Welcome back to Write Wednesday!
I picked up 2k to 10k by Rachel Aaron for 99 cents (!!!) last week and have been reminded just how much I love her writing (she's the author of the Eli Monpress novels).
I'm 3/4 of the way through and already I'm anxious to jump the gun and go ahead and get started on my NaNoWriMo novel, if only to try out Rachel's completely sane methods for getting a completely insane word count.
Most of what I read yesterday was about plot and characters. Rachel seems to be a visual person, so what she has to say about writing resonates with me strongly. Once she has a plotted outline, she spends time picturing everything like it's a movie. If something is boring, slow, or useless, out it goes. Then, every day before she starts writing, she scribbles down the details of each scene. This way you're avoiding wasting time (by not having to make things up, think through a scene, figure out the structure, etc.) and can spend more (productive) time making sure your first draft is stronger.
Characters are a little harder to pin down but here again, Rachel has spent a lot of time up front with them to ensure that she is acquainted enough to write them. I'm hoping that by spending time from here on out until November with them I'll be able to tell when I'm headed off in the wrong direction.
I completed the 30 Days of Worldbuilding booklet and am now going to be mostly concerned with plotting and characters -- so Rachel's book arrived right on time! I'm going to do some short writing exercises (bonus material) with the characters, make up a playlist (or two -- maybe one for "character songs" and one for the soundtrack), and spend some time plotting, which is a weak point for me.
I've got a pretty strong opening, a somewhat foggy ending and no clue what's supposed to happen in the middle apart from snatches of funny/scary things I'd love to write. Rachel's got some great advice for that too -- she figures out the ending first, then the beginning, and if she gets stuck in between, she asks, "What happens after that?" to get from one place to the next. Using that question to step from plot point to plot point makes the storyline more logical (yay) and much stronger the first time around.
So, if you're interested in writing at all (even if you simply want to take a stab at NaNoWriMo this year -- which you should), check out Rachel Aaron's straightforward, fun, and illuminating read and get to work!
See you on Friday for First Lines!
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