PLOTS! and a Con Report
MisCon was fabulous this year! I attended panels on World Building, Plotting (run mostly by writers who are self-avowed pantsers***, which I thought quite funny, but the info was still plenty useful), Dialogue, Getting Started as a Writer, The Naughty Bits, and probably others I'm forgetting. I also got to hear Patricia Briggs read twice, and shadowhelm (Maggie Bonham) once. Each reading was lovely. I now own a (personalized/signed copy of) one of Maggie's most recent novels, Lachlei, and have had my copies of both Bone Crossed and Cry Wolf autographed by Patty. Woot!
difrancis was sorely missed, not the least by me, although it was slightly cool that there were other con-goers who recognized me enough to ask me about Di (ergo I'm now an official part of her local entourage rather than just a friend and fan-girl). I visited with
cj_ruby . My friends Crystal and Rachael (aka
tangerine_33 ) came along for the ride since I was sans authorial-accompaniment.
I was inspired by the panels (as I often am). But this year, the biggest thing MisCon did for me though was to light a fire under my feet. I have a lot to do this summer. Research Master's programs (because while I've been a 'senior' in college for a while, I'm really going to graduate in less than 12 months [aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!]), plan curriculum for my own teaching next year (between 5 and 8 different 'classes' worth), and get the pre-writing done for my 'senior' research project and for my novel (because I WILL participate in nanowrimo this year). Oh, and I'm working part time and taking six credits worth of summer school. The many writers whose panels I attended were pantsers, which helped me to recall just how much of a plotter I am. So, I've laid out a plan for getting done all the crap projects I feel compelled to undertake.
Summer To Do Times
Fiction Reading
96hrs
8hrs per week
Geohexae Pre-writing
155hrs
2hrs per day
Research Article Pre-writing
44hrs
4hrs per week
Graduate School/Master's Program Research
80hrs
1hr per day
If you're interested in seeing just how I arrived at the above numbers (or if you feel you might benefit from a little plotting in your own life) see my crazy/detailed tables for the fiction parts under the cut.
Geohexae Pre-Writing To-Do List
1. Find articles/children's books on architecture (medieval European)
2hrs
2. Find articles/children's books on cave-dwelling cultures (Hopi/Navajo Indians?)
2hrs
3. *Write description of physical world
12hrs
4. Read articles/books on cave-dwellers/Hopi
8hrs
5. Freewrite/notate cave-dweller/Hopi research
2hrs
6. *Write description of world's cultures
32hrs
(22k words?)
7. Read vision quest articles (8)
8hrs
8. Freewrite/notate vision-q articles
4hrs
(2k words?)
9. Read architecture research
8hrs
10. Freewrite/notate architecture research
4hrs
(2.k words?)
11. Early/short (1k word) interview with lead characters
4hrs
(2k)
12. Describe/define Skar's (lead)'s magic
6hrs
(2k)
13. Describe/define other GH magic variants
4hrs
(1k)
14. Describe/define limits of GH scientific knowledge
5hrs
(1k?)
15. Describe/define rock poison (research?)
3hrs
(1k?)
16. Interview (approx.) eight (8) secondary characters (500 words ea.)
8hrs
(4k)
17. Profile 25 characters
31hrs
18. Plot last approx. 100 scenes**
20hrs
(5k new/7k total)
19. Late/long (2k word) interviews with lead characters
8hrs
(4k)
Totals:
153hrs
50k (approx.)
*See table on World Building categorized time-line/word-estimate below
**I'm defining “scene” loosely as any time there is a shift between POV characters or (with/without a shift in POV) a change in: location, time, consciousness, motivation/objective or when another character on stage enters or exits. A scene is also a chunk of writing where I am showing, as opposed to narrative 'telling' to get from one place in the story to another quickly. Typically a scene is around or below 500 words the way I write.
Categorized World-Building Time-/Word-Estimates
“X” represents a guestimated half-hour of writing/thinking which will be roughly 250 words
Geohexaes
Ilianians/ Illania
Illanian Ally
Tozzians/ Tozzia
Beyond Tozzia
CULTURAL WORLD
Religious Beliefs; Creation Myth
XX
XX
X
X
Eschatology; Funeral Culture
X
X
X
X
Religious Structure/Organization
X
X
X
X
Battle Culture
X
XX
X
XX
Economic Structure
X
XX
X
XX
Political Structure
X
XX
X
XX
Hospitality Culture
X
X
X
X
Food Culture
X
X
X
X
Family Structure
X
X
X
X
Gender Relations
XX
X
X
X
Artistic Culture
XX
XX
X
X
Architecture
X
XX
XX
XX
PHYSICAL WORLD
Geologic Makeup
XXX
XXX
XXX
XXX
XX
Climate
X
X
X
X
(Non-Geo) Natural Resources
X
XX
XX
XX
I want to have read 9 books before school starts, but I'm shooting for 10 (working toward the cumulative goal from January of 25 un-assigned novels in 2009). So, the intended summer reading-list:
Lachlei ~ shadowhelm
A Horse and his Boy ~ CS Lewis
The Silver Chair ~ CS Lewis
The Magician's Nephew ~ CS Lewis
The Last Battle ~ CS Lewis
Gulliver's Travels ~ Jonathan Swift
Pride and Prejudice ~ Jane Austen
The Oath ~ Frank Peretti
The Hobb's Bargain ~ Patricia Briggs
Ender's Game ~ Orson Scott Card
***pantser: a writer (or undertaker-of-projects) who writes/does things 'by the seat of their pants'; antonym: plotter
Thanks for tolerating the info-dump. I promise not to ever, EVER do such things in my fiction.