Plotting the Properly Paced Prose

(I’m sorry about the title; I just couldn’t help myself…)

Plotting is one of those hit-or-miss kind of things. Sometimes, ideas will flood your mind with incredible possibilities of unbelievable (or completely, “well duh“) images. But, then there are the days when you can’t, for the life of you, think up one tiny, little scheme to foil the bad guys. Now, I’ve seen some writers tackle the plotting process like some football players tackle…oh, let’s say Aaron Rodgers. Unfortunately, I am not one of those writers. I need highlighters, post-it notes, dry erase boards…divine intervention…to even put a dent in my plots. Fortunately, once I get going, there’s usually no stopping me. Usually.

Over time, I’ve found that I need to revisit the plotting-boards to make sure that everything is all-fine-and-dandy. Even then, after countless plot revisions and agonizing editing sessions, I’ll discover a looming plothole that stands out despite the rest of the uber-cool plot. And, as most civilized writers would do, I simply flip my shit.

How could this happen? I’ve geared countless sticky notes with the sole purpose of protecting my unsuspecting manuscript from the evils of plotholes and–possibly worse–pacing problems. And yet, when editing fever rolls around…*wham, bam, thank you ma’am!* Houston, we have a problem.

Before I go any further, I feel I should warn you that while I’m not a perfectionist, I do have OCD tendancies. And I’m very visual. And I’m a masochist.

But I like plotting. In fact, I re-plot every five-or-so chapters just to make sure that my plot is the best it can possibly be. I’ve been meaning to do this post for a while now, but it’s been a bit of a trouble maker for me. Everyone plots differently, and even I can’t commit to a fool-proof way of doing it. I can, however, show you the jist of how I plot. I can only hope that it helps someone else to do their impossible plot.

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1. I start off with a package of post-its (extra sticky, because I move them around a lot!) then I take my trusty dry erase boards (two of them), a few markers, and sit down with a glass of wine (or the whole bottle) to get started.
2. As the juices start flowing, I write down each idea onto a post-it and stick it to the dry erase board. At this point, it doesn’t matter what order they are in so long as I’ve got them written down and stuck to my handy-dandy white board.
3. Once my imagination dries up, I grab my second dry erase board–and even more post-it notes–and start to organize the chaos. I start re-writing the plots-points on different stickies based on what they mean to the story I have in my head.
   • Main plot points are on blue post-its.
   • Secondary storylines are on green post-its.
   • Romance plot points are written on pick stickies.
   • Comments/questions are on yellow.
   • Ideas that I’m not so sure about get put on purple.

   I place them all on the second board in a logical order…

4. …then go through the pointless step of writing them down again, by hand, on the freshly cleaned, first white board–by coordinating colors, of course. There’s no point in telling me how utterly stupid this step is–I’m well aware it is repetitive and tedious–but this is one of those OCD/Masochistic tendencies I warned you about earlier. Normal people, feel free to skip step 4.

   Step 4 ends up looking like this:

   

5. Once all of that is done and I’ve started the actual writing, I keep a spreadsheet of my word that helps to keep everything in order and tracks the pacing of the novel. This log tells me all the major details of my plot, starting with the act, chapter, chapter-summary, the time and date of the chapter, the point of view, setting and chapter word count. I also have two extra columns called “Point of Chapter, which helps to keep me from including pointless scenes, and “Changes“.
   The Changes column is there to help me keep track of what I need to change based on my instincts, and what my critique partner and critique group thinks I should change.
   The last column is the Total Wordage column which uses an auto-formula to tally up the total word count of the whole novel.
   Here’s a screenprint of what my spreadsheet log looks like:

Now that I’ve shown you how I do it, why don’t you drop me a comment and tell me how you do it?

Want your own plotting-spreadsheet? Here’s my template.



It’s research, I swear.

One of my very favorite things about being a writer is the simple fact that it gives me the excuse to research the most…unusual things. I mean, come on…if someone sees me reading a book on medieval torture devices, I have an out– “Oh, I’m just researching some of the horrendous methods used during the Spanish Inquisition for a book I’m writing. How utterly barbaric they were back in those days; I’m sure glad we’ve evolved into a more civilized species.”

Or maybe that one time, when my boyfriend got a little too nosy and took a little peek at my browser history? “Oh honey…don’t worry, I can explain my interest in demonic possessions, exorcisms, and creepy pagan rituals. I swear its just research for my next book.”

