Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Devine Intervention or just Mischief Faries

I'm trying to write really I am but today my distraction level is at an all time high. Seriously I was starting to wonder if there is some sort of otherworldly influence going on here.

Just just slip into he zone, fingers flying when my lap top crashes for no reason. Giving me the dreaded blue screen Error report. Dumping physical memory and all that. ACK! 30 minutes of stressing and it is fixed. Working fine again, don't know what I did or didn't do but *shrugs*

Get comfy and start again...cat throws up on carpet. Clean up mess, head for afore mentioned comfy spot, cat throws up again & phone rings....Hubby is off early from work. Will be home in an hour of so.

There goes my quiet writing time today. maybe I'll just lock myself in the bathroom for the rest of the day. My goal is 3,000 words before bed tonight, dammit and I will make it even if I have to duct tape myself to the roof.


*Image:Mischief by Authur Rackham

Friday, March 9, 2007

Procrastination

This is so me. I always did my best work in school the night before a project was due. There is something about a looming deadline that spurs my creativity, sending me into high gear. My best work has always been finished during an adrenaline fueled panic. Which is one reason why writing is so difficult. Right now I don't have a deadline. No contract, no legalities, no agent emailing. I'm a nobody, just like thousands of others out there. So if I spend a month on research then what does it matter, if it takes me a year...or so... to write a book who cares?



Procrastination is the bane of every wanna-be author out there. It is the dragon that must be slayed. No mercy, no second chances. If I am going to succeed then I had better get to work. Until the day I get to sign my name to the bottom of a contract then I am nothing but a dreamer with delusions of grandure.

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Pantster vs Plotter

Had anyone asked me this question in the beginning I would have stated 'Pantster' in a heartbeat. There is something cool about writing from the hip, closing your eyes and pointing on a map to decide where to go. A rebel of the writing craft.

I am fast learning that I am just not one of them.... I think

For me writing by the seat of my pants is fine for RPG's or small bits because you don't have to worry about what happens 50 pages later. Now I want to plan out the entire book, not in detail because I'm afraid that will stifle some of the creativity but I need to know where they are going. What secrets are hidden behind the corners that they don't know about? What little clues can I drop in now that aren't understood until later? How can I write a reaction to something if I don't know about something in their past that will aid or hinder the decision making process.

The most difficult part I have found is that I can't write for a character until that character has taken on a life of it's own in my subconscious. The vicious circle is that how can this character develope unless I get writing and see how they react to what is happening. Technically a pantster trick in my book.

Sound confusing...yea to me too.

For now the only way to describe my current technique is to plot out the scenes but then let the characters be the pantsters.

I'll let you know if it works.

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