I Blame Valerie Parv

Okay, as I've said many times, I write by the seat of my pants. Make an outline? Are you kidding? Why would I do that? White board jokes abound, my plotter friends (Sherry Jones) throw dry erase markers at me. These planner types are very fond of questions like "Why?" and "What about the plot?"

So, what about the plot?

Until yesterday, I was happily tooling along, writing on the WIP, overjoyed that that words were flowing. It's all awesome, getting the story down, in the first, very rough draft, and just having a heck of a good time getting to know my characters, playing with scenes - in short, having a blast playing in my own little world, ecstatic to be there.

Now then, I'd sent Valerie Parv an IM that said, "This is the Writing Police."

Her response? "You have no jurisdiction here."

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Apparently, she believes that we're on two different continents, in two different hemispheres means I have  no jurisdiction to hassle her a bit. I disagreed, and we wound up talking about my WIP. (Sometimes we talk about Valerie's WIP, but yesterday, it was mine in the hotseat.)

She liked the title, liked what I told her, then she dropped the W bomb.

"Why?"

Uhhhh....

Shrugging Emoticon

"What why?" (Me, disingenuously.)

Valerie: "You have to have a plot."

Head Scratching Emoticon

Valerie: "It drives the story forward."

Well, yeah, it does. I KNOW that, but Valerie, you're asking such HARD questions. I don't analyze, I don't ask questions (in the first draft round of writing)...I just take dictation from the Muse. Valerie made a fairly rude suggestion about what I should tell the Muse about the way she does things.

Shocked Emoticon


But, and I'm REALLY loathe to admit this (and many will snicker - Sherry Jones, Valerie Parv, possibly Angie and Grace...and likely an entire cave of bats, and they know who they are, just as well as I do)...The wheels started turning as I considered just what I could do with the elements I already had down, and it had it's own soundtrack by The Cars. *You Might Think* is a fun song to have playing on an endless soundloop in your noggin while you go through your morning ablutions. *Nodding. And rather appropriate that I have The Cars serenading me while contemplating Plot...because both cars and plot DRIVE something/someone somewhere. Yeah, I just made an analogy. I'm shocked and dismayed that I did, especially since it's so...PLOTTERISH.

And because I'm so busy answering questions, I"ll pose one and provide the answer..."What does this mean for the WIP?"

Why, I'm glad you asked! This means that I will go back to the beginning (I'm almost through chapter 6, but it's in a good spot to just abandon it and pick up later), and start layering in all these crazy, plotterish notions that have been occurring since OMG, The Sun's Not Even Up Yet O'Clock this morning. Let the fun begin! It's all creative, it's all writing...Creatively writing = Happy Laura.

And it's all Valerie Parv's fault.


@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@


When we read, we stat at the beginning and continue until we reach the end. When we write, we start in the middle and fight our way out.

Vickie Karp

Bits and Pieces of a Week...

Well then.

What a week.

I'm not entirely sure where it went, all I know it's just about over.

So...what have I managed to accomplish this week?

I am still relatively sane. (This observation being subjective and subject to change without notice, but mostly, I'd say while my overall sanity did take a few dings, it's mostly intact. BONUS!

I finished the short Christmas story I wrote to give to family members for Christmas. As I did this last year, I don't think it'll be a surprise I did it again this year. In deference to the sensibilities of some of those receiving it, I didn't use any bad words, only had a character curse once, and there's ZERO heat. In the Bat Cave, we call Christmas "Cavemas" or "Cavemoose," so I referred to it to one dear friend as my "Shorn Cavemoose Story." Of course, we're having a writing race right now, and that's what I worked on for the race (not really a race to see who's winning, but a race to just get us all moving on our WIPS and giving us a place to be accountable---and to brag about how many words we wrote--LOL.)...and knowing this friend, Angie, as I do, I knew one of the first questions or comments to my "I finished it" post would be, "And why is it not in my inbox?"/"Is it in my inbox yet?"... She had just a wee problem with it, claimed I'd advertised it falsely, that there was neither a cave nor a moose in the story. I laughed until I had tears rolling down my face.

Now, I just need to finish the revisions of one WIP, and, thanks to Sherry, I have another idea bubbling. I formatted the document, wrote the first line, and saved it all under the name, "Sherry's Fault."

Mostly, we're dealing with school being back in session and trying to get back into the groove. I figure it's been 2 weeks, and with winterball just starting up, we need to work a bit harder at staying in the groove. In other words....BACK TO WORK! :D

Lastly, I'm going to leave you with a link to Valerie Parv's blog. Love, love, love Valerie and feel blessed to count her among my closest friends. Her advice is always spot-on. CHECK IT OUT.


!!??!!??!!??!!??!!??!!??!!??!!??!!??!!??!!??!!??!!??!!??!!??!!

Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head. ~ From the movie Finding Forrester

Thinking Out Loud

It is better to write a bad first draft than to write no first draft at all. ~Will Shetterly

We've all heard it said "You can't fix a blank page." It seems almost like one of those things that isn't necessary to say out loud, yanno---because, 'DUH!' What can I say? In order to finish, we must first begin. And we can't finish if we're tied up in knots that what we're writing is bad. Get the idea down, then worry about refining it when you're done. Try not to let worry and doubt stifle creativity. Yeah, easier said than done. But what do you have to lose by trying versus what you stand to lose by NOT trying?

By writing much, one learns to write well. ~Robert Southey

A variation on "practice makes perfect." Self-explanatory. I've noticed a BIG difference in what I've written recently compared to stuff I wrote years ago. You just can't help but get better as you continue writing, and by being open to learning as you go. This is something I find myself returning to often---by being teachable, willing to learn, I can only become a better writer.

You never learn how to write a novel. You just learn how to write the novel that you're writing. ~Gene Wolfe

Every novel is different, for sure and for certain. Some just roll right out of the fingertips, others require blood, sweat and tears. Doesn't mean one is more worthwhile than the other. Doesn't mean you should abandon a difficult WIP---you just need to keep in mind it's like a child---no two are the same temperamentally or personality wise and shouldn't be treated like they are.

And because I'm a fan of learning, here are a few links to go along with my interpretations of the above quotes.

Writing the First Draft ~ Netplaces: With tips on 7 issues a writer might face in regards to writing the first draft.

Creative Writing for Dummies: No, I'm not calling anyone a dummy. I thought this was a pretty good bullet point list for getting started.

Valerie Parv's Muse Obedience School: What can I say? Valerie is a very dear, personal friend, and she speaks gold. On top of that, she writes gold, too.

Ten Reasons You Should Use Writing Prompts ~ Deanna Mascle: One of the reasons? "Practice makes perfect." 'Nuff said.

On "How to Write"---so many choices. You can google "How to write a romance novel" to "How to write science fiction"---you'll get all sorts of sources. These links for for the general "How to write a novel."

How to Write (and Finish) A Novel: A list of about 5 items for writing in general.

How to Write a Novel ~ Simon Haynes: More detailed than the first link with suggestions on characters, plotting, research.

Learn the Elements of a Novel: A site that lists building blocks and links.