Writing News
Finally, this was the week I have been waiting for since October. What happened in October? I put Overturned on the shelf, sent out my queries, and started on a new book idea. My big plan was to do my pre-writing research (which is now complete) and then actually outline my story using two resources that I happened to bump into as I was writing Overturned. Well this week I gleefully opened a fresh word document, titled it LMR Outlining Exercises and opened web pages to the two different authors that were kind enough to post their writing process online for the rest of us. Oh, in case you hadn’t guessed I am keeping the title for my WIP (work in progress) a super deep dark secret and am being very tricky by referring to it by its initials LMR. So ha ha.
Okay then, the two outlining methods are from two very different writers. The Snowflake Guy is a Christian writer and speaker and writing lecturer who is very careful to not only give you sound advice but to refrain from the use of colorful metaphors or ever comparing anything literary to sex. This guy, has no such qualms. But he knows how to write and has some great info to share. Just be forewarned if you are tripping over to his site.
So I finished step one (take an hour to write a one sentence summary of your novel) and step two (take another hour to write a one paragraph summary of your novel) of The Snowflake Guy’s 10 steps for outlining your novel and wrote down everything that I needed beside each of my characters for doing step three. Step three is an outline for each character. Over at Jim Butcher’s Live Journal I completed my bare bones two sentence story outline and wrote down all of the info that he wants you to find out about each character beside the name of that character in my outlining document. Then I took this little note off of my cork board that had about five questions to ask your secondary characters and I put those beside my character’s names in my outlining document. So…as you have probably guessed. Next week I’m outlining each character.
This week I also moved some of the notes I wrote on random scraps of paper into my “Writer’s Notebook” document on Deitrich the laptop. And I constructed a business card for the upcoming writer’s conference on the westside so that if any editers or agents happen to grab me by the shoulders, shake me visciously, and demand that I give them my business card, I can hand over one of my cards immediatly and escape without injury. Or something like that.
Oh and I’ll be at the conference during my blogging day so I’m not sure how much blogging is going to happen next week. I’ll definitely give a rundown on the conference, the lovely lectures, what exactly is in the box lunches that we ordered, and whether I end up caving and wearing nylons with my skirt, or attempting to remedy the whiteness with a goodly supply of last summer’s sunless tanning lotion. Exciting questions all!
