Confessions of a Pantser.

I’m relatively new to this writing gig.  After starting classes in 2000, I took a break, writing when the muse hit. (Which as all of us knows is every other day with an ‘r’ in July.)

In 2007, life slapped me up against the back of my head.  I had breast cancer.  (Some of you know this story, so feel free to skim.) And I realized that my ‘dream’ of writing someday, could be in trouble.  What if someday never came? Was I building a bridge to nowhere?

So I got serious.  I sold two essays that I’d had floating through my head for years. And then I started a novel.  I wrote about four chapters and determined I wasn't a thriller writer.  So I started what I thought was a young adult story. Four chapters in, I decided I wasn't a YA author.  So I started a romance. 

You’re sensing a pattern, right? 

I didn't know what kind of writer I was because I never finished anything.

Then a friend stepped in and said – finish a book.  Any book. That was the magic push I’d needed.  Once I slogged through the murky middle once and wrote THE END, I knew I could do it again.  And again.

Then my critique group asked me to do a plotting brainstorming on another author’s book.  She gave us the set up, then we brainstormed plot points.

I was clueless.  Lost without direction. And I’m afraid, not much help.

And now, looking back, I know why.  I didn't know these characters, so I didn't know what they would do.  Now, I’m not so woo-woo that I think my characters live in my head, but until I've played with them a while, I have no idea what the next scene is because I haven’t written them there yet.  And every writer knows if you change something that happens to a character midstream (like a new job or an emotional loss) it changes everything.  Because just like in real life, the events of a character’s life mold them into the person they could be.  Their essence.

I need to know my characters before I can throw out scene ideas.

What’s your take on brainstorming?  Can you play plot monkey for your friends?  Or are you more like me and need to let the story flow? 

Lynn

Spring: a Time for New Beginnings

Spring is just around the corner, at least on the calendar. It's a time to start looking for new growth. A time for new beginnings. Today the sky is a solid blue, as unblemished as a newly-painted wall. The trees are still bare, except for an oak in the backyard that won't give up its leaves until the new buds are ready to pop out, but the sun beams down like the snow and ice of a few weeks ago are history.

If you're mired in the swamp of an unfinished manuscript, one that requires a new breath of life to get it over the hump, now is the time to get your brain stimulated for that final dash to the finish line. That's my situation.

I found a good resource to stir your creative juices. It's The Blog Cabin at Tim Hallinan's website. If you don't know Tim, and you should, he writes the popular Poke Rafferty mysteries set in Bangkok. He writes present tense stories as smooth as any I've seen.

The articles I'm referring to are in a weekly series running on Wednesdays which deal with the subject of Plotting vs. Pantsing. He has a different author each week tell about how he or she writes. They are quite illuminating and most go beyond the question of writing style to touch on other areas of the writing process. The series began back in January. The current offering is Number 7 by Leighton Gage.

Other authors who have contributed include Helen Simonson, Gar Anthony Haywood, Jeremy Dun, Rebecca Cantrell, Bill Crider, and Stephen Jay Schwartz. They offer lots of great ideas on writing. The comments on the articles are filled with much fodder for the creative mind.

Tim's website also contains some great advice on writing in a section titled "Finishing Your Novel." As he puts it, this section is for you if:

"You’ve started a novel but are having trouble finishing it, or
You want to start a novel but aren’t sure you’ll be able to finish it."

Tim's home on the web offers a great store of other writing advice as well. I highly recommmend spending a little time at the Hallinan website.

Now that I've received my springtime rejuvenation, I've gotta get back to writing. See you later.

Chester Campbell.