I thought it would be fun to do a post on some of the research topics I’ve used in the past few years. Some of them are somewhat normal, while others…well, they are subjects that only a writer might understand. Actually, maybe this should be a writer only post, because otherwise, someone might try to have me committed to a white-padded-wall institution…

So, like I said before, I’m going to list a few of my most recent, Google-powered searches.

• YouTube video search of “big cats”. Yes, that’s right– Big Cats. My current work in progress has three paranormal night races, demons, vampires, and shapeshifters. I wanted to see video of a lion/leopard/cheetah (you name the kitty) running/pouncing/stalking so I could accurately describe it in my book when my shifters transform into–you got it–Big Cats. And thanks to the BBC and their excellent wildlife footage, I can.
• Infomercials. Uh huh…infomercials. I was writing a scene and one of the characters started to make the point that someone’s idea was as stupid and pointless as __________—and I needed an infomercial to fill in the blank. So I did a quick search; this is the best one by far….
• High-end, designer clothing and evening dresses.
• Gunshot wounds–where to aim to maim, not kill. What can I say, there’s a war going on in my books–I want it to be realistic.
• Military helicopters. I needed a helicopter in my book and I needed to know which one to use…
• The weight of the KA-BAR survival knife and the different holsters one can use it with.
• I received a package in the mail a few months back. Inside, were two books I purchased for research purposes. However, when my family saw what was inside the package…lets just say I had to remind them that I write murder scenes.
  • Howdunit Forensics by Dr. DP Lyle
  • A Book of Poisons by Serita Stevens & Anne Bannon

Of course, those books took their positions on my bookshelf next to Dr. DP Lyle’s other works, Murder and Mayhem and Forensics and Fiction…

Of all the things I’ve looked into, one of the best research topics I read was on Multiple Personality Disorders. The book, Switching Time by Dr. Richard Baer, is the story of a woman, Karen, and her seventeen different personalities. I won’t go into the details, but I was truly amazed by this story and the depth of this illness. I was absolutely spellbound by Karen and her alters, all whom had their very own names, personalities, and purposes.

I’d actually been looking down the psychology aisle at Borders when I came across the book, took a peak inside…and couldn’t put it down. I couldn’t imagine anyone questioning my choice of reading material…until of course I brought it home and my family looked at me like I’d grown four extra heads. Why in the name of God would I want to read such a thing? The girl had obviously been abused and now suffered from a psychological illness; it was a tragedy, not entertainment, and certainly not research for a paranormal romance!

And the really sad part was, I could actually see their points. This was a tragedy, and I was a little too enthralled by the whole concept of it.  Of course my family (who happen to think my interest in all things “different” to be…well, different) got me thinking.What kind of a lech am I that I can sit down for four straight hours and read through page after page of trauma and illness and hopelessness? Obviously a very sick kind of lech…

…or a writer. Ah ha!

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, I have an excuse for my twisted fixation with the weird, the macabre, and the completely random. As writers, we’re naturally nosy and intrigued by the strange and unusual. We get ideas from everywhere and from everything. If something strikes our fancy, we want to know more about it, to learn everything we can, and we want to file it away for future use. Well duh, right?

So–what have you researched lately?

**Want to buy the t-shirt at the top of this post? The Write Snark

Sneaky Little Bugger

Christmas is coming, and coming fast! I’ve been busy this last week getting ready for it, but I still haven’t finished all of my shopping. Since I haven’t had much time to sit down and write, my brain has been running in overdrive to try to make up for the loss of exerted creativity. In other words, the voices have started screaming (in lieu of their usual mutterings). I’ll be at the store, browsing through the latest and greatest, looking like your average Christmas-shopping crazy person. But on the inside, I’ve completely checked out. My mind is a maze of plot-lines, juicy conflicts, and character issues. I swear, I think I might even hear myself mumbling from time to time…

I’ve got Kate and Caleb in some lover’s quarrel (so out of sync for the holidays, don’t you think?) at the same time that I have my Dark Goddess musing on the details of her newest plan for world domination. Then, I’ve got a group of rogue Immortals who are feeling extra left out and incredibly needy (even though they don’t make their debut until book six–that’s right book six, and they’re already bitching at me!)

