Funny Things Happen When You Plot
NaNoWriMo is going well. Really well. As a matter of fact, I'm more than a third done. See for yourselves (I'm sure you guys trust me, but I just love seeing the word count meter).
The Council Girl:
16803 / 50000 words. 34% done!
Now I'd like to talk a little about plotting. Unless this is your first visit to my blog, you should know I am the world's best (or is it worst?) pantser. For those of you who don't know, a pantser is a seat-of-your-pants writer. Now I'm not saying I've changed for good, but things are coming along so smoothly I might just try plotting again on my next novel.
How did I plot, you might be asking yourselves?
I started with the characters. Each character got a sheet of paper with likes, dislikes, driving goals, wishes, and fears. From there I used what I learned in Discovering Story Magic taught by Laura Baker and Robin Perini*. With this class I was able to to create a character grid then a storyboard. I never felt so organized before. It was a strange and foreign feeling, yet fairly simple.
Between the class material and all the ideas it took me about a week from start to finish. Not bad, huh? Not to mention plotting has saving me so much time now, since I'm currently working on the first draft.
A common misconception that I too believed would be true, was that plotting took the all the surprise away, because you already know what's going to happen next. I too was worried this would take all the fun away, but let me tell you, there are still little things that haven't been created. There's always dialogue too, especially when you're dealing with characters you know so well, some of which are crazy (or is that just my characters?). Plus nothing is set in stone. Things are getting moved around all the time in my draft. I'm just going with what works best with the pacing and story.
So, I'm not an official convert, because there is something so satisfying about starting from scratch and letting your fingers go, but for NaNo and any future deadlines (hey, a girl can dream), I'm thinking plotting is the road I'll be taking.
*Note: I am not being paid to endorse this class. I am only recommending it because I enjoyed it and it worked for me. Just passing along the good writing karma.
The Council Girl:
16803 / 50000 words. 34% done!
Now I'd like to talk a little about plotting. Unless this is your first visit to my blog, you should know I am the world's best (or is it worst?) pantser. For those of you who don't know, a pantser is a seat-of-your-pants writer. Now I'm not saying I've changed for good, but things are coming along so smoothly I might just try plotting again on my next novel.
How did I plot, you might be asking yourselves?
I started with the characters. Each character got a sheet of paper with likes, dislikes, driving goals, wishes, and fears. From there I used what I learned in Discovering Story Magic taught by Laura Baker and Robin Perini*. With this class I was able to to create a character grid then a storyboard. I never felt so organized before. It was a strange and foreign feeling, yet fairly simple.
Between the class material and all the ideas it took me about a week from start to finish. Not bad, huh? Not to mention plotting has saving me so much time now, since I'm currently working on the first draft.
A common misconception that I too believed would be true, was that plotting took the all the surprise away, because you already know what's going to happen next. I too was worried this would take all the fun away, but let me tell you, there are still little things that haven't been created. There's always dialogue too, especially when you're dealing with characters you know so well, some of which are crazy (or is that just my characters?). Plus nothing is set in stone. Things are getting moved around all the time in my draft. I'm just going with what works best with the pacing and story.
So, I'm not an official convert, because there is something so satisfying about starting from scratch and letting your fingers go, but for NaNo and any future deadlines (hey, a girl can dream), I'm thinking plotting is the road I'll be taking.
*Note: I am not being paid to endorse this class. I am only recommending it because I enjoyed it and it worked for me. Just passing along the good writing karma.