If you haven’t read my Novel Boot Camp blog before, you should know that I am seat-of-the-pants writer.  It comes to me as I write.  Plotting is alien to me.  Or so I thought.  Through the DSM Master’s Class, I actually plotted–not the scenes or where the story goes, but a few essential bits that make up the story.  The inciting incident, the long term goal, the short term goal, the critical flaw, the romance block, the black moment and the resolution.  I did this for both my hero and heroine (Lady Siusan Sinclair, who appeared in both To Sin With a Stranger and, the soon to be released, The Most Wicked of Sins.) 

Then, I briefly outlined all the scenes that came to me as a result of this brainstorming (I brainstormed with Rob Perini and Laura Baker through this class).  I ended up with maybe 30 scenes which I placed on a poster board I had segmented into 20 chapters.  Now, it’s time to write.  This is the first time I have, dare I say it, plotted on paper instead of inside my head.  By thinking through the critical turning points in a story, all the way through, I think I have a better handle on this story from the beginning than I have ever had before.

Will it work?  I don’t know.  I tend to try another method of writing with every book.  I guess I keep hoping that one day I will find the perfect process for me.  Every book is different.  Maybe a new process is required with each book.  But something tells me maybe this is the right approach for this book (officially entitled The Duke’s Night of Sin, Avon Books, June 2010.)

Will you join on me on this journey?  I hope so.  Ready, set, GO!

©2010 Great Ways to Procrastinate. All Rights Reserved.

Christine Feehan ~ “Write your characters as vividly alive and engaging as possible. You want your readers to be so emotionally involved with your characters that your reader feels and smells and lives every moment in your world.”
»Christine makes it seem effortless. She breathes life into her characters by giving them flaws, weaknesses, desires, pasts–which gives them room to grow. It’s no accident her books consistently top the bestseller lists.

Catherine Coulter ~ “Don’t ever try to choreograph an important scene in your brain or wait for inspiration or the muse to come down and visit you. Just sit down and write it. It doesn’t matter if it’s bad. What matters is that you’ve got something tangible for your brain to work on. Never forget: you want to point to pages, not drive yourself nuts trying to think up stuff.”
» Sometimes I seem to need a seat belt to keep me in the chair, but for me there is no better advice that just sit down and write.

Teresa Medeiros ~ “Don’t ever forget that the craft of writing is a skill that can be improved. Learn how to write a good sentence, then learn how to edit that sentence to make it better. You can have the most wonderful story in the world to tell, but if you don’t have the language to tell that story, then the world will never hear it.”
» Hone your writing skills. I hear editors say this at writers conferences again and again. Oh, and if you ever meet him, tell the guy who invented Spell Check he rocks!

Stephanie Laurens ~ “Every storyteller has a different voice. The writing is the medium that carries our voice to our audience, which means that the voice should determine the writing, not the other way around.”
» Have you noticed a theme to these writers tips? I have. Many of today’s most successful authors are giving the same basic advice–stay true to your voice

Kat Martin ~ “Perseverance is the key to success in this business. First in getting published, often, even after your first few books come out, there are problems that seem impossible to overcome and good writers simply quit. Follow your dream and don’t give up!”

Mary Balogh ~ “A writer’s single most precious asset is her own unique and individual voice and vision. But it is an intangible and fragile thing and can easily become lost or distorted from contamination by outside influences. Guard it at all costs even at the expense–if necessary–of staying away from workshops, not talking shop with other writers, not consulting critiquing groups or partners, and not listening to writing tips (including this one!).”

Carly Phillips ~ “Believe in yourself enough to finish a book, submit it and start something new. Don’t spend your career revising one manuscript in the hopes that it will sell. You learn with each book that you write, so continue to provide fresh material for editors to look at.”
» Carly’s right. Endless revising kills the immediacy of your story. Stretch your wings and try something fresh. You’ll learn a lot with each new book you write.