But that isn’t all. I’ve been working on my plot (which I’ll be blogging about in the next couple of posts) so I have what if I do this, or what if I do that‘s competing with irate Rogues, quarrelsome couples, and a Dark Lord-ess with a hard-on for taking over the world. And that’s not even counting the characters who just turned traitors and are deciding on their best course of action for ambushing the Vampire General!

Peachy, just peachy. Why do I suddenly have flashbacks to my sixteenth birthday at the DMV? Oh yeah, that’s right, “Everybody take a number and wait your turn.” Order would be such a handy little tool to have at my disposal. Too bad my brain doesn’t do order. I picture my characters taking their number, then glancing between the paper slip and me with a look of are-you-effing-kidding-me writing on their faces. It’s sad that I’m amused by the visual…

On one side, this whole “bonanza” of mental goodies is awesome. I’m coming up with some quality ideas. Plot lines are a necessity in my world, and conflict is as important as romance in my novels. If my writing is in short supply, my idea-pool is overflowing.

On the other hand, I think my brain might explode from all of its recent activity. While I’m not exactly aware of any overactive-brain related deaths, I won’t rule out the possibility–especially when the idea of it happening to me seems so real.

But enough about my up-and-coming implosion; I do have something to blog about today, and it will only take a few short sentences, so get ready–I wouldn’t want you to miss it!

I save each chapter in its own Word document, so I don’t necessarily know how many words are in my MS at any given time. In the chapter, yes. In the MS, no–unless of course I take the time to add up all the different files, which is precisely what I did. And I was shocked to discover that I’ve been quite the busy little bee. My current word count for “Book 1” of the Immortal Series is at an unbelievable 35,822–and it completely snuck up on me!

I really don’t know why I’m shocked by this–it isn’t as if I don’t write four-thousand-word chapters–but I am. It probably has something to do with the fact that when writing, I only look at the word count for each individual chapter, and that never goes above six thousand. To see the numbers 35,822 flash on the screen almost seems like some cruel kind of joke. But it isn’t. I know because I added the numbers…

…three separate times.

So yay! Go me! I’m “29%” done with my WIP, which is still–sadly–nameless.

Until next time, happy writing!

Technorati Tags: Word Count,Writing,Immortal Series,Characters

The Infamous MEME

Carol over at Carol’s Prints was nice enough to tag me in a “meme”. Now, I’m still new to blogging, but from what I’ve gathered from the blogs I read, a meme is basically a questionnaire. So, it’s my turn to answer the meme, and tag someone else…

So– Kayleigh, tag, you’re it!

What’s the last thing you wrote? What’s the first thing you wrote that you still have?

The first thing I wrote that I still have was called CFC vs. Bad Boys. In my defense, I was ten years old at the time. It was about two rival, gang-like clubs, your typical good vs. evil scenario. The bad club was always trying to bring down the good club. The big climax occurred when the Bad Boys kidnapped the CFC leader’s girlfriend and he had to save her! Yikes.

Write poetry?

The last time I wrote a poem was for my nana with I was nine. It pretty much sucked.

Angsty poetry?

I’m not good at poetry. Sorry.

Favorite genre of writing?

Paranormal Romance or its subcultures.

Most annoying character you’ve ever created?

I love all of my characters; they all have a piece of me in them, but…a character in an old PNR I wrote really got on my nerves. Dara: needy, insecure, jealous, selfish, evil. That pretty much sums it up.

Best plot you’ve ever created?

My current WIP has a pretty awesome plot.

Coolest plot twist you’ve ever created?

Hmm. Everything I write is a plot twist in its own little way.

How often do you get writer’s block?

I don’t so much get writer’s block so much as I lack the motivation to sit down and type out a scene.

Write fan fiction?

Once upon a time…

Do you type or write by hand?

I do both. I generally “write” out scenes because it helps me to get down the meat of it without dealing with OCD over grammar and spelling. After I hand write the most of it, I type it up and add the mashed potatoes and gravy….and obsess over grammar and spelling.  

Do you save everything you write?

Yep. I obsessively control/S every few seconds whenever I type. I back up all of my files on an external drive also. I once lost the MS I was working on because my computer crashed. I was at the halfway mark…

Do you ever go back to an idea after you’ve abandoned it?

I don’t like the word “abandoned”. Every “unfinished” piece I have gets filed away. I usually find my way back to it in time, after fresh ideas make it workable again.

