Pants vs. Plot and ROW80 Check-In

After much red ink, I finished the first round of scribbling and notes on my book. Here’s a pic as an example of the work I’ve done so far:

Next step: I need to make all of my changes in the Word file. Some of this is easy, some not so much. The rewording, removing of overused words, and fixing spelling and grammar isn’t so bad. The challenge is going to be filling in the spots where I wrote something to myself like “fill in Elizabeth’s backstory here,” and “figure out why this happens.” Nothing sucks more than a plot hole.

I’m planning to start with the easy stuff and work my way up to the bigger challenges. The more I read over the MS, the more familiar I become with what needs fixing. I’m also brainstorming new scenes, so by the time I’m ready to write them, I’m hoping to have a good grasp on exactly what is going to happen in them.

In general, I’m more of a pantser than a plotter. I prefer to write the first draft by the seat of my pants. I don’t have more than a vague idea of where the story is going. It’s fun to see what is going to happen as I write. It’s impossible to avoid plotting my way through edits though. Maybe that’s why I find editing more challenging – because it’s not exactly natural for me. Still, it’s going well so far.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

Advice from Janet and Steve – Books on Writing

In between the fiction books I love to read, I try to squeeze time here and there for a non-fiction book or two. When I’m editing, like I am now, I pull out a few books for tips. Tonight, I grabbed How I Write by Janet Evanovich and On Writing by Stephen King. These are two of my favorite authors, and I love their distinct voices.

Janet first. I flipped to the chapter “Revising and Editing.” She gives a great rewriting checklist that I think is especially helpful. A couple of these items are some that I’m finding I have to revisit in my book: “Is the villain strong enough to give the main characters a true challenge?” “Is it clear what the main characters want and what are their motivations?” “Have you edited out words that have no function?” My villain isn’t nearly as vicious as she could be, I haven’t yet introduced one of the main characters, and I’m hacking through the forest of unnecessary words: really, very, just, that, etc.

Stephen King is also full of fantastic advice I’m taking to heart. One of my favorite pieces of wisdom is the Rewrite Formula: 2^nd Draft = 1^st Draft – 10%.  I’m tossing quite a bit from the rough draft, from those unnecessary words to sometimes full pages of things that just don’t work.

I also find myself stumbling a bit on the backstory. This book is a sequel, and I have to bring the reader up to speed on some topics. S.K. says “(a) everyone has a history and (b) most of it isn’t very interesting. Stick with the parts that are, and don’t get carried away with the rest.” I’m doing my best to trim the excess and leave only the info that directly impacts the storyline in this book.

But I am making progress! And I’m pretty pleased with it so far. I started with a printed out copy of the book and a red pen. I’ve made notes and changes for 15 of 24 chapters. It’s clear, though, that when I translate my notes from the written pages to my Word document, I’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s a little daunting, but I’m encouraged by how the book is shaping up so far.

I think I have just enough time to edit another chapter before bed, so I will sign off here. Happy writing, ROW80-ers!

Updates and ROW80 Day 3 Check-In

I’ve been busy over the last few days! I’ve been working on a new blog project with Sam from 13 Magickal Moons, and I’m happy to announce that the Ask-A-Witch blog went live yesterday! It’s a place on the web where your spiritual and magickal questions will be answered by practicing Witches. We have a list of questions that we’re working on answering for you, so please keep checking in if you sent a request.

This past weekend, I joined a read-a-thon that Back of the Book Reviews was hosting. It was a blast, and I finished off several new books that I can recommend. I’ll post a couple of reviews later this week!

        

ROW80: I started a new writing challenge in an attempt to finish my latest re-write. I have to admit, I was procrastinating about opening the rough copy of the book. As much as I like the story, right now it’s a mess and I was dreading wading through it all. But I pulled out my printed copy of the beast last night and started whacking away at it with a red felt-tip. The pages I’ve worked on so far are now so red they look like they’ve been sitting on the floor of Eric’s dungeon! I have to admit, though, perhaps the story isn’t quite as messy as I thought.

I will sign off here and get back to work! Good luck, ROW80-ers!

New Writing Goals

In the spirit of shared insanity, I have decided once again to join a writing challenge. Every year for the past five, I’ve done NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month – write 50k words in the 30 days of November) and met my goal each time save one – and that’s only because I didn’t set my time zone correctly on the website. It makes November crazy, but always productive!

