Tag Archives: Pantser

Less than two weeks to go

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NaNo-2015-Participant-Badge-Large-SquareThe launch of NaNoWriMo 2015 is less than two weeks away and I can’t wait for it to start. Thirty days of insanity, at least that’s what I experience, but it’s not something I plan on passing up. I enjoy the feverish pace with which I write, a pace I really should get into the practice of doing on a daily basis. There’s a joy to be found in giving yourself permission to just let go and create without allowing the inner editor – or the voice of doubt – hold you back.

I’m joining the Lubbock NaNoWriMo Region once again, since they seem to be the most active, but I’m trying to find a group in Amarillo as well. Since I work in Amarillo, that region would make sense and would be the most convenient for me. Their Facebook page only has 15 members and the forum on the NaNoWriMo website isn’t very active, but I’m trying to get something started. I guess we’ll see how that turns out.

Regardless, I’m ready to get started on this project. I have an idea, a working title, and a vague sense of what I want to say. It’s the story of two ex-lovers who are forced back into each other’s lives, one who is self-centered and clueless, and the other who still harbors a lot of resentment over how the break-up took place, even after more than twenty years.

I like the story, I’m excited to write it, and all I’m looking for is a group of writers who share my enthusiasm. Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t get excited about much. I’m excited about this. I’m even considering planning out the story, at least loosely, so that I can have an idea of where I’m going.

Hi! Remember me?

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Happy Friday to all you gorgeous people out there. I hope you’re staying nice and dry today. It’s been a heck of a week in the Texas Panhandle and South Plains. We’re being inundated with rain, with places about an hour or two south literally under water. I know Lubbock has experienced some flooding and Tulia some impressive hail. I woke up to see a few tornado warnings and we’re under a tornado watch. Ah, springtime in Texas!

I have to say it’s better than the alternative, drought. I know the farmers in the area are thankful for the rain. It saves on irrigation, though they aren’t able to go out and work on the crops. Knowing our climate, the typical high-pressure systems that dominate during the summer months will set up, drying us up quickly and we’ll be praying for rain very soon.

But enough banal talk. I’ve been quiet the past two weeks. I haven’t had anything to say, not that I have any new worth sharing at the moment. I got to the point where I was repeating the same tired message, I’m working on it, I hope to be finished soon, yada yada yada. So where am I now?

I’m working on it. I hope to be finished soon. Yada yada yada.

I have found someone to edit my book. That’s exciting. We settled on a price, which is more than I want to spend but is in reality an extremely reasonable price. The editing process will consist almost entirely of proofreading my work, checking for grammar and punctuation. I wish I could afford a content editor to check for continuity, story line development and whatever it is they do. I’m still very much a novice at this. I think I need a mentor.

I’ll get it. I’m in no hurry. I’m enjoying the leisure of the journey, though I do eventually want to get to my destination. I’ll spend my day off today working on my copy. I’m halfway through but have a ton left to correct. Honestly, I wish I would have planned this novel to begin with. I’m beginning to so the advantage of being a planner vs. being a pantser. Also, I want to be done so I can work on other projects.

 

 

In search for a plot

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Participant-2014-Web-BannerFellow Wrimos, we’re going on less than thirty-six hours before NaNoWriMo 2014 kicks off, and I can’t be more excited! And terrified. I just realized that though I know who I want to write about, and I have a general idea of where I need to end up, I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to get there. It’s a little like taking a trip from my house to Maine without consulting a map. Nope, I’m going to be my usual pantser self and drive, hoping I get there in one piece.

At least in the car, I know the general direction I need to take, and I can read road signs. Maybe it wouldn’t be the most efficient way, but I’d certainly get there. But with this story, I need to figure out a plot, even a loose idea, that can move me along. I have part of her history down, and I think I know why she choose to become an escort, but how did she get there?

What I know about my main character, Giada, is that she’s extremely intelligent, with an appreciation for literature, art, music, and working knowledge of politics. What scares me is that I’m not so intelligent, and I have a very limited knowledge of the list above. Also, I know nothing about escorts, pornstars, and the interactions between them and the clients that hire them.

What am I to do?

As with everything, I’ll just fake it and hope it makes sense. I know more than I’ll admit to myself, and I’ll research what I need as I go along. I have a feeling that there will be some nefarious character, a Cardinal working in the Vatican, that will incite the troubles against Giada, forcing her to ally herself with the very institution that she turned her back on, the Catholic Church. As a bonus, I’ll get to meet Israel Mendoza, the main character in my first NaNo novel, as a young priest.

But why is a Cardinal, one of the hingemen of the church, so interested in a mere prostitute? I have an idea, but I don’t think I’ll share that reason, at least not yet. All I know is that when I wrote her into my story back in 2011, she was just a throwaway character, a bit of revenge against someone who did me wrong. Naturally, I fell in love with her. She’s broken and jaded, but I understand her brokenness. Also there’s a joy and an innocence in her that belies her worldliness. I can relate to that, too.

As with everything I write, there’s a personal reason for my telling. I think with her, my reason is that she’s ultimately what I created, a throwaway character. That’s what I feel I am to those around me. She’s used and discarded, with no one to love or to be loved. That, too, is how I feel at times.

But she’s the hero in her story. She may live a sinful life, but she’s not beyond the call of redemption. She may sell her body for earthy pleasure, but in her soul there’s still a place unblemished by the touch of man. No matter how worthless she feels about herself, she will find that she does matter to someone who prizes her above everything and everyone else.

Too bad I don’t know how the hell I’m going to do it!