Saturday, July 7, 2012

Writing Like The Wind





There is no escaping it.  I have created a pressure cooker challenge for myself which I never expected to happen.  Most of you know I was lucky enough to win a pitch contest recently where an agent wants to look at the first 50 pages of my YA fantasy novel Lunadar: Homeward Bound.  The only problem? The novel isn't finished yet.  Ooops...my bad! One of the problems of being a newer writer is that you might THINK you understand all the rules and terminology of writing, but you could be just as wrong!  Bottom line is I need to actually COMPLETE my novel and I thank my lucky stars this wonderful agent is willing to wait.  I just don't think she will wait forever.  So I have to write like the wind as one of my friends so aptly put it!




The advantages of pressure cooker writing for me is that I have a lot of material with which to work.  I have ONE main character,  about SIX supporting characters, TWO minor characters, FOUR different "kingdoms", a murder, and a handful of secrets mixed in with a healthy dose of mystical magic.  THAT should be enough fodder to fill 50,000 words, right?   The disadvantages of pressure cooker writing is that despite the fact that I am a organized kind of gal in other parts of my life, my WRITING does not come to me in an organized fashion.  

I'm not one of those people who plot, outline, character develop, and index their way from beginning to end of each story.  My characters talk to me...all the time.  I daydream what the characters are doing and saying.  I sit down at my computer with only the slightest inkling of what I am going to write and then I listen to the voices...carried in on the wind...and I simply write them down and see where it leads me.  I don't know if this is how other writers do it, but it seems to work for me.  So for this latest test of my writing ability I will just have to strap on the chaps and write like the wind.  Wish me luck...I think I'm gonna need it!





12 comments:

  1. Good luck! A good friend of mine finished a book this way, and some of his best writing happened when he wrote so fast he couldn't overthink it. He did say that having a general chapter outline helped him immensely, so if you get stuck, you might want to try one of some kind!

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    1. Hi Faith, and welcome to my blog! Somewhere along the line I usually write down a very general chapter outline just so I have an idea how many chapters I'm doing...especially with my middle grade novels. It's more of an available time issue than what to write but I'm sure I will figure it out...;0)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  2. I'm guilty of that. Wanderlust was hadnwritten some time ago but the original text was lost or destroyed so I really need to get it saved somewhere quickly. The problem is Ghetto is only about one third written and I need to get that done whilst the memories are fresh (it is only set a couple of years ago). 'Twixt the devil and the deep blue sea'

    If I knew it would become so challenging I might not have bothered. Like Faith says, in my experience / opinion some of my best writing is done at speed (if you discount the typos).

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    1. JP, I'm glad you didn't know! I'm glad you DID bother with it. One day when I am standing before you while you autograph a copy of your book for me, I will shake my finger at you and say,"I told you so!" You will know what I mean and won't need to ask.

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    2. LOL Janet if the day comes when it gets to print then I will send you a signed copy with 'You did too!' written on it.

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    3. Hi JP! You must know by now that you have an ardent fan in Janet and a champion of your writing in myself...;0)

      I can see a published book...or two...in your near future and if I am lucky enough, maybe in mine as well...lol...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  3. As for you, Donna, get back to work! I'm not getting any younger! I DON'T want to spend my afterlife still waiting for you to finish!

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    1. Lol, Janet...what a whip cracker you are! Unfortunately I had to spend the majority of today sorting through donated books for my READING FOR KICKS program and its off to trade them in for credit to buy books to fill the elementary schools wish list for the upcoming school year. I plan to taking time to write some tonight and all day tomorrow if I can get people to leave me alone for awhile...;0)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  4. Good luck! You can do it! It's going to be awesome and we will all line up for autographed copies when it's published! :)

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    1. Awwww, Susanna, you flatter me with your kind words! Did you ever get the parts of Lunadar I sent you via email? The info to fill in the gaps so you can understand the flow of the story better? Now that I've pulled my Friday and Sunday peeks at my stories/poems I'm probably going back to my everyday encouraging posts so I hope reader will still come by...I would cross my fingers, but it would take me even longer to type! Lol...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  5. Good Luck! I think it will be great! I am with Ms. Hill! I am already cruising the library! :)

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    1. Hi Erik! Thanks for the vote of confidence! I'm trying to write as fast as I can but 40-50,000 words is a lot of words! ;0)

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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