So you guys, school started back up and I've now officially taught all of my classes--some even more than once. The thing about being a college professor is you can have multiple first days.
In fact, you can have multiple first days within one day as you go and meet each very different and new group. And so far, the semester is looking good.
Of course I'm extra excited about my Writing For Children class, which, if I do say so myself...is going to ROOOOCK!
P.S. All the fall drinks are back at Starbucks. Can you say, "Spiced Apple Cider?" Because I can. Although I'm trying to hold out until closer to October for that. That's when REAL fall begins, not now in this humid, muggy, hot, leftovers of summer.
But anyway, so pants....ing.
For any of you following this blog you know (or now you do because I'm telling you), I'm a plotter.
I like to plot the crap out of my novels and know ALL the details.
Maybe not ALL the details, but...a lot of them. That just works for me. I need to know where I'm going, how I'm getting there and why and *try* to work out any kinks I find along the road.
My last novel though...I pantsed it. Every single day I sat down to write, I honestly had NO clue what was going to happen or where I was going. I mean...I had an end destination in sight, but between A and Z, all bets were off.
And it was fun! And I think I needed that experience in order to realize...
That plotting and not pantsing is definitely my way of writing.
I've finally stopped doing research for this new project I'm uber-excited about (seriously, I sit down with it and I just break into a grin).
And I'm not quite writing yet, but I'm plotting.
SUPER detailed plotting. I've basically been working on a chapter by chapter outline, but as I've been working on this, certain scenes have been basically writing themselves. I'm pretty sure my outline is going to end up the length of a novella.
But that's okay, because I have a feeling the drafting of this new WIP is going to go very smoothly for that very reason.
On a side note...since I've put last spring's project off to the side, I've had all kinds of new inspiration for it. So I think in the very near future I'm going to novella-plot outline that one and write it again with the shiny new ideas I have for it and bring it into a new life. I know what I'm doing this time :-)
Plotting for the win!
Hope everyone else is having a great time coming into fall!
OMG it's almost time for boots!
I'm a kind of plotter. I plot and then I diverge big time. And then I spend gobs of time in revision. I vow to find a way to change that as the years go by :)
ReplyDeleteAh, I diverge a bit, but its usually for small things that usually end up making the entire story come together in a better way than I imagined. Actually, my CP has a theory that part of the reason I was so frustrated with my last WIP was because the pantsing meant that the revision was going to eat me alive and I don't like looking at messy, mediocre work (if its mine). Here's to faster revisions!
DeleteI'm a panster. I know where I want it to go, but I have to write it before I know certain details.
ReplyDeleteMan, I don't know how you do it it. I did it once, and I'm pretty sure I'm done!
DeleteIt doesn't matter if you're a plotter or pantser. It's about getting it done and completing your book. However you accomplish that is up to you. And I am so excited about fall!! Starbucks last year had salted caramel hot chocolate and it was like holy wow amazing.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Philip! Whichever technique works for you is the one you go to! I'm just a little overly excited to have reconfirmed mine. And ooooh yeah, salted caramel. Technically I can't have them (they put milk in the chocolate) but it sounds AMAZING!
DeleteI'm a certain kind of pantser, I'm also a plotter so Im like a hybrid of the two or something ;) I'll have a point A and a point Z and ill get to point...M, and ill start plotting things and flushing things out then continue writing and put all the plotting and fleshing out notes together and smash em' in (of course it can be very messy, messy messy, the kind of mess it take scrubbing for hours to get off your fingers) then, I revise. Then I read through, let sit and revise again. And apparently write a query letter then decide to revise...yet again before doing any more Querying. I'm a very chaotic writer....>.<
ReplyDeleteLOL. I hear you. I feel like my life is so chaotic, that the least I can do is have a very clean and organized method of writing. I definitely don't look like an organized plotter, but, I am.
DeleteBoot Season!!!!!!!! EEEEE!!!! *happy dance*
ReplyDeleteOkay, now that I've gotten that out of my system... I'm something of a plantser. I have and need my outline, but I'm never surprised if I veer off and have to rework the outline again. I have a lot of respect for pantsers, because I'd end up with an unreadable pile of spaghetti plots if I didn't have my post-it outline!
C. Issy! You are a girl after my own heart. I could pretty much jump up and down and squeee all day about boots and boot season.
DeleteI can definitely veer off my outline, but I find having one so detailed makes the veering off a little easier, or at least a little more intuitively thought out when it happens. I really don't know how true pantsers do it.
I'm mainly a pantser, and I do my plotting in my head. For the book I'm starting now, I'm doing character bios first to help me keep track of my characters.
ReplyDeleteOooh character bios! I LOVE character bios, they are SO fun!
DeleteBOOTSSSSSSS!!!!!!
ReplyDeletePrecious...my preciousssssss!
DeleteBOOTS. ALL THE BOOTS. Is this the same novel you were writing when we hung out at BEA? LOL because, as I told Agent Laura, it should have been bought yesterday ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're back on the blogosphere, Frankie :)
BOOTS! Also, no it's not that novel. That one I decided to set aside for a little while because I wasn't "feeling" it the way I should and fell in love with a new idea. So I'm starting anew, but I'll be returning to that other one for sure at some point (among many other projects)!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for the welcome back! It's good to see you on here too!