Planning and the Writer

This week I want to talk a little bit about planning. I’ve been in RWA some twenty years and I have learned all ways to plan and scheme and put it down on paper.

I’ll be honest, I’m a pantser by trade and I usually like it this way. Lots of writers are, so I know I’m in good company. But in all honesty, there are times when I do have to plan whether it be a story to fit an anthology or a much longer series.

Most of my plans start with a germ of an idea. Sometimes it will start with the title or the characters themselves. I almost never start with what is going to happen in the story except I know I want the characters together. Otherwise, there is very little plotting going on here. This is where I’m starting and no more.

There are tons of great places to learn how to plan. Most are called bootcamps and they can be great. The one I took through Rose Colored Glasses was fantastic and I happened to use their technique on a series I was planning at the time I took the class. Their technique involves a lot of spreadsheets and really digging into the characters. You look at all sorts of motivation of each character and make sure you have it down before even putting one word down on paper. It was one of the best yet hardest writing classes you’ll ever find. And inexpensive to boot! Here’s the website for you to look it up:

http://www.rosescoloredglasses.com/

One of my favorite planning techniques is to write down what is to happen in each chapter. This is a very easy and simple but effective way to plan without really planning. I use this technique most often and just love it but it satisfies the pantser in me. When I’m writing a story, I do occassionally get stuck and don’t know just where I want to go. At that point, I think about just how many chapters I plan to have in that particular story then I make a page in the story file for each of those chapters.

Next, I look at where I am and I already know I want to accomplish a great ending. Then I start making the logical steps from the point I’m at in the story to the end I want. Sometimes there are five items per chapter, sometimes twenty. But what I’ve done is much, much more because I’ve basically given myself a roadmap to the end of the story.

Those are the two techniques I use when writing and there are thousands more. Here’s a few websites I’ve found useful:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2308086_plan-novel.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Plan-out-a-Novel

http://fiction-plots-pacing.suite101.com/article.cfm/4_steps_to_planning_and_plotting_your_novel

http://jmarkbertrand.typepad.com/writeaboutnow/2007/11/planning-a-nove.html

One other thing I’d like to mention. While planning and plotting do go hand in hand, I see them as mutually exclusive in this case. I can plan novels without all the plotting detail that some writers require. It really depends upon your style. I’m a pantser and my planning is minimal where if I was a plotter, my planning/plotting would be intense.

Hope that helps some new writers out there. Let me all know just how your planning sessions are going as I'd really be interested! See you all next week!

Lynn

The Art of Goal Setting

First, I would like to thank everyone who commented on this blog regarding the Haiti donation. I am extending the time and posting much the same on one of my other blogs so check it out there as well.

But let’s get on with today’s lesson. Today, we’re talking about goal setting, what it is, why you need them and how to set them. Now, all of us have goals but maybe you don’t know that it’s a goal because you never thought of it that way. Most goals can be broken down to short term and long term. Short term goals are things you can see happening in the immediate future, usually 1 to 60 days at the most. Long term goals are items which you wish to attain within 60 days or more.

There are many different theories and ideas in regards to goal planning and at the end, I will add a few links where you can look at these BUT in essence, goal setting is just making real the things you want to do in life or in this case, your writing career. Some books talk about goals being immediate, short and long term with different time frames than I have here.

The whole idea is to make everything digestible chunks which you can manage successfully. The old adage don’t bite off more than you can chew is very true when setting goals. The only item from all the books that I adhere to 100% is the fact that if you write something down, you make it real to yourself. You see it in black and white, on the page and suddenly, it becomes tangible, something you can strive for in your life.

Let’s look at some examples of short term goals for a writer. They could be as easy as the following:

Write 1000 words per day
Take a class monthly
Commit to writing daily

True, these are simple but they are specific. They are something a person can commit to doing then do it. One problem people have with goals is that they don’t write something specific. They use the words try or might instead of action words like write and commit. Remember all the lessons you’ve had regarding passive writing? Well, the same applies for setting goals. You must be specific and your goal needs to state an action you will take.

Long terms goals are a little different because they take place over a longer period of time. Here are some examples of long terms goals for a writer:

Get a agent in 2010
Submit to an NYC publisher within six months from today (1-26-2010)
Commit to doing a daily blot in 2010

I’ve made these long term and specific in what I want to achieve and when I want to achieve them. And these are actual goals on my 2010 list. These are some of the things I will do this year. I’ve written them down and I own them.

When I was a struggling writer, meaning I wasn’t published and it was hard to motivate myself, I did things like make a dream book where I could write down all my writing goals for five years. I made a page for each year and wrote down what I wanted to do during that year. I also had a page in the beginning of the book which outlined my daily and monthly goals. These could change daily as items get completed or they evolve into something else. I also made mock covers, interviews and anything else I could think to make the writing life real to me.

I still have that book and quite frequently look at it to see how well I may or may not be doing.

Here are some links regarding goal setting:

http://www.cignabehavioral.com/web/basicsite/consumer/educationAndResourceCenter/articleLibrary/working_person11.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goal-setting_theory

http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html

http://www.goal-setting-guide.com/smart-goals.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goal_setting

But the bottom line is if you don’t write it down, it won’t be real to you. Now go and make your short and long term goal list. Let me know what you see as some of your goals and don’t hesitate to ask questions. I might not always know the answer but chances are I know someone who does.

Goal setting and planning go hand in hand which is why I will talk more in depth about planning next week.

Here’s hoping that you achieve all your daily and weekly goals! Until next week...