Laura Kinsale ~ “Don’t write pure description to create a setting, instead bring it to life by having the characters interact with it. Keep the setting in motion, not static.” Instead of saying something like, “There was a big stone hearth with a fire burning in it,” put the character and the conflict into the setting description: Allegreto dropped her letter in the fire. He sat down before the great hearth, watching the wax melt in a sizzling red stream and drip to the stone while the parchment smoked and took flame. Her entreaties to him slowly vanished, marks of ink that blackened and curled and fell away to ash.– Shadowheart, 2004
» Great lesson! No one can use description as deftly as Laura Kinsale. Read her books…and learn from the master.

Anne Rice ~ “Don’t listen to anyone. The great thing about our profession is that there are as many ways to be a writer as there are writers. Just write! And don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it.”
» If anyone is proof positive that you can forget the rules and be a success by writing the book of your heart, it’s Anne Rice. Dare to do it your way.

Janelle Taylor ~ “Remember the importance of Line One, Paragraph One, Page One, Chapter One.”
» Janelle explains: “Why? Because that’s as far as most editors and readers will get if you don’t grab their attention fast and hard with a great hook, characters, and dialogue. I especially love creating memorable “gotcha” First Lines. A shocking question or statement makes a great snare.”

Maggie Shayne ~ “You know how when you’re reading a book, you come to those long, tedious passages of description or narrative that go on and on, and how you end up skimming them, or skipping them altogether in order to get back to the story? Yeah. Don’t write those.”
» Maggie just cuts to chase, doesn’t she? Great advice.

Lisa Kleypas ~ “Give the romantic relationship in your story a sense of life-and-death urgency. Even if the potential failure of the relationship might not result in literal death, at the very least life will hardly be worth living.”
» Lisa explains this tip best. “I realized this when I reflected on what makes our first love so magical, and perceived that it was the sense of desperation we all felt as teenagers. Capturing just a little of this in a romance is what makes it heart-wrenching and wonderful!”

Julia Quinn ~ “Your skill will determine how far you go in this business. Your luck will determine how fast you get there.”
» I totally agree, but I also believe that luck is simply when preparedness and opportunity meet. Before Julia’s first book sold, she had completed a second. She was ready for success. Be ready to soar when luck comes your way.

Eloisa James ~
“Give yourself permission to be a bad writer. You can cut it later. You’ll feel the click — joy, really — when your imagination takes hold.”
» Eloisa confided that sometimes it takes her five pages before her imagination takes hold. My take? Turn off that internal editor and just write. If you write it, it will come.

Nora Roberts ~
“Write your first draft in dialogue with just a little stage direction.”
» Why? The pace will be phenomenal and story will evolve through the character dialogue rather than through the narrative.

Mary Jo Putney ~ “It takes a little arrogance to be a writer. Only you know what is best for your story.”
» Bottom line, trust your own instincts. This bit of advice, as simple as it is, was pivotal in my writing career and enabled me to sell my first book.

Kristin Hannah~
“Revision can be the difference between making it and not.”
» Ever heard the saying that the real writing is in the rewriting? It’s true. It’s here where the author hones the conflict, amplifies goals, tightens motivations, smoothes the prose, and pumps up the characterization. Whew, I’m tired already!

James Patterson ~ “Write each chapter as though it’s your first.”
» Wow. My take? Write it tight, start as late in the scene as possible, end as early as you can with a cliff hanger. In the end, the book will be so tight you can bounce a quarter off it.

Barry Eisler ~ “Read like a writer. That is, read and reread books and passages from books that you love, and ask yourself what the writer is doing that’s working so well. Or if something you’re reading seems bad to you, ask yourself why it’s bad an how it could be made better. By reading like a writer, you learn to spot, articulate, grasp, and then apply technique – that is, craft. And behind all art you will find craft.”
» Fantastic advice. Try applying a critical eye to the opening few lines of a few best-selling novels, classics–or any book that resonates with you. Compare what you’ve read. Quite likely the openings will be very different, except in one respect. They all will exhibit a certain mastery of craft.

