Born-Again Plotter

For my first book, I did a hybrid pantser-plotter method with something like a beat sheet  including plot points that must show up in the story, but leaving the rest open to inspiration. And since it was my first book, I learned just as much from the detours my story took from that spare map than I did from the parts I actually kept. The only problem was, my very first draft was a bloated 124,000 words long.

Spirits from the Vasty Deep has been through a number of rewrites since then, and the word count has gone up and down depending on the focus of each revision. And even though I'm still learning, I really wasn't up for that roller coaster ride again with my second book.

So I came up with a very detailed outline--as in 5,000 words long. Now when I sit down to write, instead of filling in the blanks, it feels like fleshing out a skeleton. Which sounds like a creepy metaphor, but it's apt. Have you ever seen one of those facial reconstructions based on a skull? It takes bare bone and makes it into something recognizable and almost alive.

 That's something worth aspiring to, isn't it, that your work develops a life of its own? And if I don't stick to my outline 100%, then that's story evolution in action.

And I just wanted to add that I was very glad to have done such a detailed outline ahead of finishing the book--it turns out that I needed a one-page synopsis for the L.A. conference submission. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, and I know it would have taken a week's worth of hair pulling to do it without that outline to refer to. Instead, it took maybe 3 hours total, and it helped cement some of the important plot hinges in the story--so well worth it!

What about you? Are you a plotter or a pantser? A little of both?

Map image Clipart from Clipartheaven.com

Tiny Teaser

So it's a little bit of a teaser about the sequel to Those Lost at Sea and Drowned. Isabelle meets a spiritualist that can help her master her powers--but at what cost? Will she forever lose herself, and Duncan, in the process?

Working title for the sequel: Those Voiceless and Bound

I wasn't consciously trying to follow a formula of Those ______ and _______, but when I sat down to do an outline, that's the title that leapt out at me.

First Post

I attended a regional conference for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators a few weeks ago and got some helpful ideas for revisions on my novel, as well as meeting some interesting people.

One of the highlights was a workshop on synopses by Brian Farrey, editor at Flux books. As an exercise, he had us do a 4-line synopsis of our book. He had a few people read theirs aloud, and he liked mine!

But this is not just meant as idle bragging; I had a woman come up to me at the end of the day and tell me how much she liked my synopsis, and I realized I had no web presence to send her to for my current writing projects. My website for my photos has been up for several years now, but it doesn't lend itself to a blog-style interactive site.

So I'm starting this blog with the idea that it can hold updates on my current writing projects, as well as furnishing some useful links and information for other writers.

Be welcome, and I hope you find something interesting in the coming posts.