EotF Status
# of queries out: 8
# of fulls out: 0
T.C. Status
word count: 9,034
FwM Status
word count: 5,751
Color Poems
complete: 14
min needed for chapbook: 20
Previous goals:
- write chapter outline for FwM – much progress
- write chapter outline for TC – little progress
- catch up on crits – still very behind on these
Goals for this week:
- catch up on crits
- revise query with recent feedback in mind
- write a min. of 250 words every day this week
- continue adding to TC outline
I may have to resign myself to working without an outline for Fly with Me, or wait until I have the story more fleshed out. I did make progress on the outline though. I now have general guidelines for the next four chapters. I’m not sure where to go after chapter six. Hopefully I’ll have a better idea once I get there.
Outlining Trinity Coven has been much easier. With FwM I only have a few sentences describing each chapter. Harder to tell how many scenes there will be when it’s all one point of view. With TC, I have my outline broken down to the scenes, with whose POV it will be and a paragraph of description. A lot more in depth. Maybe that should be a sign to focus on TC more. I’m up through chapter nine on my outline, and have a synopsis to draw from for the rest. I feel confident about finishing the outline over the next week or so.
Break Down
Fly with Me:
- 5,751 words written
- 2 chapters completed
- outline through chapter 6 (one paragraph per chapter)
- no synopsis
Trinity Coven:
- 9,034 words written
- 3.5 chapters completed
- outline through chapter 9 (one paragraph per scene)
- synopsis
I’ve thought about this some more. For Emergence of the Fey, I was a definite plotter. I made no progress until I knew exactly where I was going. That meant a play-by-scene outline, and extensive notes. With Trinity Coven, the same method has been working. But with Fly with Me, which I am very excited about, I keep coming to a brick wall when I try to visualize what will happen in more than very general terms. It's also in first person, which I've never done before. This book is defying all my usual expectations. I gave in to the first person, so I suppose I'll have to give in to its need to be a pantser* as well. Any pantser’s here? How do you do it? Not knowing where the story is taking me is scary!
* pantser: aka “writing by the seat of your pants”; writing with minimal outlining and plotting, letting the story take you where it will.
For my WIP I started with a detailed outline for the first five chapters, and only a general outline for the rest of the story. When I finished chapter five, I had a better idea of where to go from there. So it turned out to be a hybrid plotter-pantser thing. I'd say just go with it and see where it takes you; each novel demands a different approach. And I think it's easier to pants stories with a first person POV, since you don't have to be so organized about who's saying what when :)
ReplyDeleteI have to plan the story out. My first novel was a rambling, incoherent mess.
ReplyDeleteWhat I do now is sketch the main points, and enjoy the joy of creation trying to make the plot work.
They key is not to 'talk out' the book so much you don't have any desire to tell it anymore.
I guess I'm a half pantster - I write without an outline for short stories, but mainly because I cannot be bothered. And if I stuff up, then it's ok, because it's only a short story.
ReplyDelete