Susan Wiggs ~ “Don’t be afraid of bleeding on the page. No matter what you write–comedy, drama, thriller, paranormal–it’s essential to be authentic and genuine with your characters and their emotions. If an emotion or sentiment you’ve written makes you feel naked and vulnerable, you’re probably on the right track.”
» Why? According to Susan, “Because readers are smart. They’ll spot a phony every time.”

Susan Elizabeth Phillips ~ “WRITE! Does this sound strange? I’ve been amazed at the number of people who worry about selling their manuscript when they don’t have a manuscript to sell. The first step in getting your book published is to write the book! Editors won’t buy your “good idea.” They need to read the pages.”
» Such simple advice, but this is what is all about. Everyone wants to write a book. A writer sits down in a chair and does it.

Connie Brockway ~ “Honesty. I know we make things up for a living and we create characters that are as fascinating as we can fashion them but there has to be a core of honesty in every exchange, every character, every relationship. When I’m editing and something doesn’t strike me as being “right” in inevitably ends up being because it’s not true to the character, it’s just convenient for what I want to happen in the book and readers pick up dishonesty like skunk on a dog.”
» Actually Connie’s top tip was “gold colored lip gloss,” which I will have to try. But did you notice that both Connie Brockway and Susan Wiggs, two authors known for the resonance of their characters, cited being honest as their top writing tip?

©2010 Great Ways to Procrastinate. All Rights Reserved.

Task 1: The logline. In 25 words or less tell what your story is about. For me, the more high-concept the idea the better (see archives for discussion about High Concept).

This isn’t as easy as it sounds. You’re looking for what makes your story unique. You have to strip away everything until you find the heart of your story–its core. Condense that core idea into one or two sentences and tape it up next to your monitor. This is your story.

Task 2: Central Conflict. Once you have your story reduced to one or two lines, you should have an idea about your central conflict. The heroine wants something, but something is preventing her getting it. That something is conflict. Now choose a hero, who wants that same thing, but for his own, completely opposite reasons, and sparks are going to fly.

To resolve this Central Conflict, one the characters will have to be defeated. But the character who reaches his/her goal, will realize a sudden truth. He/she will have grown during the journey, resolved his/her inner conflict (we’ll talk about Inner Conflict later) which makes possible a satisfying ending.

Yes, I know, there are layers upon layers of conflict in a story, but the one I am concerned with this week is the Central Conflict and its resolution.

Task 3: Main Characters. Thankfully, I know my heroine. She was a character in my book being released October 2006. I know her quirks, and some of her weaknesses. I also know her goal. So, given what I know about the heroine, what sort of man would be her perfect foil? What goal might he have that puts him at odds with her? This man will be my hero. (Note: He is not truly the anagonist. Makes it too hard for the hero and heroine to fall in love.)

Now comes the fun part. How can I tighten the characters goals and conflicts to create a Conflict Lock ? My hero and heroine have both got to believe they want the same thing. They have to need it with life or death passion.

So at the end of the dreaded prep week I will have my logline (core of my story), the central conflict and my hero and heroine. For me, this is enough to begin writing my draft.

So, are you ready to start?

©2010 Great Ways to Procrastinate. All Rights Reserved.

St. Patty’s is an easy deadline day to remember…for a girl with a bit of Irish blood in her veins. Turn in the book revisions, then celebrate with a Guinness. I’ve been told that Guinness cures what ails you. I am hoping that it will cure procrastination–something I am plagued with every time I am about to begin writing a new novel–which is very, very soon.

Authors and Procrastination

When it comes time to write a book, I get scared. Everyone does, whether its your first novel or your one-hundredth. What if I can’t write a decent story this time? What if I can’t find my characters? What if the story is booooring? Sure, I’m excited about the new story, I am just afraid to start writing it…so I procrastinate. I procrastinate with a passion (I will even willingly clean out the fridge to avoid writing) until my deadline is looming and if I don’t manage to write ten gazillion pages a day, I will never meet my deadline. Terrible for my health. I know this and yet even after five books my process never seems to change.