What’s your favorite thing you’ve written?

I’m not entirely sure. I love all of my books, but I think I’d have to say my current WIP because of how organized I was when plotting. Everything seems to be paced pretty well and makes sense (so far).

What’s everyone else’s favourite story that you’ve written?

My current WIP “Book 1” of The Immortal Series is my fiancé’s and my CP’s favorite. But isn’t ‘newer always better’?

Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?

Of course. Who hasn’t? Really. Tell the truth.

What’s your favorite setting for your characters?

No preference. They go where the story takes them!

How many writing projects are you working on right now?

Too many. I’m working on 3 series. My main love, a PNR, is an open ended series, of which I’m currently writing in 3. So, including my other series, I have a total of 6(ish) WIPs.

Have you ever won an award for your writing?

Only A’s on English papers. I haven’t even submitted any of my writing into an contests—until now, I wrote strictly for myself.

What are your five favorite words?

Good question. I love curse words, of course—they just add such emphasis—but I won’t list those. I use “usually”, “tend to”, and “though” a lot, but I can’t think of any words I particularly like. I enjoy using strong verbs and adjectives.

What character have you created that is most like yourself

Kate (Immortal Series) is actually based off of me. She’s much stronger though and could totally kick my butt in a fight 😉

Where do you get ideas for your characters?

They come to me actually, silly as it sounds. I’ll be writing a story and some “voice” will pop into my head, like Hello, what about me? You can’t write this story without me! Hmm, that definitely makes me sound a little nutty…

Do you ever write based on your dreams?

Oh God—all the time. As a matter of fact, most of my novels have been based (on some level) from some weird dream I’ve had, which ironically makes me feel like I’m violating some copyright law…

Do you favor happy endings, sad endings or cliff-hangers?

I figure there are too many sad endings in real life to justify putting them in fiction. Obviously some scenes require sad endings and some novels just lead to one, but on principal, I only like sad endings in poems and short stories. 

But seriously– I can’t stand committing myself to a book (whether reading it or writing it) and ending up with a crap-tastic ending. It makes me feel so…tricked, like someone’s laughing and pointing fingers at me while taunting “ha ha! I got you!”

Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?

Unfortunately, yes. It’s a bad habit I’m trying to break. I tend to take FOREVER to write 500 words because I’m too consumed with “does that comma go there?” and “semicolon or period?”  Write or Die can usually help me avoid the grammar checks but then I get mad later when I’m reading over it and I see all of my mistakes…

This is why I am the world’s slowest writer.

Does music help you write?

I’m like Carol; I use music and lyrics to help me plot out scenes in my head, but I can’t listen to it when I write because it distracts me. Sometimes I can listen to piano music, but that doesn’t always work for me.

Quote something you’ve written. Whatever pops into your head.

“The TV was on and a commercial advertised for the Real Housewives of someplace-or-another.”

Wow, that was a lot of questions! I didn’t think I’d ever finish. Some of the questions really embarrassed me…like #1. Yep, that was the worst of them.

My next blog post will be back to “normal” and will be posted either Thursday or Friday. Have a great day everyone!

An Interview and a new Critique Partner

I’m a few days late on updating my weekly blog, but better late than never, right? I’ve been busy writing away for the past week and trying to get through some very important scenes. Unfortunately, I’ve been suffering from a serious case of brain-farts. I’ll sit down to write, have the scene plotted out, and then….*crickets*. Nothing happens. It’s like I can’t find my voice, and its REALLY annoying.

Luckily, I was able to write Interview #2 (featuring Caleb) which will be débuting on Carol’s Prints, a blog by author Carolina Valdez Miller, sometime this week! Caleb’s interview will be featured in a series called Totally Sane Interviews with Vampires, Hobbits, and Talking Toads, a series where authors interview their characters. These interviews are hilarious and very insightful into the minds of writers, the latter of which may not be a good thing…

I’m so excited to be one of the writers featured of Carol’s blog! I can’t wait to see Caleb’s interview up on the Web.

To see Interview #1, featuring Kate, click here.

