I just finished reading Sonia Medeiros' post on the ROW-80 Blog about Pantsers and Plotters...
[Alas, as is often my problem, I have to dive into a tangent: My grandma and great aunts recently had a conversation on Facebook about young men who wear their pants low and baggy. I'm always tempted to run up and "pants" such young men. (Because seriously boys, you look ridiculous. And you don't seem to realize it. I like to think a little bit of embarrassment would help you see just how stupid you look with your pants hanging off your bottom.) The word "pantser" makes me think of someone who runs around pulling the pants down on such foolish young men. I guess that means I'm a pantser in more than one way!
End tangent. Return to point...]
It turns out I am a writing pantser. (Welcome to my vocabulary, new word!) It describes one half of a dichotomy I never stopped to consider, but there it is, and I'm part of the write-what-you-feel-and-never-plan-a-thing movement. Errr, not movement. I'm not promoting pantsing. So far it hasn't really worked out for me.
You see, I find myself in the same predicament as Sonia. At this very moment, I am fairly far along on a big writing project, but I'm stuck. I don't know how to get to the ending, or even where to make the ending, and there are plot holes big enough to swallow a house. Ugh. It's the reason (darn you, pantsing self nature!) that I set a goal for myself during this ROWnd to turn my novel back to an outline -- so I could get my $h!t in order.
OH! AND I can happily report that I actually worked on the outline of my novel on Sunday! I spent a week or more plotting in my head, then finally sat down to put it on paper.
On Monday, when I looked over my progress, I had a significant realization: I tend to repeat myself! I kinda knew this was an issue, but seeing again in the freshly outlined sections really delivered it home.
(If you're curious, I've written several variations of the same scene: The main male and female characters have an argument. Man is a jerk, woman is upset with him. There is a period of estrangement and silence. Man has to apologize. They make up and are friends again.... Then they have another fight.
*Groan. Gag me.*
Insert original idea!)
The downside of this revelation on Monday morning was that I spent the day in thought and did no writing. So, quite sadly, I failed to meet my other ROW goal (to write every day).
Lessons learned?
- Plan more. Be a plotter. (Go look up some of those methods Sonia mentioned.)
- Think of new types of conflicts (there are more ways to have conflict that just arguing), different ways people can react to conflict, and different outcomes for the conflicts.
- Don't stop writing! It's really important to write. Make time! (Seriously self, you set a supremely easy goal this ROWnd for your writing, so you have no excuses to slack.)
Also, just in case no one noticed: I really love parenthesis (yay!) and tangents. This problem is exacerbated by exhaustion.
So.... bedtime! I feed the baby, I go to sleep. G'night.
Honestly, even though you may not have reached your actual writting goals, I think you invested a fair amount of time/effort/thought into your WIP that will be invaluable as you move forward. That may not help your word count but in the end, it'll augment your WIP which is more important so...I say...GOOD JOB!!!
ReplyDeleteI am off to check out some of Sonia's suggestions as well!!
Hm, your brain seems to work like mine. Scary, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteWe pantsers are going to have to learn to plot. Sigh! I think it's inevitable.
Don't worry about the tangents here. I think they're fun. However, in your writing...maybe not so much.
Enjoy Round 4. And don't forget to write.
TTFN
Woot for plotting! My long-time writing buddy Dan is also a panster, and he's setting out on the same journey. Turning a novel into an outline is much more difficult that it would seem at first.
ReplyDeleteMe, I'm neither plotter nor pantser. I'm a poet. So that probably makes me a reviser. I set down a mass of words on a page. I wait. I poke at it. I chuck half of them out of a window. (Then I have to run down the stairs to retrieve the words, since they're connected to a journal). It's exhausting!
A confession: I used to be a plotter when writing grad papers and novellas, but I'm so practiced at it now that I can mostly just keep everything sorted in my head. The only trouble comes when I'm working on a project with someone else. Then I have to learn how to translate head-speak into written words. Argh!
I did indeed notice your love of parenthesis and tangents, and thought: "a writer after my own heart".
So, good luck fellow parenthetical noter! The outline awaits!
LOL Tim running down the stairs for words,
ReplyDeleteI am a pantser but I'm reading James Scott Bell's "Plot and Stucture" and realizing I lack two things from his LOCK.
Lead
Objective (missing my characters have a direction but it's vague)
Confrontation (missing a good chunk here too)
Knockout ending.
I plotted my last attempt to write, but missed the above notes and so plotting did not help me. Hopefully now that I have a clear direction I can plot.
Yes, I'm constantly wanting to yell at these guys - pull up your pants. Drives me crazy. Don't they know they look like penguins waddling along with the crotch of their pants between their knees.
ReplyDeleteI'm a pantster and trying to do a bit more plotting and outlining these days. See which works best for me. I end up writing a scene two or three times myself because the first time just doesn't sound right.
Don't stop writing is right. Sit down for 30 minutes or an hour and write something every day. Or at least try even if only 200 words come out. Some days it flows - others not so much. Happy writing. Good luck with your goals this week.
I read your first twelve pages. You know, what you sent me two years ago!? Sounds good; already has me guessing about what's the story behind the story. And I'm curious what you've done with it in the last 730 days.
ReplyDelete