But I have a plan this time. (See below)

How to Outwit Procrastination

For the Unpublished:

Before I was published, I tried setting myself imaginary deadlines. In the back of my head though, I knew they were not real. They didn’t have the power to keep my rear in the chair and my fingers moving across the keyboard.

Fake deadlines are no match for Procrastination.

Real Deadlines Force You to Write: Enter CONTESTS

What did work for me then was a contest deadline. I looked at listings of writing contests out there, particularly those being judged by editors I was targeting(agents often judge too). I entered the first of those and BOOM, I had a firm deadline.

If you are starting fresh, think about entering a Query Letter contest first. They are out there, I promise. All that is required is a one-page (or two, tops) letter pitching your book. Doing this forces you to develop your pitch (or logline) by requiring you to condense your story down to a few lines.

The next sort of contest to consider is a Synopsis contest. Flesh out the story pitch from your query letter and write a Synopsis (usually 1 double-spaced page per 10,000 words of story—or less if possible).

Then it’s time to tackle the First Chapter contest. Write your first chapter without looking back (the Don’t Look Back method), then edit once you’ve reach the end of the chapter. Not before (seriously, if you have a tough inner critique, like I do, you will never finish a chapter if you edit as you go. It’s so easy to keep writing and rewriting the same pages. Don’t allow yourself to do that.)

The next contest to consider is one where your Proposal will be judged. A proposal is a synopsis and the first three chapters. So write two more chapters following the same Don’t Look Back method as you used for the first chapter.

Do this and woohoo, you have a completed proposal! Might be a fine time to start shopping for agents–since all you need is a Query Letter, and Proposal.

The hardest part comes now. Finishing the #$%&$&# book. This is the hardest step for a procrastinator. Before I was published I needed a hard deadline to push me over the finish line. So, I sent in my entry fee for the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Contest . This contest is judged by editors from all of the big New York publishing houses. The rules are strict. If you enter, but don’t send your completed manuscript, you won’t get your money back (about $50). A high percentage of authors who win or place in this huge contest become pubished. I wanted to give it shot even if my lone motive for entering then was to finish my book.

I met the contest submission deadline(my FedEx bill was high, but I actually slid in under the wire). Surprisingly, I actually won the contest, got a lot of publisher notice and was published. Writing Romance or books with a strong romantic element? Why not give the Golden Heart Contest a shot yourself?

The Lisa Kleypas Solution (for everyone!)

I am starting Book Six on April 3, beginning with some light plotting. Real writing will begin (after the kids’spring break) on April 17th. The book is not due until November 1. Plenty of time. Too much time for me…I am sure to procrastinate if I don’t have a plan.

So here is my solution, provided by mega-star author Lisa Kleypas. ‘Write 1000 words a day before you do anything else.’

One thousand words is doable for me. This is about 5 pages, using standard manuscript formatting. This will take me about one hour, sometimes more if the story is slow coming that day, or if my internal editor is trying to interfere. To skirt that internal editor, I will write the 1000 words using the Don’t Look Back method above. When I finish the 1000 words, I can edit, but not a minute before. Then I do it all again the next day.

Wanna join me?

©2010 Great Ways to Procrastinate. All Rights Reserved.

When in a recent article my agent mentioned my debut novel, Rules of Engagement, as an example of high concept, emails started rolling in from everywhere. Most emails started with a story overview, and then went on to ask if the premise was high concept or not.

So, just what is ‘high concept?

For me, high concept means that:

1) the story premise can be pitched in a couple of sentences–and will elicit an emotional reaction (a sigh, a giggle, a gasp.)

2) the story premise is fresh, unique, original–even if its a twist on the expected or tried and true premise.