Another huge plus this week is that I found a new (or old, depending on how you look at it) Critique Partner! I’ve been wanting  CP for a while now but I’m so picky about my work that I have been hesitant in really looking for one. Luckily for me, my MC Kate has a mind of her own and was determined to be a little crazier than I had originally intended. Because of a traumatic event, I’d been toying with the idea of giving her PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, for those of you who don’t know). Originally I had decided against it because I didn’t want her to seem weak–especially to herself–and I was afraid PTSD might do just that. But, like I said, Kate has a mind of her own. PTSD doesn’t change much in the story but it does take us to some other places.

Obviously, I needed to do some research on the disorder to make sure I got it right. So, instead of reading websites, I e-mailed my cousin Kelly–who just happens to have a degree in Psychology! We got to talking and she’s going to be my new CP. I trust her with this job for several reasons, one being the fact that she used to critique my stories when we were young. But, more importantly, we talk books all the time, and she knows what I like and what don’t. Kelly knows me and–most of the time–where my mind is headed even before I do! She isn’t a writer, but an AVID reader and I’m so very grateful to have her critiquing my work. Thanks, Kel, for all your help!

I’ve been sidetracked from the Immortal Series today by a story that’s pummeled its way to the front of my mind and is demanding to be written. Forced to comply (because to resist would only result in torture) I’ve started the beginnings of Dream Waker.

Dream Waker is a short story, though, I don’t know if I’d even call it that. I’m actually more comfortable calling it a “tale”. It’s short (obviously) and a bit of a thinker–and totally implausible. Still, its a story worth writing and one that has a pretty clear message. Once it’s finished, I’ll post in up on my blog for all to see.

Plotting, Characters, & their Complexities

Plotting & Characters—The Two Elements

When writing, there are two basic elements that make up a novel: plot and characters. These two elements must coexist—and coexist well—for the book to be anything worth reading. And let’s face it, why bother writing something that no one wants to read? It’s the plotlines and the characters that hold a reader’s attention. They are the glue that not only binds the story together, but connects the story with its audience.

I have a love/hate relationship with the plotlines of my books. Out of all of the elements that go into novel writing, it’s the plot that is my Achilles heel. I constantly worry that the plot is missing something, that it could be better. Or—when I’m having a particularly bad day of writing—that it’s absurd. While plot-holes can be patched up, a bad plot is seldom able to be revived.

I’ve been planning to write a blog post on plotting for the last few weeks. After all, It only makes sense that I write about the devil I know best. After reading a blog called Why You Should Interview Your Characters by Carolina Valdez Miller, I realized two things.

One—I don’t struggle with character relationships in my books. If anything, my characters keep the story alive. My books are (mostly all) character driven. They are about people and their journeys to the other side of the rainbow.

And two—obviously—plots and characters go together like babies and diapers. Basically—put the diaper on the kid’s head and you’re in for a messy time. But, put the diaper where it goes, and one element complements the other. When I look at it this way, I can really see that the more you know one, the better you will understand the other.

Plotting

I’ve spend countless hours plotting and re-plotting my novels. And I know, I’ll be re-plotting again and again before I’ve finished my currrent WIP. To date, my two plot boards look like this:

I know–I’m not the most organized person on the planet, but it works for me.

I’ll add new notes to the boards as they come to me because I need everything written out or I start to feel lost and overwhelmed. It helps when I can look over and see where I am and where I need to go.

Character Interviews

First off, I’ll be interviewing Kate, one of the main character of my current WIP, “Book 1” or the Immortal Series. Here goes…

I waited for Kate for about ten minutes in a small but comfortable private sitting room in the vampire palace. I knew she’d be late—I’d been warned by several of my characters that the reclusive assassin wouldn’t willingly submit to an interview. But, luckily for me, the King himself had extended my invitation to her, making it impossible for her to refuse.

Of course, that didn’t mean she’d have to be generous about it…

When she did arrive, she smiled politely—though it didn’t reach her eyes—and took a seat across from me on an antique settee that coordinated perfectly with the armchair I had chosen.

Me: “Hello Kate, how are you today?”

Kate: “Busy; I’m getting close to nailing another Dark Cell. No offense to you or anything, I just don’t see why you couldn’t have found someone else to interview. I don’t have time to be back in Crehmor, let alone sitting down for an interview.”

I was expecting this kind of response from her. I knew she hated the vampire city of Crehmor and wouldn’t be thrilled to be here, so I’d prepared myself for this line of argument.

Me: “You’re a main character in the upcoming book, Kate. Everyone wants to know a little about you, including myself.”

