Finally moving along...

I’m working my way through “No Plot? No Problem?” by Chris Baty. The general message in this book seems to be that you don’t need to do any planning in order to write the 50,000 word rough draft of your novel. That it’s actually better not to. I know this approach doesn’t work for me, although I admit it could work very well for a more spontaneous, right-brain person.
The rest of the book is full of tips to get your through your one month typing spree.

Afterwards, I’ve found another book that looks like exactly what I need. "First Draft In 30 Days: A Novel Writer’s System for Building a Complete and Cohesive Manuscript" by Karen Wiesner. It contains a very exact plan to get from idea to detailed outline. She says the outline will be so detailed that it could be considered a first draft. This will be my next book for this goal.
Here’s a general timeline of her approach:

Days 1-6: Preliminary outlines and sketches
Days 7-13: Research
Days 14-15: Story evolution (ideas for beginning, middle, end)
Days 16-24: Formatted outline
Days 25-28: Evaluating the strength of theoutline
Days 29-30: Revising outline – and on Day 30, you’re to put this outline “on a shelf for at least two weeks to several months.”

In the meantime, I’m also reading through the lessons on http://hollylisle.com/. The one on mapping your “world” is very interesting. I think it will help me considerably to spend time doing that when I hit a wall on the outlining.

Interestingly I’ve noticed my daughter always takes time to download or draw pictures of the characters in her story, and she’s written more stories than I have.

Last but not least on Storyright.com , I’ve fleshed out the first chapter of one of my ideas. And I’ve briefly described chapters two and three. I’ve also begun to define the main characters in a fairly detailed manner. There’s still a lot of work to do, but I’m moving forward.

This is the furthest I’ve ever gotten!

The first yellow brick in the road

It all started rather innocuously when I decided to take some time off during the holidays in spite of not having anything specific to do. My intention was to rest, relax, get in touch with some old friends (and maybe make some new ones!) and possibly get a few things done around the house (this was to be a bonus and not necessary).

A few nights ago as I was wandering about the internet looking for something new to catch my interest, I found 43things! Now, I am a ferocious list maker. Until a decade ago, my life was totally run by lists. I've made a point to leave room for spontaneity since then, but still I love lists!

Not wanting to overdo, I created just one "thing", "Be more social". Basically I am much more comfortable in front of a computer screen than in a room full of people. One or two good friends and I'm fine, but any more than that and I feel quite uncomfortable. So, in 2007 I will learn how to feel comfortable in a room full of strangers. Just as an aside, I do fine when the gathering is work related. I have no problems wading into a room full of strangers if I am the "systems programmer". If it's just me, that's when I am a bit lost.

Another "thing" I added to my list is to be ready for the 2007 NaNoWriMo. For the last few years I've meant to participate but when the day came around, I was just not ready. I could be going about it all wrong, but being the detail oriented person that I am, I want to have an outline ready before Nov. 1st so that I can start writing on that day.

So I have taken steps this year to get ready. My first step is this blog. Write something everyday. That's one thing I've learned from all the books I've read about writing. Write everyday. Keep a list of interesting observations and potential topics. Find interesting words to describe the things you see. Write! Write! Write! So I will start by blogging daily here; using "prompts" if I cannot think of a topic for that day.

As to the story for the NaNoWriMo, should I start by deciding what genre to write in? Should I decide first on a location? Or should the main character come first? My first love in reading is science fiction but I love fantasy and a good "whodunit" also. I am leaning towards the mystery novel at the moment. Of course, it could take place in a fantasy realm, but I think I should keep it simple for now. I'll place it in Miami, a place I am intimately familiar with. Maybe the "it" in the "whodunit" will not be murder, though. I am fighting politics at work all day; it would be cathartic to work it all out in my novel. I also love puzzles and mazes and "figurin' things out". So a political mystery where the puzzle isn't who murdered someone but maybe what is actually happening behind the scenes? Something related to my ancestry maybe - Cuban American.

Well, that is a start and I will spend some time working "blue skying" on that idea over the next week or so.