.

Once again, this isn't coming to you on a Monday. So sorry about that.

One reason for the delay is that I've been writing a book. While I'm no longer participating in NaNoWriMo events due to their stepping too far into politics rather than sticking to the writing-community services they offer, I am still writing.

Do you remember a very long while back when you voted on which story I should work on? At the time, I thought I was ready to work on the elderly ladies on a road trip story. Apparently, I wasn't then. But I am now.

In fact, back in June, I worked up a very detailed scene-by-scene outline for the story, which is now going to be a book rather than a screenplay (though I may write that version later, just in case anyone wants to make a movie out of it at some point). This story is now my primary project this month.

Of course I have a couple of other ones I'm chipping away on. I can hardly ever focus solely on one project at a time, thanks to my undiagnosed ADD. Yet, I find that working on multiple projects actually aids my creativity instead of harming it.

Maybe it takes me longer to finish each story that way, but the good news is there may be multiple stories finished up around the same time because of this process.

Some of you might be wondering how I keep the various storylines, character names, and plot points straight if I'm working on multiple books at the same time.

Slightly Unprepared But Excited

Camp NaNoWriMo starts in two days.

Two days!

Am I ready?

Not exactly. Not as prepared as I’d like to be, anyway.

See, I used to be a pantser, a writer that has a small spark of an idea and then dives into writing the story by the seat of their pants. The creativity and flow of that style is wonderful and right up my alley. However, when I used the pantser method, I inevitably ended up with slumpy middles and struggled to finish out the final chapter or two of my stories. This was a huge problem.

Therefore, I decided to read articles (and I mean dozens of articles) about plotting. There are charts and graphs and tips and many, many outline types out there. It can be overwhelming. Even as I felt myself sinking in the vast ocean of plotting advice and forms and such, I knew that I had to figure out a way to pull some details together prior to writing the first draft. I needed the guidance of a plot or outline. It would be helpful to know my characters at least a little bit before trying to tell their story (otherwise, I end up exploring and discovering who they are in draft one and then having to do heavy edits in rounds two, three, and four).

Preparing for Camp NaNoWriMo

Camp NaNoWriMo is in one month.

One month.

I am not yet ready for this, but I will be. During March, I'll be doing prep work for the first NaNo event of the year.

Character development is a large part of my preparation. If I don't know the characters well enough, writing in their voices becomes practically impossible. So I'm learning all I can about them as I work through a couple of different questionnaires. The loooooong one is only for the two leads, whereas the short form will be for several supporting cast members. I'm diving into their personalities, emotions, and dreams as well as their fears, faults, and sorrows.

One of the neat things I've already learned through the long form is that this particular form gives me insights not only into the leads but also into their friends and relatives. Any important relationships they have get explored through this form, which should, in theory, make the short form for the supporting cast go a lot quicker as I'm already figuring out bits and pieces (and sometimes large chunks!) of who these supporting characters are and how they effect the leads' lives.

Pantser or Plotter?

by Andrea Renee Cox

Next month is one of my most anticipated ones of the year. Why? Partly because of Thanksgiving, but in large part it is because it's the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I've participated several times now, and this year I even joined in on the two Camp NaNoWriMos (held online in April and July).

What is NaNoWriMo?