Lynn

Paradise Ills

I know what you are all saying…’What the heck is she talking about?’ Well, things have been going very good for me overall recently. Writings great, family the same. But I should have known the shoe would drop, the crock would break or whatever you all say when things suddenly take a strange turn.

I haven’t been sick in 17 years since I was pregnant with the youngest…not really sick…yeah, I’ve had aches and pains. I’ve had some small bouts with a slight case of the flu, migraines and other what I consider minor ailments. Sometimes I’ve stayed in bed or did nothing as a precaution because rest works wonders for a body and soul. And anyone who has had a migraine understands, functioning just isn’t possible when your head hurts so much you can’t see. But the on the whole, nothing too bad, nothing I couldn't handle. And never do I get something which causes me to vomit. Pregnancy was the only thing which cause that problem. I’d rather die than do that!

Now, with my family it’s been a whole different scenario. My husband gets stomach issues all the time and my youngest seems to pick up everything since he was in 6th grade and got pneumonia twice in one year. And since the youngest has been diabetic, he has been ill once every couple of weeks with something.

This last time, he dehydrated himself with soccer practice and then got the stomach cramps which go along with it. Or so we thought. Since he’s diabetic, we take him to the ER only to find that he has a horrible case of gastroenteritis which is apparently going around.

No, biggie, we can handle this. We make sure with his endocrinologist about what the ER prescribed and a host of other things as well as keeping him hydrated after the IVs. Never once did I think I was on the same road. I figured I was just Mom who could handle it yet again.

That was early AM Saturday and as I sit here Wednesday writing my blog, I wonder what ever made me think I was invincible. For the first time ever, I had to ask the DH to stay at home to take care of both of us. And the only thing that prevented me from going to the hospital was the fact I kept drinking even though the first day it came right back up.

Needless to say, I’m finally on the upswing even though my out bed time is only up to about an hour and a half before I am exhausted. MOF, as soon as I get done writing this, I’m off to bed again.

We think of ourselves that way in writing sometimes. We think we can do it all, be it all. No one person can be everything to everyone. Most authors’ rise to the top is a slow hard fought battle with many obstacles in the way. Some of those obstacles can be that we’re just plain sick of writing. It happens sometimes and its then that one needs to pull back and regroup.

Everyone needs to have a writing plan, something that they can refer back to when the going gets tough. Sometimes all it takes is to look at your plan, sometimes it takes writing in a different genre, taking a small vacation or even doing more volunteer work for your local writers group. Just something that will skid you along the plateau to where you’re going upward again.

In these tough economic times, I feel people giving up on dreams and whatever makes them happy because they aren’t making money or aren’t doing something they feel they should. It’s here that I’d like to steal a quote from the movie Galaxy Quest, ‘Never give up, never surrender.’ One must always look to their dreams and their inner self to draw strength.

Life is what it is. It’s not going to change or get better unless you want it to. Remember it’s all in your hands.

Again, I can see you wondering what this had to do with me being sick. I had a plan in place no matter what happened to me. I had someone to cover me at work, I had my DH answer my emails and delegate to others what I couldn’t get done, and I did what I’m supposed to be doing. Got better. Not 100% yet, but better.

And the whole time, my little brain is working on how I can get this into a story, or how I can convince folks that a good plan, no matter what the problem, is always great to have.

Happy writing! Until next week…

Lynn

New Year Blues

I love the holidays and am the first one to say so. During the time between Christmas and New Year’s I spend a lot of time reflecting on what I need to do in my life and for my writing career. Most years I have a wonderful time of reflection and planning without the usual “issues” of my every day life.

No so this year as my family tended to be very, very needy during my “me” time. And now I find myself in a place I can only call the blues. Life is bearing down on me and I had to come up with something that get me out of the funk that I found myself.

That “something” turned out to be an email I had received from one of my publishers. This particular publisher noted their sales were up 40% during the year. Yeah, you heard me right, 40%. Along with that, they were adding a print option for books of certain length and an advance.

That information was the push I needed to do my yearly reflection of my life and career. I came up with a short list I will share with you. Here it is:

1. Get an agent – This is something I’ve had on the back burner since my original agent dropped 50 of us. Now the time has come to start the search again.

2. Volunteer less – Those of you who know me totally understand this. I do a lot of volunteering for the various writer groups I belong to at the moment. Most of the time, it’s little things that can be added to my day. But occasionally, I do something big like EPICon 2009. After my time is done, I’m going to say ‘no’ more and start doing more things for me again.

3. Submit at least 2 stories/novels to eHarlequin – I received a personal rejection from the people at Nocturne Bites. I would be stupid not to follow this one up.

4. Finish something every month – Yeah, I know, very ambitious. But this is something I need to be doing. I write very fast but don’t push myself as much as I should. That ends this month.

5. Promote more – This is something I try and do daily. But this year, I’ve got to get rid of the word ‘try’ and start pushing my work a little more. I’ll share some of those ideas as I do them this year as they are really innovative. The first one is going on right now. Go take a look at Night Owl Romance and you’ll see the first item in that effort.

Every year, every writer needs to reflect on what worked and what didn’t. Every writer needs to have a plan. Every writer needs to work that plan. And that plan doesn’t mean you have to be so anal, you don’t have the space to breathe. No, just the opposite. Every writer needs to be flexible within the parameters they have set for themselves.

And within those parameters, if you just stick to your plan for at least 50% of the time, you’ll be a much better writer.

Experience the magic of being a writer. Until, next week!

Lynn