Anyone Else Need A Tissue

How to make yourself cry. I'm rewriting Fallen so here it goes.

Before



After



Ouch!

45 Scenes Down 20 To Go

No, not written. Well, some of them are, but I'm plotting. I need some more scenes between my pivotal fight scenes. I did add Villian POV. 4 whole scenes, but with the book Villian. Note there is a super villian at work as well. Not super as in Superman, but an overall villian that can never truly be defeated. There's a lot of physical action in my story. Maybe that's just me or just this story or just paranormal in general. If I could make each scene 2000 words long I'd be gold, but I tend to run between 1000 and 2000 with each scene after edits.

Yes, I'm rambling here. Should I give a peak into the super villian's mind or should we just see it through the other characters? He's got a lot going on in there and I don't know how much of it will be seen in this book. To be honest, this is a stand alone single title, but the super villian might cross into another couple of books I have ideas for. Ramble, ramble, ramble. Okay, gotta go and work some more on my plot. Last question -

Do you let your villian have a point of view? Do you like stories where you get into the villian's head?

Can You Guess What I Did Today?

Yep, I spent all day reading articles over at Morgan Hawke's website. I do feel like I have a slightly better understanding of the Character Arc and now have to sit down with my characters and feel them out. I'm horrible about filling our character sheets. After all what relevance does it really have on my story if my character had her wisdom teeth out when she was eighteen. Basically I think that there's a lot of information that I just don't need to know for the story and if I need to know it, it will be there. I do like the three question method of figuring out your character. Morgan Hawke stole it from PBW (Morgan says so on her site).

"And then what?Once you have a good Idea for a Character -- you need to make that character YOURS. Begin by asking three Questions*: (*Shamelessly stolen from Paperback Writer's blog.)

What are you, and what do you do?
What do you want?
What's the absolute worst possible thing that could happen to me?

You need to know all three of these answers with EVERY main character you craft for every story you write. (The Hero, the Ally, AND the Villain too!) The "worst possible thing" gives me EACH characters' Ordeal -- their darkest moment in the story. Combining all THREE "Worst Possible Things" creates the "Crash and Burn" moment in the story where everything falls apart just before the story's big Climax."

Tomorrow I vow not to read anything I haven't already read and actually put together a feasible plot for my story so that I may write said story during Fast Draft which begins this weekend. Yeah. Oh, and figure out where to print out 3 copies of the first 25 pages so that I may enter a contest. Deadline March 1st. :)

Plot Girl

Yeah, I love to plot what can I say. I'm still experimenting with different ways to plot. I did get my storyboard of the crap I wrote during NaNo. Okay, so it wasn't complete crap, it just wasn't what I wanted for the story. I'm replotting now. There's a method called the Snowflake method. It's interesting and since I've actually done a first draft I was able to complete some of it, but then I got distracted by GMC. Oh, yes, the basis for character arc, goal-motivation-conflict. I've heard tons about it and have thought about buying the book, but it will have to wait until I return stateside.

So, I do what I normally do when I'm trying to avoid or rather, clarify an issue. I pop open an explorer window and type something into google. That something led me to this website. Which in turn led me to Dark Erotica. Okay, first off, I'm not writing erotica either. I can barely say let alone write the f word and I like my happily ever afters. But Morgan Hawke has some awesome articles on writing.

I'm currently reading and using the Goal, Motivation & Conflict simplified post. I was laughing my head off at this particular post. The erotica plotlines are hilarious. I think I could spend a day or two just reading all her articles. Of course, at some point I would need to actually plot and write.

Candy Havens is hosting another fast draft. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Write_Workshop/ is the workshop group and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Write_WorkshopChat/ is the chatroom for the group. She's starting it on Jan 30th. She also has tons of old workshops which you can search through. It's a free group.

