May
15
So I finally got around to doing the exercise for day 2. In this exercise, we jotted down the 10 most important scenes of the book. Kind of makes us pantsers sit up and take notice. I had to really think about this. These are supposed to be sort of quicky exercise to do while also writing. Took me the better part of a day to map out 10 scenes in chronological order. Day 3, which I was also planning to knock out as well, is outlining. I always sucked at outlining. Now, do I start on my opening scene or the outline? Think I’ll do the opening scene. Less stressful.
I also signed up to join the Yahoo group the author created for those who purchase the book. Still waiting on my confirmation. I did find the Facebook site, but there’s only 2 recent posts, the rest are over a year old. I supposed I should put some effort into finding a writing group. I joined my local RWA chapter for a year, just didn’t find my place there. Don’t get me wrong–there were many friendly, helpful people there. But they all seemed to have their cliques and knew how and where they fit in. I just didn’t find where I fit in with them. Since I’m about to embark on an overseas move, I guess I’ll just wait til I get re-settled to hunt something down.
Anyway, this book has a lot of good information and someone (not me!) could actually do the rough draft in 30 days if they put their mind to it. The process is based on screenwriting. This didn’t bother me, I took a few classes in screenwriting and found it to be a great way to give your writing a boost. Some people on the facebook page were complaining though, that they didn’t understand what she was trying to instruct them to do for the Days 2-3 exercises. I understood the explanation, I think I went into more detail than I should have. For the rest of tonight, I will work on writing my opening scene. Tomorrow, I’ll worry about the outline. Hell, who am I kidding? I’m going to bed soon, I’ll worry about the opening scene tomorrow! Which brings me to my mantra of Why Do Today What Can Be Put Off Til Tomorrow?
May
7
This is the book I’m using right now, Book in a Month: the Fool-Proof System for Writing a Novel in 30 Days, by Victoria Schmidt. We shall see.
The official product description:
A practical step-by-step guide, “Book in a Month” leads writers through a proven 30-day novel-writing system in a balanced, fun and supportive way. Based on author Victoria Schmidt’s own Book in a Month Group, this book contains a combination of instruction, non-intimidating weekly schedules, and detailed worksheets.”Book in a Month” covers everything from time management; project selection tips; outlining; research strategies; drafting acts I, II, and III; character and plot development; and much more.
This book is broken down into day by day exercises to use in conjunction with actual writing. It starts off with a pep talk on why/how you can do this. So far, since Monday, I’ve managed to finish the exercises for Day 1. Yeah, I know, slacking already. In my defense, it’s been a busy week and my daughter has hijacked my computer for a lot of it for schoolwork. This weekend hasn’t been very productive, what with free comic book day and the Welcome to Rockville festival tomorrow. So Monday I will complete at least Days 2-3. The good thing is Victoria tells you not to be too hard on yourself and to cut yourself some slack. Life happens. As for buying a new one of these books for every writing project, I don’t see that happening!