I recently discovered another writing challenge site, called A Round of Words in 80 Days. In this one, you set your own goals to complete within 80 days. Sounds a little less hectic than NaNo! I do well with deadlines, so I figure I’ll give this a try.

Anyone who’s been asking me when my next book will come out has heard me say that it is written, but unedited. Every time I get into editing it, I get frustrated because it’s not going to be so much an edit as a compete rewrite. Especially after my recent trip to New Orleans. There are so many things I want to incorporate from that trip into my next book, that a rewrite really is necessary.

So here’s my goal for the next 80 days: Finish the rewrite of Free Spirit. I’m not going to say it’ll be completely edited by then, but I’d like it to be in pretty decent shape with only some cleaning up and polishing to do before I send it in to the folks at Crescent Moon Press.

I have to make this goal! And here’s why: I have another book that I’m working on that is due to the publisher in less than a year. I’d really like to complete my sequel before I get any farther into that book though. Also, I want to be able to answer people’s questions about a sequel with a date! And the only way to do that is to get it into my editors’ hands.

I’m very excited that my husband, John, already jumped into the challenge with me. We may not have a very clean house for the next 2 and a half months, but I think writing a couple of books is a fair trade!

The 3^rd round of ROW80 just began July 4^th – who wants to join me? Yes, Sam and Amy, I’m talking to you!

Novel Playlists - What Do You Listen to When You Write?

When I sit down in front of my computer to write, my usual writing soundtrack is background TV noise, the first-person shooter game my husband is playing on the X-Box, or various purrs and meows of my cats asking for attention. Occasionally, however, I will listen to music playlists as I write.

This was especially important when writing Magick Charm. One of my main characters, Rachel, was the lead singer in a band called Cajun Fried Steak. I listened to a sample CFS playlist as I wrote the scenes at Voodoo Pete’s, the bar where the band played. It helped me to visualize the scene in my mind more clearly, and hopefully make it all that much more tangible to the reader.

Here’s a playlist of all of the songs from Magick Charm: Magick Charm playlist

What do you listen to when you write?

Editing - Show and Tell (and big scary sharks!)

Remember show and tell in kindergarten?

The students talk about an object they brought from home for a few minutes before the others get a chance to examine the object up close. They have the chance to see it and touch it. Depending on the item, all of the senses come into play, and they might be able to smell, taste, or listen to it as well. Then the teacher keeps the class moving quickly and asks the next student to take his turn.

Children can have short attention spans, though, so why does show and tell work?

Let me illustrate the answer with my own personal show and tell. I considered becoming a marine biologist when I was younger because I am fascinated by sea life. One of the most fantastic creatures to live in the ocean was the Megalodon. This enormous shark became extinct about 1.5 million years ago. It could reach lengths of 40 - 50 feet - larger than a city bus - and its teeth are the size of an adult’s hand. Cool stats, right? But I’ll bet you checked out the photos before reading this entire paragraph.

When writing and editing, it’s recommended that you show not tell. Use the words to paint a picture and include as many of the senses as you can.

Here’s an example of a scene I cut from Magick Charm:

            “Most stalkers are loser ex-boyfriends or someone the stalkee already knows.”

            “That can’t be right,” I said. “If that was true, it would be easy for police to catch the guy doing the stalking, right?”

            “As if. That’s where it starts to really suck. Because lots of places don’t even have laws against being a clingy, scary asshole.”

             “What are you talking about?” I asked. Sometimes Rachel spoke her own language, and nobody else understood what she was talking about, least of all me.

            “No stalker laws,” she said, frustrated I didn’t understand her random banter. “Stalker laws are fairly new, and lots of places have to get with the program. Other places blow them off. And lots of assholes still believe the woman who gets stalked deserves it. You saw Officer Roberts the other night. How much help is a tool like him going to give us?”

            “None,” I agreed. “But others like Officer Beaty will help us.”

            “Yeah,” she admitted. “She’s cool.”

            “Back to the stats.” I brought Rachel’s focus back to the central question. “Do you honestly think it’s someone we know who’s causing this trouble? And why?”

             “Nah, our friends are cool. But I did live with Ted for a while. Maybe I suck at judging character.”

Why did I remove this scene? Because all it did was tell. It’s boring because nothing happens here. It’s more of an information dump than a well-rounded scene. Wouldn’t it be better for me to convey this information through the characters’ actions? Can’t I show how the police’s hands are tied in the ways they respond to the sisters’ calls for help? And there are so many ways to illustrate how much stalkers suck through his (or her!) actions.

I try to think of writing like show and tell. Keep the action moving so nobody gets bored. Paint the picture with words – show – more than overwhelming the reader with an information dump. Tell only in small doses.

Still need convincing? Then ask yourself - the next time you’re at the beach are you going to remember my statistics about a big extinct shark, or will you remember the artist’s drawing of the Megalodon? I thought so.


While you’re sunbathing on that beach, convinced never to swim in the ocean again, you might want to check out the Meg series by Steve Alten. It makes a great summer beach read!

My Favorite iPhone Apps for Writers

Okay, I admit it: I’m totally obsessed with my new iPhone! I ordered it the first moment it was available for my network, and I’ve had it in my hands for about 7 weeks. Right now, I have 68 apps on it.


The amount of apps available is staggering! I’ve found that it can be daunting to wade through pages and pages of them with variations of the same function. How do you choose? My best resource for apps has become my friends, who recommended some of my favorites: Star Walk, the beautiful astronomy app that allows you to point your phone at the sky and identify constellations, planets, and satellites while giving you information about all of it (totally worth $2.99); and Words with Friends is a Scrabble-like game that allows you to play a round with your friends whenever you have a spare moment (free!).


Recently I’ve been seeking out apps for writers. I honestly don’t know what has taken me so long to do it. Maybe it was too many hours spent playing Angry Birds that distracted me from finding useful, productive apps.


With so many programs available, it’s easy to find good ones for writers! Of course there are some that suck too, and others that are just plain expensive. Did I mention I’m a big fan of free? If the app warrants it, though, I don’t mind paying for it. So here are a few that I’m using right now, and if they’re not free, I think they’re worth the price.


Wikipanion (free) – This streamlined version of Wikipedia is a great research tool.


Kindle (free) – Because every writer loves to read!


Dragon Dictation (free) – I’m somewhat skeptical about dictation programs because they tend to make mistakes. This one has a couple of features that makes it worth trying out. It’s amazingly easy to use, you can edit the resulting text, and it allows you to text message, email, or post to social media sites. Have a brilliant idea about a story line when you’re not in front of the computer? Just dictate and email it to yourself.


WriteChain (free) – Use it to set daily writing goals for yourself.


WriMoDemon (free) – This app helps you keep track of your NaNoWriMo stats. Or have your own WriMo challenge anytime.


Dictionary.com (free) – A good basic dictionary and thesaurus. It has daily words and writing questions as well as a feature that allows you to look up a word by merely speaking it aloud.


WhiteNoise ($1.99) – I love this one! It has a lot of cool uses, but it’s ideal for background noise to block out neighborhood sounds around you while you’re trying to work. Also, if you’re writing a scene about a storm, for example, combine heavy rain and thunder sounds to put you into your scene.


MyWriting Spot ($2.99) – I can’t see writing an entire book using any app, but this one is perfect for jotting down a scene while you’re on the metro. It has a dictionary and word count feature (so it’s perfect for NaNo!). Once you’re done writing, save it and either email it to yourself or sync with the partner web application.


BlogPress ($2.99) – This works with most of the major blog platforms and social networks. It’s ideal for writing shorter posts when you’re on the go and uploading pictures and videos.


Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus ($24.99) – I know, I know. You’d probably consider a $3 app, but $25?? Especially considering you can get a thesaurus for your iPhone for free, it begs the question of why you would buy this. I know that’s what I was thinking when my friend, poet Amy Lyre Turner, told me about it. Then I had the chance to play with the app on her phone, and immediately bought it for myself. Why? Because it’s cool and it’s specifically for writers! Of course it gives you synonyms and antonyms, but it has tons of excellent features. My favorites are the examples showing how a word is used in a sentence and the word notes which point out common mistakes and proper usage. Just go check it out in iTunes and see what you think!


Are there other great apps for writers that I’ve missed? Comment and let me know!