Situation vs Plot

Hello Fellow Writers!

Yesterday I spent several enjoyable hours hanging out with my writing buddies at Panera while adding another 2000 words to my WIP "Chastity Belt". My plan right now is to get the book written as quickly as possible so that I can then pull out my figurative red pen and start my favorite process of all: revisions!

One fellow writer, Rebecca, was saying how she is having a hard time coming up with a plot. I told her about how Stephen King is pretty anti-plot - he prefers to focus on characters in a situation, and to let the story move from there.

In his book "On Writing" (which, by the way, I highly recommend to anyone who either loves Stephen King or loves to write), he says:

I won't try to convince you that I've never plotted any more than I'd try to convince you that I've never told a lie, but I do both as infrequently as possible. I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless, even when you add in all our reasonable precautions and careful planning; and second, because I believe plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren't compatible.
A strong enough situation renders the whole question of plot moot. The most interesting situations can usually be expressed as a What-if question:
What if vampires invaded a small New England village? (Salem's Lot).
What if a young mother and her son became trapped in their stalled car by a rabid dog? (Cujo).
These were situations which occurred to me - while showering, while driving, while taking my daily walk - and which I eventually turned into books. In no case were they plotted, not even to the extent of a single note jotted on a single piece of scrap paper.

I love the book "On Writing" because I love having the opportunity to get into King's head. Some people say he's 'just' a horror writer, but I say he's a genius!
Today is Memorial Day (thank you to the men and women who have sacrificed to keep our country safe!). My hubby has the day off and the weather is beautiful, so we're going to spend the day on the dock and in the lake. I may bring my laptop down and try to get some writing done, or I may not. We'll see.

Oh, and did I mention that I submitted my second book to Ellora's Cave? Fingers crossed!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Paranormal Romance author Linda Wisdom

Hello Fellow Writers!

Yesterday I brought my word count up to 18,000 words. The story is moving along smoothly. I'm finding that I really like just plowing forward. Normally I spend lots of time re-reading what I had already written, but this way works much better for me! It's funny, when I read in Stephen King's book "On Writing" that he just pushes forward without re-reading and revising until he finishes the whole book, I thought "that would never work for me!" But lo and behold, it does. I highly recommend it.

I just finished reading "50 Ways to Hex Your Lover" by Linda Wisdom. It was really fun and had lots of good love scenes too! I found myself wishing I could just wave a wand and have my house be perfectly cleaned. Alas, I do not have any witchy powers like her heroine does!

Here is an excerpt from an interview with Linda Wisdom about how she writes. Check out the whole interview here at fallenangelreviews.com.

Can I ask where you come up with the characters’ names in your books?

I sometimes think they name themselves. When they pop into my head they have their name and background ready. I also do research to come up with what would be their original name and it’s always very different from what they presently use.

When is your favorite time to compose?

Afternoons. Mornings I catch up with email, etc. and after lunch I can settle in more. And I’m also creative during the evening.

Growing up, did you ever keep a journal and write notes about the stories you would love to write?

Always! Just ask my friends who loved to read whatever stories I came up with. Funny thing is, I’ve heard from friends in high school that I haven’t talked to in years and they remember my writing from back then.

What’s on the agenda for Linda in the upcoming months?

I have two more witch books to write. Thea, the diva romance novelist, you met in Hex Appeal and Maggie, who’s a bounty hunter witch you’ll briefly meet in Hex in High Heels.

Do you 'lose' your track of thought, story thread or whatever emotional pitch you happen to be at when you do leave your story for a bit? If so, what do you do to get that leave of emotion back?

Oh yes, that’s happened more than once. When it does, I go to the beginning of the book and read and by the time I get to the empty space I’m ready to go again.

In what order do you write? For example starting beginning to end, combining parts, in random order or in development cycle?

While I pretty much write beginning to end, I know what will happen more in the end than in the middle. If I hit a writer’s wall, I will skip a scene and move on then go back to that scene.

Do you listen to music or watch TV when you write or do you need it to be completely quiet?

Quiet drives me nuts. The TV is always on with favorite DVDs or a program.

When you're really tired, do you keep pushing on with story or give it a rest?

I give it a rest. I don’t think anyone is their best when they’re tired and always best to be as fresh as possible.

Today I plan on bringing my word count up to 20,000 words for "Snowed in With a Millionaire." I've been making good use of the plot outline that I created last month to help me through NaNoWriMo, but I'm wondering if I could become a "pantser" aka writing by the seat of your pants. I wonder if it would save me time in the long run, or if I would just end up with huge plot holes. Only one way to find out, I suppose.

While I've started many novels that I never finished because I didn't know what came next, I imagine if I refused to let myself give up I might just end up with a whole book written sans outline. We'll see. Maybe next month while I'm letting "Snowed in with a Millionaire" age.