Villians Need Love Too

No I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. I've been working sporadically on my plotting, reading Writing the Breakout Novel, and being paranoid about getting ready to return to the US. I think I've been reluctant about continuing to write because I have scenes written and though I'm not in love with them I might need to rework the entire excalating plot. This book is a lot of action and ramping up means adding some more. I thought about adding a subplot with her brother. A love subplot, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure what kind of subplots I should add. I haven't written the end because I need to work on the rest of the plot before I truly know what's going to happen in the climax. My villian keeps whispering his secrets to me. Why he's doing this. What he hopes to gain. What he's going to do next time. What would make him satisfied with the ending. How he's going to make things tough for more characters if I'm willing to write about them. He's got an agenda. He thinks that what he's doing will make everything better. He'd also like a little more POV. Currently there are two scenes in his POV, but he appears more than those. He's subtle, creative, intriquing and the epitomy of beauty in a male. What more can a woman ask from her villian. :) The question is "Is he evil?" My friend, only time will answer that question. Only time.

Workshops

Completely forgot Access Romance. They have courses coming up on Writing to Market and Writing a Silhouette Desire. They also allow you access to archived courses for $5 which is awesome.

One Contest Entered

I polished off the beginning of Fallen and had a few lovely people critique it. Now, I get to go through the rest of it. Replot to add in some subplots and figure out how to put it all into perspective. Oh, and wait until April to hear the results. Then I have a decision to make. Go back and revise Dragon's Heart or start the Time Travel. I guess it depends on how long Fallen takes. We have 9-1/2 weeks (catchy, eh?) before we head back to the US. So we'll see after I finish writing and revising whether I want to revise some more or research for the next one.

Getting Lost

I've been an idea generating machine lately. I haven't written much in my MS except to polish up the first 25 pages for a contest I want to enter. But I need to rework the plot and how I rework the plot may effect the ending I have yet to write. Ergo storyboard. However, that's been put on hold while I scurry around the house trying to make it look presentable for the friends that are coming to visit tomorrow for the weekend. I spent yesterday digging through the toy room sorting and organizing and making mad dashes for my notepad with cryptic lines like "His blood pulsed to the beat of a hundred drums. Louder and louder." and "The fires of hell licked at her boots, spurring her into action."

So, I've got to rip out the belly of my creation, smush it up, add some seasoning and a bit more fat, and throw it into the oven and see what comes out. Hopefully, I'll be able to get to a happily ever after without killing anyone, real or imaginary. You never know though. I've got to figure out turning points. Now, tell me, should there be a four or five turning points for each plot line or for the entire book?

Hmmm. Clean or storyboard? Clean .... or storyboard?

Writer's Workshops

There are tons of ways to take advantage of other author's paying it forward. Most will write some information in their blogs. Paperback Writer is the best I've found for this. There are writing groups through Yahoo that also provide free workshops. And then there are a number of online courses offered from RWA chapters and other websites. These are the websites I've found helpful (note this is not a comprehensive list, contrary to popular belief I do have to do things besides surf the Internet during the day):


Wine County Romance Writers, RWA - Their current listing includes "Mark that Historical Sold"(which I'm taking), "Create Characters So Real, So Passionate, You Can't Put Them Down, and Neither Will Your Readers", and "The Language of Liars". They have classes booked out through November 2008.


Writer U Classes last a month and cost $30. Courses currently coming up include "Plotting via Motivation", "Isn't It Romantic? Developing Romance in Your Romance Novel", and "PACING: How To Create A Page Turning Manuscript". Courses are available until November 2008.


Carolina Romance Writers Classes are between $15 and $20 for either a two week or four week course, respectively. Current listing includes courses regarding writer's block, outlining novel (first draft), and spilling the beans.

Washington Romance Writers The only class currently listed is "Dialogue that Dazzles" in February. RWA members only.

Heart of Dixie Classes are $20 for two week courses. Upcoming workshops deal with self-editing, family history fiction, and inside the mind of serial killers and those who track them.

Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America One class currently listed. "SCREENWRITING TECHNIQUES FOR NOVELISTS: HOW THE SEVENTH ART CAN RAMP UP YOUR PROSE"

From the Heart Romance Writers Classes cost $20. Current listings include "Anatomy of a Love Scene" and some classes to help with the business portion of writing including "Creating a Full Time Writing Business" and "How to Build an Internet Presence"

There are also many sites that have free information on them. Free! Here's a list of the one's in my favorites file right now (it continues to grow), also some of these may be a direct link to one article if you look around there may be more:

On Yahoo Groups - Write_Workshop · The Writing Workshop

http://www.steampunk.com/sfch/writing/ckilian/#3

http://www.emotionaltoolbox.com/etb/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=10&Itemid=89

http://hollylisle.com/fm/ - Holly Lisle also sells courses and e-books on writing

If it were only this easy, http://vava.essortment.com/howtowritea_rdcd.htm

http://www.lyndasimmons.com/workshopcurrent.html

http://www.svic.net/pearl/abc_subplots.html

http://www.caroclarke.com/threeabouts.html

http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/plot.html

http://www.blockbusterplots.com/tips.html#trap

http://www.romance-central.com/index.php?name=News&catid=&topic=2

http://www.ericaridley.com/articles.php

So google search for something you're having difficulty with in writing and sometimes you'll just get a headache, but other times you'll find a whole lot more than you were looking for. Just try not to get bogged down in trying to learn to write. Writing is the best way to develop your own style and voice. I'll post later this week about blogs that I've found to be informative on writing.

Updated Show Me the Money

Curious what you could make in today's market as a Romance writer? Well, Brenda Hiatt has been collecting data to put together a comprehensive listing. Just remember when you start selling to send her your info (she keeps everything confidential). So, can you quit your day job? Go to her website and find out.

http://www.brendahiatt.com/id2.html

Storyboarding Blog-o-rama

I've found websites for the post-it multicolored board before and then lost them. What was lost now is found and shared with the rest of you all.

1. Julie Leto - PlotMonkeys post http://www.plotmonkeys.com/date/2007/05/05/
Interesting picture and nice layout technique, also the post is within a post on plotting with your pants on (for all those can't decide between plotting and pantsering(?))

2. Erica Ridley - Erica Writes post http://ericawrites.blogspot.com/2007/08/all-about-story-boards.html
Pictures to go with the words and step by step instructions

3. Carrie Ryan - Manuscript Mavens post http://manuscriptmavens.blogspot.com/2007/11/best-laid-plotting-boards.html
This is a post that will make you feel better if you can't seem to grasp a plotting board.

4. Diana Peterfreund - Diana Peterfreund post http://dianapeterfreund.blogspot.com/2007/07/son-of-plotting-board.html http://dianapeterfreund.blogspot.com/2007/08/book-signing-and-brand-new-plotting.html http://dianapeterfreund.blogspot.com/2006/09/plotting-board-redux-and-question-week.html http://dianapeterfreund.blogspot.com/2005/07/in-which-author-contemplates-structure_20.html
Lots and lots about plotting boards. The first one is step by step instructions

5. Rachel Vincent - Urbanfantasy blog post http://urbanfantasy.blogspot.com/2007/01/white-board-phase-2.html
Method using a whiteboard as the background

6. Patrice Michelle - Visual Plotting article http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=533
Response to Rachel Vincent's post

7. Maura Anderson - Realms of the Raven post http://realmsoftheraven.blogspot.com/search/label/Writerly%20Wednesday
http://realmsoftheraven.blogspot.com/2007/12/devil-is-in-plot-details.html
http://realmsoftheraven.blogspot.com/2007/12/refining-big-picture.html
A step by step tutorial on her storyboard technique with pictures.

8. Kelly Parra - Words of a Writer post http://writerwords.blogspot.com/ 12/31/07
Shares her storyboard from her recent project, also notes she doesn't make it up until after she finishes her first draft.

I'll keep trying to add more.