Kate: “I’m here because Gabriel told me to come, so ask your questions so I can get back to work. There is a war going on, or haven’t you noticed?”

Me: “Speaking of the war, what part do you play in it?”

Kate: “As you well know, I’m the General of the Assassins—the Assassins being a branch of the Vampiric Army. I work undercover to collect intelligence against our enemy, the Shade. Once I, or one of my people, infiltrate a Cell, we join up with the Slayers—the other branch of the army—and take them out. Then, we move on to another Cell.”

Me: “Sounds like dangerous work.”

Kate: “It can be.”

Me: “Don’t you ever worry about the things that could happen to you while you’re undercover?”

Kate: “Not much. I’ve thought about it, sure, but someone’s got to do it. Might as well be me—I don’t have anything to lose.”

Me: “Except your life…”

Kate: “It’s a war, Ms. Reese. People die every day—people with husbands, wives, children… I don’t have anyone. My family’s dead. Besides, I’m not afraid to die.”

Me: “You have someone; Micah. Tell me about him.”

Kate: Sighs and slouches back in her seat before answering. “My father was killed when I was a child. Micah had been very close to him, and he became my guardian. He’s…like an uncle to me.” Realizing where I had been going with this, she added, “Micah knows the risks of what I do. He also has his own life to live.”

Me: “I see. So you take on the tough assignments? So the soldiers with families don’t have to?”

Kate: “I’d rather risk my life than the lives of my men.”

Me: “So there’s no one in your life? No boyfriends or special someones?”

Kate: “No; I don’t get attached to people.”

Me: “No one?”

Kate: “No one.”

Me: “I’ve heard the gossip around the city. They say that you and the King’s cousin—the King’s Right Hand—are involved?”

Kate: “Caleb and I are acquainted only through our work; we’re both on the High Council. That is our only connection.”

Me: “He is quite attractive…”

Kate: “Your point?”

Me: “Well. He seems like he’s interested—”

Kate: “Well he’s not; and neither am I. Are we finished here?”

Me: “Not quite; I have a few more questions. You’re a legend throughout the immortal world—an icon for young girls. Why is it that you are afraid of relationships? Even the soldiers in your unit say that you can be cold as ice. They say you’re afraid of attachments.”

My bluntness must have taken her off guard. She glared at me and I added a mental note to add “deadly as explosion” to her bio…

Kate: “I can’t afford attachments, Ms. Reese. My job isn’t just a danger to my life, but to all those around me—”

Me: “Your father was killed in this war. Are you afraid to put your own loved ones through that pain if you are kill as well?”

Kate: “My—that has nothing to do with this interview. Leave my father out of this. As for your little observation, no, I’m not afraid of dying.”

Me: “No, you aren’t afraid of dying—we’ve established that. But that wasn’t what I asked. Are you afraid of getting involved because of the work you do?”

Kate: “Next question.”

Me: “After you answer my last one.”

After a long pause, Kate stood and smiled.

Kate: “It’s been a pleasure, Ms. Reese. I hope you got what you needed for your report. I’ll tell a servant you’ll be leaving now so they can escort you—

Me: “Oh, don’t bother. I have one last interview today…with Caleb. He should be here shortly, if he isn’t already waiting in the hall.”

The look she gave me could have triggered heart attacks in the elderly. I, however, stood and extended my hand.

Me: “Good luck, Kate. I’ll see you again soon.”

Yay! That was fun. I’ll be doing that again soon!

can’t work with it–can’t work without it

The Internet (damn it to Hell) has proven to be more of a distraction lately than anything else has ever been to me. My plan of an all-night-write-a-thon yesterday night–squashed! After a five hour Twitter-binge, I turned off my laptop and accepted the defeat…then tossed and turned all night because of what an idiot I’d been.

This isn’t the first time the Internet has stood between me and my writing-goal; I have the attention span of a goldfish. The problem I find myself facing is that if I disconnect my Internet (which I must, at times, force myself to do) I end up needing it for something while I’m writing. A quick fact-check here and there are sometimes necessary. And I’m not the type of person who can just “put it off ’til later’, granted I do decorate my page margins with little notes to “fluff this up” and “details to come” and “rewrite when coherent”.