3) the story premise has wide reader appeal. In other words, it’s marketable. How will you know if your premise is a gem in your own mind, or if it will appeal to a wide audience? Test your logline on a few people (not just your mother or spouse). Are most intrigued? Or are you getting a blank stare and a polite ‘Oh, uh-huh’? It’s important to be honest with yourself about your story’s appeal and the reason you are writing in the first place. Are you writing to sell, or for yourself?

My first verbal pitch (note: written loglines can pack in some more information) for my debut novel, Rules of Engagement , was something like this:

Two elderly women mistake a military strategy text, Rules of Engagement, for a how-to manual for getting engaged–and use its tactics to snare husbands for their nieces.

My verbal pitch almost always earned a little chuckle. The potential for humor was clear. The premise, which was just a little twist on the expected, had wide appeal. It was marketable. In the end, several editors were interested in buying the book. Warner Books, did.

Why? Because the high concept premise was easily communicated from the editor to Marketing, to the sales force, to the wholesalers, to the booksellers–to the readers.

It was easy to sell.

Questions #2. Who the heck is Audrey and why do you have her read your pages every day?

I have a little trick for distancing myself from my work. I read my pages aloud…in a British accent. I know, I know. A bit quirky. But because my stories are set in England and Scotland, it’s how I hear the dialogue in my head when I am writing anyway.

Now I have a program I spotted in Writer’s Digest, called Text Aloud (you can find it at http://www.nextup.com). The program reads your pages aloud in the dialect of your choice. I paid a bit extra to get the AT&T Natural Voices software, which sounds natural–not like a computer–and Audrey, the British female voice.

I use the program every day I write. I sit back with a cup of coffee and listen. I can hear typos, dialogue that doesn’t sound quite natural, duplicated or omitted words. I correct them as Audrey reads.

Sometime I have Audrey read to an MP3 file, instead of aloud (another function of the software). I copy the files to my iPod and listen to my pages being read while I am in the car, in a dentist office, etc.

So there you have it. My definition of high concept and the mystery of Audrey’s identity revealed.

You know where to send your questions!

©2010 Great Ways to Procrastinate. All Rights Reserved.

The kids have two days off for teacher planning, my husband is out of town on business…hmm, I didn’t have this on my calendar.� Insert reality into my perfect schedule. Looks like I will be writing this weekend to catch up.

Well, I mightn’t have been able to write as much as I’d planned, but I did trade emails with Regency expert Nancy Mayers about a plot point, turned in my cover ideas to my editor (yes, the cover conference for my October 2006 book is this week) and started thumbing through research books for needed information.

This brings me to today’s topic: Research.

Like many authors, I could get lost in my research. I find history fascinating, as my rather large collection of period books can attest. Finding a great period detail within the yellowed pages, well, it’s like discovering gold.

The problem is time…or rather lack of it. But historical detail is important to me, and my readers. My solution? Being judicious.

At this point in my career, I have a working knowledge of Regency England and Scotland. This basic understanding of titles, society, etc. allow me to craft my core story.

Still, as I draft my book, needs for research will arise. I could stop and crack open a book or three right then, but at this stage of writing it is far too easy to give into the lure of reading, especially if its book-related.

Research is not writing. Don’t fool yourself.

Most authors I know grapple with the balance been deadlines and research. But I was lucky. Very early on, a veteran author passed along a great trick, which I’ve adapted for my own use.

As I write and come upon a need for research, I simply type in what I need within a set of brackets…for example [need visual and membership requirements of Tattersalls in 1816.]

Why brackets? Because if you use Word, the brackets are searchable (in Word under EDIT, click FIND and [ ).

When I reach the end of the book, I simply FIND all of the brackets and like magic, I have a list of my research needs.

Later, when I locate the information I need, the first thing I do is remove the brackets and in that same spot I include a note (click INSERT then COMMENT.) In this balloon I include the source of my information, page number, and anything else I might need to verify to my copyeditor that the information is complete and correct. Oftentimes, I include multiple sources—which might include books, the internet, magazine articles, etc.

