Everyone is always talking about plotters and pantsers in the world of writing. Can I just say how much I DETEST the word pantsing? As in "I'm pantsing the next book." You're WHAT? Pulling its pants down to make a fool of it in front of the other books? What did that poor sad book ever do to you, you meany?!
I personally like to think of myself as a person who carefully plans out each chapter of the next book, but in reality, my heart is a rebel. Look at what happened with Luka's story in Aeris. I will tell you a secret, readers. He was meant to transform by the end of that second book. IT DID NOT HAPPEN THAT WAY AT ALL!
I don't know what happens to me when I start writing a story. I had all three characters completely planned before I started writing, but they just do what they want with no regard for my plans. Characters died, ran away, got captured, fell in love... and I had no say in it. Whose book is this, anyway?
So I guess I can't call myself a plotter, even though my heart is in the right place. Or, my mind, anyway. There is that rebellious, indie writer part of me that simply can't be tied down.
Goals for August: Well, now that I've finished the outline for Terris, I've joined up with Camp Nanowrimo and I'll be trying to write the first 50,000 words by the end of the month. Of course, I still have the Angel book (untitled at this point) and I'll work on that one day a week, either Tuesday or Thursday. It'll probably be Thursday this week, because Camp starts on Tuesday.
As for Aeris, I've had some bad news. My proof reader got sick (of all the luck!) last week, so we've had to push the deadline back by a few days. In anticipation of this, however, I'll be doing some of the formatting work ahead of time: the pronunciation guide will get updated, I'll add in Kait's excerpt of Red with an intro. I'll write my acknowledgments. I'll start putting up the skeletons for the book on Kobo, B&N, Smashwords, and Amazon. I'm also going to send out a small e-gift to the fans that have been emailing me since Compis came out, simply because Aeris wouldn't exist without their cheerleading. It's been a LONG year.
And that is all I've got today. A drop of bitter in the pot, but a hope of sweetness to come.
Happy Reading!
5 comments:
No matter how well you plot a story, the characters will generally do what they want. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I've been called a pantser, which means I fly by the seat of my pants. (That's where the term came from.) However, I've realized that I actually have the plot in my head, I just don't write it down. I know where the story is going. But many times, the characters WILL do whatever they want regardless of what I had planned. :)
I'm snickering into the back of my hand...not meanly, understand...but with humorous empathy.
My heroine in this latest piece behaved (can she behave on her own?) contrary to how I'd carefully first planned her. She asserted her stern, sharp tongue in dialogue - she revealed a softness of heart I'd not envisioned. Sigh. Yes...after my admission above, I suppose she can behave on her own. Lol.
Pantsing is a terrible word! I am bemused as to why people would feel the need to do that, but anyway... you're going great! Stay motivated and have a ball... and don't let your characters get into mischief by leading you astray! ;-)
Cheers, Cate (ROW80)
Oh how fun that you're going to have a Kait excerpt in there! Hope your proofreader gets well soon.
Funny, the only people that use plotter and pantster are a few writers - I was trying to explain the two methods to a non-writing friend the other day and I didn't use the words since he'd have been even more confused if I'd mentioned pantsing!
LOL. I never thought of it that way! I always had the "flying by the seat of your pants" line in my head. Which by the way, sounds very uncomfortable. I'm a mixture of both...I usually plot, then break the plot, then give up on the plot and do my own thing, then go back to the plot. A vicious circle :D
So excited you're participating in Camp NaNo too! Check out my post today if you want to connect with some more ROWers that are also participating. Have a great rest of the week!
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