From Notes to Novel
I want to say I’ve been going to town on the plotting, but I’m not sure what “going to town” implies. If it means I’m excited, curious and coming up with an amazingly multi-dimensional plot that blows me away, then I’m going to town.
Each day when I’ve sat down to write and work on this book, I’ve felt resistance to writing. Not necessarily a bad thing, just a perfection thing. I sit down not having any idea what I’ll be writing about, which is something I hate. Often it deters me from writing if I don’t have anything to say.
But using Holly Lisle’s Create A Plot Clinic gives me a route to follow. No one–and I mean NO ONE–has ever made me think about plot at the level of depth and complexity as Holly does in her amazing book. I’m currently working through the “throwing stuff against the wall” section and literally come up with at least one new plot scene for each card (You’ll have to read it to know what I’m talking about. And I promise it’s worth it.)
I’m about 10 scenes into the novel and I estimate I’ve got 70 or so total scenes to come up with. The difference between this novel and the other 6 I’ve finished is that those ones were always started with only the beginning and ending scenes in mind. I never fully developed my story before starting, considering myself much more a pantser than plotter. Problem was, when I got through about the first 1/3 of the story, I’d hit a wall. Not knowing where I was going to write next turned into my enemy, not my friend.
But I want to try writing this novel differently. Knowing the plot events before I get started makes sense. We’ll see if I continue to feel that way. I don’t feel my creativity is being compromised by “outlining” my fiction. I hope it doesn’t, because at that point, the joy fizzles out of creative writing. We shall see!
Are you a pantser or plotter? What gives you the most grief in your writing process? What gives you the most pleasure?
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