Google Gets Me

So, this is just a random post. I was googling 'plotting advice' since that's what I'm trying to do right now and I discovered a quote from Flannery O'Conner on some other writer's blog:

"You would probably do just as well to get that plot business out of your head and start simply with a character or anything that you can make come alive," she wrote to Hester. "Wouldn't it be better for you to discover a meaning in what you write rather than to impose one? Nothing you write will lack meaning because the meaning is in you."

Which is interesting because recently, in my creative writing class, we read a story by her titled "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and I really thought it was something else (meaning good, in this case). Especially after my professor started explaining more and more about the type of writer that O'Conner was.

I've been trying to plot out my book still. And I think I've realized that I've spent more time trying to write a plot down than I have attempted to simply write it out. Maybe I'm just not a plotter...

What about y'all? Plotters or Pantsers?

Wishy Washy

That is exactly what I am.

I can NEVER. EVER. NEVER EVER make up my mind.

For the past four years I have been jumping between two story ideas. One includes my personal therapy, and yet extensive religious research. The second one was a spontaneous reaction to what one of my "supposed" side characters would do in a certain unwanted situation. And I find that once I choose one, I constantly think about the other. It is a vicious conspiracy that works against me to make sure that I NEVER finish a single book. And I hate that it's working.

I suppose the smart choice would be to continue on with my second story idea, which so far has about eighty five pages done, and work on researching/outlining the first idea at the same time. Since neither will shut up for the other. But will this really work?

I guess we'll find out.

*insert dramatic closing sequence here*
To be continued...

New Directions

Every plot seems to find them. New directions that is. It's annoying, it's confusing, and sometimes just plain sloppy. But that's the way of writing it would seem. Annoying, confusing, and sloppy.

I have finally been able to write, with the help of my plotline that I wrote out not two to three months ago. Unforunately, when there is one change, there seems to be ten other details to add in. And I have had more than one change. It makes weaving a new idea and/or chapter into one's book very hard. When I try to steer one of my character's fates in a different direction, then suddenly it's very hard to get them back on the same track. But I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes. There's a million possibilities and yet you have to choose only one. Sounds a little bit like life and not just writing a book.

As it is, I am not much of a fan of outlining. It's not easy and it's definitely not a short process. Hopefully, these new ideas, or what I like to call diseases, won't spread through-out the entire length of the plot.

Outline

I don't know about you- but I like my sleep. I just happen to like coffee too though. Why can't ANYTHING be simple? :)

There are so many different ways to write a book. One of the questions I asked you about, oh I don't know SEVERAL weeks ago, was whether or not you were a plotter, or one of those fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of writers. I do believe that there is a type of writer that can be both though. I'm probably one of them, though not a very good one when it comes to choosing the ladder.

During the last week of June, I finished outlining my novel. "Finished" is a very fragile word though and I don't like using it, because truly, when is a writer's outline every TRULY finished? Never.

I used the afore-mentioned handbook that I purchased from Amazon "The Author's Outline..." by Abra Ebner. It helped me IMMENSELY! You have no idea. I'm the kind of writer that's not used to planning every step of my book out. Hence, why I have not been able to actually finish a book perhaps? I believe so. But the truth is, you can outline, write three chapters, fifty pages, have a whole WORLD full of ideas inside that pretty little head of yours and STILL not be able to get it out on paper...

Writer's block is a b*tch.

I think, since we've discussed "doubts" in the previous post and all that THAT entails, you can understand where I'm coming from and why my words are NOT. Pesky little issues that writing deals with, I tell you. But I am trying. And I will keep trying. I think one must set their own deadline in order to truly get it over with. I have so many dreams concerning the literary world with my book in it, and I need to get them realized.

Excuses can be a problem as well. You see, for the past ten days I have had my best friend visit me all the way from Boise, Idaho. Now THAT is a very viable excuse for my lack of writing in all areas (*cough* blog included *cough*) and therefore, I think that I can get away with June's lack of a fourth post :)

I love writing. And I dream of a completed book. Soon hopefully. I give myself one year to have at LEAST one fully written, possibly un-edited manuscript!

And with that goal being written, I will continue discussing outlines. I get so easily steered off course with these posts...

Outlines. Outlining. It is no easy task. I forced myself to finish outlining my novel, because let's face it, it is LONG overdue. So, the steps that I took (using my nifty little handbook- thank you, Abra) were first characters and their descriptions (including their goals in the story), THEN the setting/stage for the story (whether it was real or imaginary- plot that all out), and of course the plot (including whether or not one had several points of view or just the main character's). Inside the plot section there came to be a planning of chapters. This takes the longest (or at least it did for me). It was weird when I was finished outlining. I have this whole skeleton of a story laid out before me and I have to liven it up with all that words can spice? It was more daunting than relieving. Maybe, I just scare easily, but... at least part one of the journey is complete! Now it is writing :) Back to it then!

Re-Search: Step Two

(All right, so I needed to post earlier than planned due to an unplanned weekend trip this weekend! My cousin's graduating! Yay! So I'm not finished with this second step yet, but I'm confident that I can give an accurate account of the Research process. Yeah... I'm going to try to explain the boring in a non boring fashion. Good luck, right?)

Annnd... there are STILL pre-steps before the actual writing process begins.

They really aren't kidding when they tell you that you have to research your book. In fact, the re part of that word is the whole point of it's existence. You search a location... then you research the location of that location. And then you research the restaurants of that location's location, and the neighborhoods of the location's location until you can find the exact location of your character's location! And then you research ridiculous things that aren't so ridiculous in your book, like how to say Grandma in Greek (it's giagia in case you were wondering; pronounced ya ya). It's Exhaustion spelled with a capital E sprinkled with a little bit of sore fingers and dry eyes, and the code name for it is so cleverly called Research.

Why put myself through this Exhaustion you ask?

Because I need to know what the heck I'm talking about (and if you still don't know what I'm talking about, why don't you research it? ;) Ha ha).

If an author doesn't know what he/she is writing then how can he/she write it? Yes, I'm asking even more questions of you. And the easy answer is: he/she can't.

There are so many elements to a story. You have the characters, the plot, the setting, the problem, the antagonist, and a million stories behind each of these. Imagine researching backgrounds for each character. Researching elements of the plot, and location, etc. Basically researching elements within each element of the story. It's not easy...

For instance, my main character in the book that I'm working on has Greek heritage on her father's side. Now, I don't know about you, but I know I'm not going to learn the whole Greek language inside and out in a short amount of time before I can write (this is why the internet was born!) So I have to learn the words she will say the most in Greek (like Grandma/giagia from the above paragraph). You see, if you're going to research you might as well be smart about it. An author doesn't need to go to Italy to be able to write about it (again, thank you internet creators!), one simply needs to research the area that their story will mostly pertain to in Italy.

Needless to say, this step hasn't been very fun. It's work learning the details, but imagine if one of my readers came up to me and said, "I read your book and I love that Luna goes to the same high school as me! But why isn't she in Gym? It's required all four years...". And my answer would be to... blink several times while I thought of a good excuse. Of course, knowing every single detail of every single detail isn't going to be expected of the author, but in order to have a valid/realistic storyline they should know the most important ones.

Over all, this is probably the longest step to the pre-writing stage of an author's journey. Gathering information about information takes FOREVER and needs to be done carefully. Hopefully I can cross over from this step to the characters section... See you next week!