If you click VIEW, you will always be able to see your comments. I never delete these. When I send in my manuscript (these days, you can usually just attach the file to email and push send) the information is not immediately visible, but its there.

While the editor reads/edits the manuscript, I can always indulge in additional research if I wish—and then add that information when I receive my revisions.

Bottom line, never skimp on research, but be smart about the research you do.

©2010 Great Ways to Procrastinate. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter One. I like to start off a book with a unique, memorable scene. Oh, and if it’s a little outrageous, that’s okay. I don’t rein myself in at this stage of writing.

It’s important to hook the reader within the first ten pages. Have you ever plucked a book off a bookstore shelf, looked at the cover, flipped it over and read the back cover copy–but since you were still undecided about making the purchase, you opened it and read the first page or two? If it intrigued you, hooked you, you likely bought it. If not, you returned it to the shelf.

The first ten pages are key, whether your audience is a reader, an agent or an editor.

I attended a writers conference a couple years ago and heard an editor give some really great advice. She said to keep your first three chapters in the moment. She continued by saying that an author should never feed information to readers until they absolutely need it to understand the story.

Forget flashbacks and chunks of back story at this point. Why? Because the reader doesn’t care a lick about your character yet. Insert the past later, when the reader is invested, when unfolding the past can bring a deeper, layered understanding of your character. Sound advice, no? Yes, there will always be exceptions to the rule, but those exceptions are few.

The first three chapters are all about discovery for me. Who is my heroine? What drives her? I think my pre-writing questions from the past two days helped me get a grasp on her. There is no question that she’s the most important character in the book. Readers will experience the story primarily through her. I have to get a handle on my heroine quickly.

I introduced the hero today as well. Usually, it takes a few chapters before my hero really comes to life for me. But he actually appeared today. Admittedly, he was only present for about five pages, and the heroine and her sisters had center stage. Still, he was there–and he was a bit wicked. Loved it.

The pages nearly wrote themselves. And when I read them aloud, I actually liked what I wrote. I did notice one problem though. Something I need to correct soon. My heroine and her sisters sound alike. If I didn’t include some clue as to which sister was speaking, the reader wouldn’t know. It’s imperative that I develop a unique voice for each character–so unique that I can write a half page or more of dialogue and there will never be any question as to which character is speaking.

I am not surprised that I can’t ‘hear’ them yet. I don’t know them. But I will, soon.

©2010 Great Ways to Procrastinate. All Rights Reserved.

Now, to reach her goal, she has to try a new approach. A small change is all that’s needed…at first. This works for while and your character is back on track, making progress toward achieving her goal–until something suddenly changes again and she is forced to try something else, something harder this time, to reach her goal. This shift in her world occurs periodically throughout the story, requiring the character to change in order to finally be able to achieve her goal.

This change in the status quo, the dramatic moment that that forces the character to shift and adapt to achieve her goal, is a turning point.

Map it out. My books generally have 20 chapters, running between 15 to 20 double-spaced manuscript pages each, one inch margins all around.

I’m a very visual person, so next I drew a grid. Four rows of five boxes–one for each chapter.

The first four boxes, Chapters 1-4, will be dedicated to establishing my protagonist, impact character, and the story (heroine’s) objective.

The boxes running down the right edge of the page, 5, 10, and 15 will usually contain my story’s main turning points, while 20 will contain the story’s resolution.

Chapter 5- The first real turning point. Lightening strikes and my heroine’s life is turned upside down. She can’t go back to the way things were if she is to achieve her goal. She has to change, adapt and move forward.

Chapter 10- The midpoint of the story. Here, something inside of the heroine changes. This turning point is more difficult for the heroine–it’s an emotional turning point. Her life is changed forever. She is not the same person as she was at the start of the story. This emotional change often culminates with a love scene in my books.

Chapter 15–The dark moment or reversal of fortune. Something happens and the heroine’s goal is no longer achievable. All is lost.

Chapter 20- Resolution. The heroine has grown as a person, possibly sacrificed what was most dear to her. Her goal has evolved along with her, becoming more noble and genuine. The changes in her, and her objective, finally allow her to achieve her goal and to live happily ever after.

Once I have established the turning points, its only a matter of moving my characters logically through the story, from one turning point to the next.

Tomorrow, the writing begins. Woohoo!

©2010 Great Ways to Procrastinate. All Rights Reserved.

Fear can be great motivation though, and motivation is something I am really going to need because the publication date for this book has been moved up from December 2006 to October 2006. That means I have (insert loud audible gulp here) three months to write, revise, polish and deliver a 90,000 word manuscript.

Originally, I had planned to meticulously plot out this particular book before sitting down to write, which would be something completely new to me. I am what is known in the writing community as a ‘pantser’–meaning that I write by the seat of my pants and what happens, well…happens. The story unfolds in my head like a movie and I write it down.

Since the deadline is tight, however, there isn’t time to plot out the story first as I had planned. But the time lock also means I will have no extra time to let the story percolate in my head for a while before writing. I will have to both plot and write by the seat of my pants. I have no choice. Yikes.

So there you have it. I am beginning my book, and a blog of sorts, today. Each day, or when the muse is willing, I am going to record, step by step, my progress in writing the book.

Will she crash and burn?

Will she fling herself over the finish line in the nick of time?

Watch and see. Worth a chuckle at any rate, no?

Day One

I vow to be more organized than I have ever been in my life. Really.

There is no other way I am going to manage–while doing book signings and writers workshops, completing revisions and promotions for my current book, writing this book, attending school and family events, while preparing for and buying a ga-zillion gifts for the holidays–without being COMPLETELY organized.

First thing this morning, I opened Outlook and printed out my calendar November-January. Then it was a matter of simple math. Taking into account ‘no writing days’ such as holidays, crazy busy days, etc., I saw that I can write ten pages a day during the week. This will give me weekends off (or to use as make-up days as needed). Following this plan, the book will be drafted before New Year’s Eve, leaving me a month to revise and polish.

Doable. Just.

Step One: High Concept Idea and Short Synopsis

Thankfully, I have both…well, sort of. In order for my agent to sell my trilogy, I had to provide her with an (embarrassingly short) overview of the concept and synopsis (shorter still) of each book in the trilogy. (I’ll explore the ‘high concept’ premise later on. Promise.)

If you have ever read the paragraph on the back cover of a book, this is about the extent of my existing synopsis (note: this is not industry standard–usually it’s one double-spaced page per 10,000 words of the completed manuscript). The mini-synopsis includes a bit about the character and background of the protagonist (heroine in my case) and the Impact Character (hero), their goals, and the conflict that puts them at odds. This book is a Romance, so I know the ending…and they lived happily ever after.

It’s not much, but being a pantser, it’s enough to build a story.

Since I scheduled two days to plot, today, I took an hour or so to look deeper into the character motivations. I narrowed the focus of the story. This will make revisions easier later. Sample questions:

What one goal is every character in the story working toward or against? For me, answering this question helps define and strengthen the conflict.

How does the heroine and heroine’s past affect their beliefs, actions and emotions with regard to this goal?

Which character will have to grow most in order achieve their goal?

Usually I ask myself questions like these as I write. But like I wrote above, I write by the seat of my pants.

As you read this blog, please remember that every writer needs to find a process that works best for her (or him.) Some people need to plot out every detail before writing. Some take a leap of faith and just write. Some tuck themselves away and write as much and as quickly as they can–then revise. If you are interested in trying the speed writing, book in a month process, check out http://www.nanowrimo.org. I tried it last year. And after all, November just happens to be National Novel Writing Month!

©2010 Great Ways to Procrastinate. All Rights Reserved.