It may not seem like that progress meter on The Lost is moving, but I've done quite a bit of writing this week. Just not on the actual ms itself. I wrote a synopsis with the intention of entering a contest, only to find out it was for book length entries only. Then a couple of days *after* missing the already extended deadline for the contest, I decided that I did want to make the novella book-length, so banged out an outline. All together it worked out to 13 pages of writing.
Boy, did I need that outline. The primary romance required a bit of planning so the heavy sex element didn't become gratuitous but reflected/paralleled the development of the emotional arc. And I needed to make sure there was enough plot there with inciting incidents, etc., for the same reasons. Then I had to untangle the secondary story line which happens with a separate group of characters in a different (for the most part) location. But that story collides with the main one in a couple of places, so I had to work out the timing. Plus, there's a love-triangle in this subplot, and some interesting back story motivation stuff that will supply a few twists.
*phew*
I've got a crit to do today (and some housework/cooking, etc) but I hope I can really move forward now that all that is sorted out.
Check in later,
Jaye
9 comments:
Only 'one' crit, and 'some' housework??!!
Becoming one of us slackers, are you?? (snark!) ;-)
It's a wicked long crit, too. Poor Jaye. All that outlining and plotting and ...ugh. It's just too horrible for a pantser to contemplate.
Two scary words: plotting and synopsis. *shudders and runs*
LOL, funny how as long as it's straight to us, it's good. Hope the progress continues!
Dee
(who SHOULD be working, but instead is looking at pancake duty, but I did get four chapters edited this weekend! Woohoo!)
"...banged out an outline..."
I think I'm utterly exhausted after my weekend at the hosp. because boy, did I ever read that sentence wrong!
Congrats on the progress! Sounds like that outline really is going to help with all that you've got going on!
Wow! You did get a lot accomplished. Great going!
Okay, so I'm apparently in the slacker category...
Glad you worked it out! To me, writing synopses is akin to having my fingernails ripped out slowly without painkillers. :)
Plotting and synopses aren't that bad. :-P lol. With plotting it's just a matter of taking the major scenes in your head and putting them into some sort of order and filling the motivations, etc. It's not etched in stone, you can change it as you write, but it provides a bit of guidance.
As for the synopses, I always right a rough first draft as if I'm telling a friend about the story, then I revise and edit. The real bitch is getting it to fit the page restrictions, but I never attempt that on the first try. :-P
As always, thanks for dropping by guys. :-)
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