The point I’m trying to make is that I lack focus when the temptation of the Internet is at its greatest. Twitter, Facebook, Blogs…how is a girl to concentrate when the little Demon on my shoulder is constantly whispering “just five more minutes–then I’ll get to work”. You’d think I’d have a little Angel on the other shoulder, whispering sweet nothings about focus and priorities, but no. Either she’s on vacation or she’s turned to the dark side, because the bitch isn’t makin’ a peep.

As for the novel itself, it’s actually going pretty well. While its been slow going (mainly because of my *cough cough* other interests) its at least been quality work…except for the pages where my little notes fill the page margins. But really, it is my first draft. A rough draft. A really rough draft.

I’m actually feeling a bit accomplished right now. I’ve finally gotten around to updating my blog, which, while not beneficial to my book, is at least a good way to dust the cobwebs from my brain.

Now, I leave you with a picture of my brain on Internet:

Something tells me it’s not so cute when I do it…

Outlines and Changes

I know its been a while since I last wrote, but I’ve been too busy writing to click over to the Internet to update my Blog. But, I’ve taken a timeout tonight to do just that.

I’ve spend the last week and a half rearranging the order of some of the event of my book. Then I tweeked it a little more. It’s been a good change, if not a slow go of it. Still, I’m happy with the results.

Technically, I guess I’m back to writing chapter 8–but that’s only because I moved the previous chapter 8 to be chapter 10 and chapter 9 became chapter 11. I know…I know. It’s even more confusing when you’re the one doing to rearranging. Just one wrong move and POW, I accidentally delete a chapter. But don’t worry, that hasn’t happened in the last couple months.

I’ve outlined the next ten chapters, so I’m pretty excited. I know what’s to happen in ever chapter…I just have to write it out. And of course, figure out the details that link them all together. That’s something I do while writing though. It makes things a bit easier for me, and I get more of a “flow” when I do that.

Clifford the Big Red Dominatrix

Last night, I stayed up late writing, and while I didn’t get a lot written word-count-wise, I did get a really good quality scene written out. I was pretty ecstatic last night–especially after all the whining I did to my main squeeze over the past few days (love you Josh!). The scene went over a critical romantic choice. I wrote three sections back and forth between point of views. I would have written this entry last night, but I was exhausted when I finally closed my laptop–it was 4:30am!

Tonight I plan to finish up the last scene at the ball/dinner party and make my way into the next chapter! Of course, that’s been my plan for how long? Right…

I’m about an hour behind my schedule tonight. An unexpected project came up with my brother, the kindergartner. The project was, of course, due tomorrow. Perfect. We had to pull out the craft box and dress up Clifford the Big Red Dog for Halloween. F-ing perfect. Like I really had time for that… We actually had a really fun time together while working on E Man’s project. Here’s what we ended up with

…sort of a cross between a superhero and a dominatrix (the latter was unintentional). The mask just turned out that way. I would have fixed if, but I was in a hurry. Plus, it was a peel-and-stick foam and we’d already stuck it to the Clifford cutout by the time I made the connection…

As you can see, we gave Clifford a studded collar out of jingle bells. (The giant E on the cape is E Man’s initial)

I am rather proud of the poor thing. He can’t help that he’s not perfect.

Army of Darkness

It’s way past time to get back to my writing. Once again, I’ve taken too much time this past week to read or watch the new episodes of Bones, NCIS, CSI, and Lie to Me. Go figure… I’m a TV and book junkie. I read books 1-3 of the Texas Lone Star Series by Susan Mallery, which was of course superb. But now, back to my actual writing.

I did a tiny bit of plotting last night and am starting to get somewhere with a few loose ends. They aren’t quite right just yet, but they will be soon enough. I wanted to write yesterday or at least update my blog, but my right hand was not cooperating. Carpel tunnel (or something with similar symptoms) had my hand and wrist sore and achy. It was even swollen. It isn’t nearly as bad today; it’s a little sore but that’s it.

I’m working on the “ball” scene still, which just goes to show how much I haven’t been writing. Unfortunately, my mind has been in another frame of mind entirely. I have been thinking about the battle scene that I have coming about three-fourths way through the first book. Keep in mind, I’m not even a fourth a way into it… Still, I’m the kind of writer who skips around and writes what on her mind. I just haven’t given in to the temptation just yet; I’m really trying to stay in the “ball” frame of mind. 😛

Oh yeah! Speaking of battles, I found this picture online of the Army of Darkness. Pretty funny.