I'm supposed to meet the other women in my writing group today but we may cancel because Maureen is sick. We'll see. I'm not showing anyone my current WIP because it's still too fresh.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Pep Talk from Founder of NaNoWriMo

Hello Fellow Writers!

I love those comics. Yesterday I got my word count up to 16,000. I'm discovering that the stuff I write when I'm feeling inspired is impossible to differentiate from the stuff I write when I'm feeling as if my muse went on vacation. This means that there should be no excuses such as "I'm not in the mood to write." Doesn't matter! Stephen King writes 2000 words a day, every day.

And I've noticed that once I get into my groove, even if I had to force myself to get started, I start getting into it. You know, that place where the world around you disappears and your story becomes reality. So much fun!

I'd like to share the NaNoWriMo pep talk from Chris Baty, the founder of NaNoWriMo and the author of "No Plot, No Problem!"

Dear Author,
Hey there! It's Chris Baty again, and hoo, boy, have I been watching some television. Do you know this show Battlestar Galactica? I've just started in on the first season, and I am shocked by how much stuff the show's writers borrowed from NaNoWriMo.

For instance, Battlestar Galactica centers on a group of humans stranded in space after their worlds have been destroyed by their enemies. NaNoWriMo takes place in the space of November. In Battlestar Galactica, people are hunted by shape-shifting robots who sometimes wear red dresses. In NaNoWriMo, participants sometimes hunt for the, uh, red address bar, where…um.

Shoot. Okay, so the similarities break down a little bit at the granular level. But there is one irrefutable nod to NaNoWriMo in the show that many veteran NaNo participants likely noticed right away. The crew on BG use mysterious technology to "jump" from one galaxy to the next, folding time and space to cross vast distances in the blink of an eye.

This was obviously inspired by NaNoWriMo's two famous wormholes, which fling writers forward (in a good way) when they hit 25,000 and 35,000 words. At these magical tipping points, normal rules of NaNoWriMo physics no longer apply. Forward writerly motion becomes easier, fitful stories take off, and word-counts begin accelerating towards warp speeds.
Our mission this week is to heave ourselves up to the precipice of the 25,000-word wormhole. From where I am now, that feels woefully far away. In reading through the forums, I see I'm not alone. Our non-noveling lives have turned hectic, we're facing tough decisions about what to do with our characters, and we're grumpy from lack of sleep. I am also—for the third year running—facing the very real possibility that my protagonists might literally bore me to death.
To help get us through Week Two and on to the exciting worlds beyond, I have a few tips I'd like to share.
1) Write every day. Even if you just knock out 75 words before collapsing into bed, those 75 words will keep you connected you to your story in essential ways, and make diving back into your book much easier.

2) For now, stop thinking about 50K. Just sprint thousands. Visualize each writing session as a tall staircase made up of 1000 steps. You are part ninja, part monkey, and part stairmaster cyborg. You were born to fly up those steps. Bash out 250 words, and you've made it halfway to 500. Keep going for another ten minutes, and you're past 500 and within striking distance of 750. Once you hit 750, you could sneeze out enough words to get to the top! After each thousand, be sure to take a quick break and celebrate. Then fire up that monkey spirit and go run another thousand.

3) Remember that your book is important. I didn't say this in the Week One pep talk because we'd only just met and there's really only so much cornball sentiment from a random guy on the internet that anyone should have to tolerate in one month. But here's the truth: You have a book in you that only you can write. Your story matters. Your voice matters. The world will be richer for you seeing this crazy creative escapade through to 50,000 words.

This may be hard to believe given the craptastic state that many of our manuscripts are in. But there are great, unexpected things ahead for you in Weeks Three and Four. And there is someone out there who has been waiting their whole life to read the book you're writing now.

So don't slow down. Don't give up. We'll be at the first tipping point soon!

Chris

Today I'd like to get my word count for "Snowed in With a Millionaire" up to a minimum of 18,000 words, but it would be great if I could go past that to 19,000 or even 20,000.
Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

"First Draft in 30 Days"

Hello Fellow Writers!

Yesterday my goal was to take the love scenes in my romance novel "Marrying a Movie Star" to the next level, since I've recognized that my book is less Harlequin Romance and more Silhouette Desire...

Perhaps it's because I've been living with my Hero and Heroine for so long, so I know them as well as I know myself - but it wasn't difficult to add a couple of romantic love scenes and an extra kiss in the places where I knew the characters wanted to be with each other. They had previously been kept from consummating their passion by the fact that I was nervous about my father reading the book!

So I got a lot done yesterday. I also emailed out the first chapter to my book to my writing teacher, and so far the response has been quite positive. Yay!

I could have gotten even more done and worked more on "Snowed in with a Millionaire", but all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, so I stayed up late watching "The Biggest Loser" on Hulu.com. I was amazed that they could lose like 25 lbs in a week. Seriously.

