Saturday, March 31, 2007

Yes, I'm still here

Hello everyone,

I know it's been a little while since I've updated things here and I'm sorry about that. Just seems like when it rains it pours. Harlequin rejected my partial but gave some very good feedback about where I went wrong so I'll be working on that. Then my Grandma went in the hospital and that's kind of stressful. At least the weather here is finally starting to dry up a little. I actually see sunshine out the window! What a wonderous thing.

As for my writing efforts, I've decided to take a new tack. Instead of pantsing, I'm actually plotting. A couple of my CP's suggested a book called "First Draft In 30 Days" by Karen Wiesner and so far it's really good. The idea of the book is to do certain things each day using the guideline given and by the end of 30 days you'll have an outline so detailed and developed that it'll double as your first draft. So far it seems to be working. I have a lot of great info and it's making me think about things that I'd never really considered when writing- things like sub plots and such. So I'm not getting a lot of actual story writing done, more outline/plotting stuff.

Do any of you use a specific or modified method of planning for a book? Where did you learn your technique or is it something you developed based on your personal writing style?

6 comments:

Bronwen said...

Yey! You are alive, ummm sorry about the link had to change everything over recently and forgot to let you know. I'm a pantster always have been but I tend to 'dream' my books anyway. Look forward to hearing how it goes for you using this book.

Abby Gaines said...

Hi Danielle, I hate plotting, but I can't write unless I have a very good idea where I'm going. I recently started using the Snowflake Method again, having not tried it for a couple of years, and I find it really helpful.

BTW, I saw on one of the Harlequin boards that you were reading my book Married by Mistake - glad you were enjoying it!
Abby

Danielle Marie Peck said...

Hi Abby- thanks for stopping by. Yes, I finished Married By Mistake and I loved it! It's one of the best I've read and I've read a lot of Harlequin books.

April said...

I've tried pantsing, I've tried plotting. And what I'm finding is that I like the middle ground. I end up rewriting too much when I pants, but I can't seem to stick to a detailed plot.

With my current wip, I have an overall plot with a really vague outline and a little more detailed character sketches. This seems to keep me on track but also afford me creative freedom.

Good luck with your tactic!!

Elle Fredrix said...

Sorry to hear about the R and your grandmother.

I'm a total pantser. Even the thought of plotting makes me sweat. I start with character names, how the initially meet or reunite, a VERY vague outline of GMC and go from there.

Allison Presley said...

Sorry to hear about the rejection, but hey … they gave you COMMENTS. Not bad at all. Review their suggestion and get that baby out on the street again.

I’m a planner. ;-) A rudimentary outline works best for me. It saves me the frustration of discovering halfway through the project that I’ve painted myself into a corner. LOL.

Keep up the great work!