Just a little.
I'm having trouble getting back into a routine with HM, and I'm not sure why. Part of it may just be that I did break my routine. That can make things a bit hinky.
Writer's block obviously isn't the problem, because I'm not having trouble posting. Or working on other things. So it's HM related.
What about HM is giving me pause?
Characters? No, I love my characters. The Group teases me about playing with the guys. And I like the supporting cast. So characters are not the problem.
Setting? Again, love the setting. A little town in the mountains of Colorado with a blend of people whose families have been there for generations and newcomers using the former village as a bedroom community. All good.
Plot? I like the murder. Which is weird sentence to type. Victim-good. Murderer-good. But there's something nagging there. Subplots aren't strong enough. And I'm not sure that the clues are great. Or the resolution.
In summary, what I hear myself saying is that it needs revision. Okay. But revision is for after the first draft is done. First draft is for just getting it down in all its messy glory. As Deb says, "Sometimes The First is painful, embarrassing or messy." And for first drafts, it should be.
So, I need to tell that Inner Editor to shut up and wait her turn.
Showing posts with label plotting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plotting. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Brainstorms
They're wonderful things.
I was writing Morning Pages--a habit Deb got me into a year or so ago--and thinking about the fact that I haven't written as much on HM as I'd wanted to this month. So the questions started.
Why not? Because I'm not sure where to go from here. Wait, that's not exactly true. I want to wrap it up but the word count is about a third of what I need minimum.
How to fix that? Need more going on. A few more subplots. Maybe change the structure. Add more depth to some of the current subplots.
Cool! Now I have a blueprint. Decide what to add and what to expand. Then I will employ a little of The Novel Plotter's Toolkit (thanks, Giles!) and resummarize my chapters with what I need each to accomplish. Then do it.
Just that easy.
In theory.
I was writing Morning Pages--a habit Deb got me into a year or so ago--and thinking about the fact that I haven't written as much on HM as I'd wanted to this month. So the questions started.
Why not? Because I'm not sure where to go from here. Wait, that's not exactly true. I want to wrap it up but the word count is about a third of what I need minimum.
How to fix that? Need more going on. A few more subplots. Maybe change the structure. Add more depth to some of the current subplots.
Cool! Now I have a blueprint. Decide what to add and what to expand. Then I will employ a little of The Novel Plotter's Toolkit (thanks, Giles!) and resummarize my chapters with what I need each to accomplish. Then do it.
Just that easy.
In theory.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)