March 31, 2008
The Best Laid Plans
Okay, so when I started Thicker Than Water two weeks ago, I had decided to try doing a little plotting. Gasp! I know shocking. But I suppose after all the rewriting I’ve been doing lately I really wanted a solid first draft so I wouldn’t have as many write-arounds when I went to work on the second.
Now, as I have done plotting before and found that it effectively killed my story, instead of plotting the book from beginning to end. I noted what I felt the turning points would be, jotted down any ideas for various scenes as the popped up in my head (which I would do anyway because since having a child, my memory sucks) and plotted the scenes of the first few chapters. Then, at last, I sat down to write.
At first, I was excited. These scenes played out beautifully on my cue cards. Sadly, as I wrote I just couldn’t feel my characters. AT the end of last week, and about 12,000 words in, I stopped, chucked the the cue cards , opened a new document and started again. And by the time I saved I’d written 1,000 words and, more importantly, I had a sense of my characters.
I have no choice but to accept, no matter how appealing the idea of plotting is to my Virgo brain, it’s not for me. I’m a pantser, an into the mist writer or whatever else they call the type of writer who sits down and writes. In order for me to be able to write the best story I can, I need to let my characters tell it.
Today I hit 3,200, meeting 1,000 word per day goal since I restarted the story. Yay! I’m also back to rewriting Blood & Bone. Added a new scene to chapter 15, tomorrow I’ll complete the second and hopefully by Wednesday I’ll have something to post with my crit group.
Mood: Good
Music: Hey Jude, The Beetles
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So what’s wrong with being a pantser? Some of your favorite critique partners are pantsers.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:17 pmIf something works for you, stick with it. Writing is organic and cannot be forced!
I completely agree. Looks like rewrite hell is merely a part of the process.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:39 pm