I pulled another book off of my shelf to review for you, "First Draft in 30 Days" by Karen S. Weisner. Titles like that hook me every single time. I love the idea of writing a book in a month. It hasn't happened yet, but I still love the idea.

Really what the book guides you to do is to create a very detailed outline, similar to the 40 page plot synopsis I've been writing for my work in progress based on 'The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing" by Evan Marshall. Weisner has written over 20 books, so her method must work for her. Unfortunately, the book is a bit dry. My main problem with it is I don't jump up and down with inspiration as I read it. On the other hand, another book that promotes writing a first draft in 30 days, "No Plot! No Problem" by Chris Baty, the founder of National Novel Writing Month, does make me get all excited and ready to write. So there you have it. By the way, NaNoWriMo is coming up in November and I'm seriously considering joining in on the fun.

Left brain thinkers might like "First Draft in 30 Days" more than I did. Weisner does have a lot of good information and suggestions, however - including letting your outline sit for a while before you go back and look at it. I remember Stephen King said in his book "On Writing" that he did the same thing.

Today my goal is to work on my plot for "Snowed in with a Millionaire".

Wish me luck and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Stephen King says: ya gotta read to write!

Hello fellow writers!

Yesterday my goal was to finish plotting out the middle of my novel, and I also planned on re-reading a large portion of Leslie Wainger's very helpful book, "Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies". I did indeed spend most of my free time reading, and what happened is suddenly I thought of some important emotional areas that my characters were lacking, and I was able to go back into my novel outline and add those elements to strengthen the story. Gotta love how easy it is to rework an outline, instead of rewriting a whole novel! I also changed my beginning, and while I was rereading what I already had plot-wise, I thought - hey! My hero would never do that! - Cut, cut!!

Today my goal is to continue to plot my novel. I'm through saying exactly what part of it I must get to (although I'd love to finish plotting the middle, again) because life keeps getting in the way, but I will work on it -that's my goal.

Stephen King never pre-plots his novels - he just goes with the flow. But then again, plenty of authors do tons of prep work and outlining, like J.K. Rowling.

In this video of Stephen King giving a talk at Yale in 2003, he talks about the most important prerequisite to being a writer - you have to read a lot, and write a lot.



Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Stephen King's "On Writing"

Yesterday I met my goal of putting all of my revisions for my romance novel into the computer - all 203 pages of them! Now I will have a nice clean copy for when I start my writing class next Wednesday.

My husband has never actually read the novel I wrote so I asked him to read it this weekend and let me know if I am going to be making a fool of myself bringing it to this Advanced Writing Workshop. I doubt I can get an unbiased opinion from him, but that's okay - sometimes I just need a cheerleader. Other times I need honest-to-goodness critique, which I will hopefully get at the writing class.

So what happened to writing 1000 words a day, you ask? Here we go: it starts TODAY!! My goal today is to start writing a new novel. I am thinking of doing a historical romance, since I love to read historical romances. I've shied away from that in the past since I'm terrified of making a mistake, but that's what research is for, right? Plus, since I've read probably a hundred of them, I already have a pretty good idea of what times were like for the Dukes and Duchesses in England. I think. We'll see, I guess. The reason I love historical romance is that the time period creates some really fun story elements that simply don't exist in modern romances: arranged marriages, pirates, castles, archaic laws, etc.

But now, even just writing about starting writing, I am getting a bit freaked out. The thought of the research involved is once again scaring me. Well, we'll see how it turns out. I'll let you know tomorrow.

I would like to review another one of my favorite writing books: Stephen King's "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft".

Stephen King writes 2000 words a day, every day. He says in the book that he used to tell reporters that he wrote everyday except his birthday and Christmas, but that it wasn't really true - he wrote on his birthday and Christmas as well. He can write a 180,000 word book in like three months. Unbelievable.

It was King's idea to write at least 1000 words every day, and I would like to take his advice. Of course, I have an infant who may or may not let me get much done, but he does take naps so there you go. I just need to use my time wisely and not procrastinate.

Another of King's big tips is to kill your adverbs. You know, the words that end in "-ly". When I was going through my first draft of my romance novel, I found quite a few "she said softly" etc that I had to remove. Sure enough, it tightens up the manuscript quite nicely. (Oh no! Nicely is an adverb!)

Another lesson I learned from King is that persistence pays off. He started writing as a kid, and by the time he was a teenager he was regularly submitting his short horror stories to magazines. The magazines would reject him, and he would just take that rejection letter, hang it up on a nail in his room, and keep submitting stories. He got so many rejections he had to replace the nail with a spike, and he filled that up with rejections too. But he kept going, because he loved writing and he wanted to share what he had written with others.

And here I am, with exactly two form rejection letters to my name (from agents) and I just gave up completely. I really want to gain the confidence in my writing to keep collecting those rejections until I get somewhere.

Thanks for reading. Wish me luck today (I'm going to need it!) and good luck to you too!

Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers