Trials and Travails of the Journey...

Laura:

I’ve wrestled with the WIP I’d hoped was destined for the Big Girls. Tried out Jennie’s suggestions (excellent for figuring out character arcs), tried other suggestions, and finally last night, decided, “Yanno, I’m struggling. I’ll set it aside for the moment. Work on something else.” So, I pulled out a couple of old WIPs and found myself re-enthralled with one of them, and re-intrigued by another, and laughing at myself because one is clearly a romantic comedy and the other is a paranormal.

This morning, while I was climbing into the shower, still half-asleep (the ol’ bod knows what to do in the mornings, even if my braincell isn’t engaged yet), it occurred to me what was wrong with the “Original WIP.” Still more asleep than awake, I IM’d Sherry first thing this morning with, “I figured out what was wrong with it!” Of course, Sherry knew exactly what I was talking about as we’d spent a couple nights chatting on IM, with me whinging about having lost that lovin’ feeling for the story.

Now the conundrum: which WIP to work upon?

Heh. Well, I do know now what I need to do in order to “fix” the original WIP, but the lovin’ feeling is gone, gone, gone... ooooh-ooooh-ooooh. So, I’ll just sideline it until the lovin’ feeling comes back.


Sherry:

I absolutely know how it feels when you lose your thrill (On Blueberry Hill?) for your WIP. *stares pointedly at the large number currently cluttering up the ole hard drive* Sometimes, though, after a few months (years?) that thrill returns, along with the plan to breath new life into a former love (in this case, a WIP gone bad). A case of absence and the heart growing fonder.

I’m in love with my current WIP. The subject matter has haunted me for a long time. I have no idea why it took me so long to think to build a romance novel around it. So far, by using writing tips (which we have dubbed The Method) gleaned from Julie Cohen (Waldenbooks bestseller for Harlequin Special Presents and Mills and Boon), I’m finding my thrill again with nary a blueberry hill in sight.

And the journey continues.

Taking shape....

Laura: Yes, as I admitted in the guest post intro, Jennie’s method scared the panster in me into a curled up mass of whimpering writer. I mean, this takes organizational skills (if you could see my desk, you’d understand that “organizational skills” is a foreign concept to me.). This takes more colored paper than I have on hand. This takes printer ink. (Guess what I managed to forget again today, on my trip to Wally World? G’wan. Guess. You’ll never get it. Heh.)

So, the other night, as we drove to watch a minor league baseball game (the home team was... well, in a word... trounced. The only reason we stayed ‘til the end was for the fireworks, but I digress...)...Where was I?

Oh, yeah, so there I am, without a computer, a laptop or even any caveman tools (notebook and pen), and I started thinking about my current WIP. I’m on chapter four, and it just wasn’t working for me the way I was trying to take it, and I KNEW it was wrong, but couldn’t quite see a way to fix it.

“Try thinking just about the hero’s arc,” said a little mutant voice in the back of my head.

So I did.

Wow.

Let me just say, when I focused in on what my hero wants and needs to do, I saw several things unfolding: the heroine’s BIG conflict, and how his actions will contribute to... get this... the BLACK MOMENT! Yes! (Panster does a li’l victory dance here, because the BM’s don’t usually unfold this early in the story for me.) I can *see* where this story needs to go, what needs to happen in order to fuel all the conflicts and growth necessary towards bringing this couple together.

I’ll admit, I didn’t use the color coding method when I finally got my hands on caveman tools, but I got my points written down, and will have them on hand as I finish writing this story. And Sherry’s fainted from the shock of my announcement via IM: “I’ll have you knows, that I used a portion of Jennie’s method... well, in my noggin, on the way to the b-ball game, and wound up PLOTTING some of my hero’s arc for the WIP.”

I’m excited about the direction I discovered this story would take, and I don’t feel like I’ve traded sides here, and gone to pitch for the Plotters, either. Nope.

I’m still firmly planted in the Panster’s dugout.



Sherry: Here I sit with my stash of colored paper and find myself also sans printer ink. (whimper). I will be rectifying that lil oversight posthaste.

Not that the need for the printing part of Jennie’s method is anytime near for me. I still have to do the identification portion. And I will. As I might have mentioned before, I have the perfect, most imperfect story just begging to be scrambled into pretty colored strips.

In the meantime, as I pondered the methodology involved, I also began to mentally focus on yet another story that I have brewing. Using Jennie’s method, I began to “think” the story into the appropriate colored sections. Being only in the beginning stages of the story, this was fairly easy to do.

Right away, I could tell where I needed to concentrate my efforts. How exciting!

Keep checking back as I begin using Jennie’s Big Breakdown method. The plotter in me is simply all-atwitter to begin. I’ve read Jennie’s books and I know how well plotted and executed her stories are.

Go find out for yourself if you haven’t already.

Now, off to get that ink!

Welcoming Guest Blogger... Jennie Adams...

Sherry and I are thrilled to have a guest blogger today, Jennie Adams, sharing her revision and refocus techniques. We hang upside down with Jennie at eHarlequin's Bat Cave-- a social thread where numerous authors (both published an unpublished) hang out together.

Now, Sherry's very excited about this process and has even purchased the necessary stationery. Unfortunately, she forgot to buy ink for her printer. I'd twit her about this, but I've also run out of printer ink and keep forgetting to buy more when I'm at the store.

I will admit, the panster in me read through these fantastic suggestions and has been curled up and whimpering ever since. It's a doable process, even for a panster. And as soon as I remember to purchase ink, I'm going to give it try myself. After all, it's all about bettering yourself as an author in order to achieve your goals, and in order to do that-- you need to be teachable. (Yes, I'll have a large supply of medicinal and recreational chocolate on hand when I give this a shot.) I'm very interested to see what I'll learn about my writing process when I use this technique.

Without further ado... Heeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre's Jennie!

Hi,

I’m Harlequin Romance author Jennie Adams and I’d like to say a big thanks to Sherry and Laura for the invitation to be a guest poster on their blog. Sherry recently said ‘I don’t think any two books of mine have been created in exactly the same way.’ I can say the same, and add this: I don’t think any two books of mine have been revised or refocussed in the same way.

So here it is – my latest revision and refocus technique:

The Big Breakdown – Of Your Story, That Is

Once upon a time (that’s not the opening line of my story in progress, by the way).

Once upon a time I plotted a story, wrote it scene by scene in a tidy and orderly fashion, polished the end result, and with what I refer to as ‘strengthening’ revisions, the sort that improve on what is already there, I sold my first Harlequin Romance book.

The progress of a story from beginning idea to end product doesn’t always happen like this. Sometimes it’s messy, hair-raising, difficult, confusing, even downright insanity inducing. Actually, that’s usually how it is for me. And that’s where The Breakdown comes into play.

If an editor sends a three page revision letter suggesting changes to eight major elements, three medium ones and including a question about the dog, chances are you’re going to have your work cut out to manage those revisions. You may need a method a little more detailed than thinking through the suggested changes, opening your manuscript document, and starting somewhere with the hopes it will all pull together as you work.

If you are simply writing and you get two thirds of the way through your story and realise that, despite all your best efforts, you don’t have enough of a grip on things or you think some of the elements aren’t working or might need to be toned down or spruced up this method might also be helpful.

Here’s how it goes:

The Big Breakdown.

I first did this for revisions of ‘To Love and To Cherish’, my March 08 Harlequin Romance release. And because I’d seen some other authors talking about storyboarding and liked the idea of a corkboard and coloured index cards (I’m a stationery addict) I decided to do it thusly:

Story Elements:

These will have variations depending on what kind of story you write. Mine are short category romances of 50 000 – 55 000 words with the focus on the developing romance between the two key characters. But you might have subplots that support your main plot, or that run parallel to it, or a sub-genre element such as mystery, paranormal, suspense. Whatever those elements are, include each one in your break up. Here’s how mine looks:

~Story progress – what’s actually happening in action in each scene (Green).

~Heroine’s internal conflict – what’s stopping her from acting on her attraction to the hero (Yellow).

~Hero’s internal conflict – what’s stopping him from acting on his attraction to the heroine (Orange).

~Heroine’s romantic development – (Pink).

~Hero’s romantic development – (Blue).

Summarise the elements:

If you have a printed copy of the manuscript, it is probably easiest to use this. Open a new document on your computer and going through the printed manuscript, summarise each of the above points in as short a form as possible. Just chuck it all into the one document for now.

The breakdown of Chapter One might look like this:

~Heroine at hospital guarding elderly boss (Green).

~Altercation with boss’s wife. First hint heroine’s internal conflict. She won’t abandon boss (Yellow).

~Hero arrives, inspires her curiosity and interest (Pink).

~Hero is grandson who abandoned her boss. Heroine has big issues with abandonment! (Yellow).

~Hero tormented about leaving his grandfather. Hint at his internal conflict but not all explained (Orange).

~Attracted to heroine who has preconceived dislike of him (Blue).


~Leave hospital together forced into working relationship for good of grandfather (Green).

~If you’re wondering, this is a basic breakdown of the first chapter of Her Millionaire Boss, the first of my Gable Sister stories.

Separate the elements:

Once you have the elements summarised (I think I had about sixteen pages of print at that point), number them so you know where they currently come in the story. It’s a good idea to note the viewpoint character for each story element, too. Divide them into separate documents for each of the story elements and print each of those documents out on whatever coloured paper you’ve allocated to them. I should say here that I chose coloured paper over index cards in the end because a) Office Works didn’t have enough colours of index cards (I did however get over this and buy a footrest and new chair as a sort of really expensive consolation prize) and b) when I stopped in the middle of the store and thought about that lack of colour choice in index cards, I figured it would probably be quicker and would definitely be more legible for me to type than write all this stuff out anyway.

Jigsaw Puzzle Time:

Take your printed coloured pages to your dining table or if you don’t have one, clear the floor. Cut up each of the elements. Lay them out as they appear in the story now, including anything you’ve not yet written, if you’re only partway through your story.

Then haul out the revisions letter or if you’re doing this because you’ve lost your grip on the story, think about what you have written so far and what is to come.

In The Think Tank:

~Look at what’s in front of you. Where are the weak spots in the story, in any of the individual elements?

~Is there enough actual story action moving it all along? Too much?

~Are all the elements, internal conflicts, romantic arcs, developed to their greatest strengths yet honed and focused without pointless deviations that don’t advance the story or raise the stakes?

~Are you trying to include too many strands of internal conflict for one or both of the characters? Have you got six different conflicts going for the hero? (Slaps self and swears not to do that again).

~If you’re working with revisions, what needs to stay as it is? What needs to be less, or more, strengthened or toned down?

~Do you need to add something new, or take away something that doesn’t enhance the story?

~Pull out the bits that have to go. Scribble new coloured paper pieces for anything that needs to be added. Write alterations on the backs of your existing bits of paper.

Ready? Now shuffle the jigsaw pieces, add and take away, shift and sort, make more changes as above until eventually you feel it’s all in place and you have a clear picture that does justice to all required changes. I recommend at least one can of Pepsi Max for this stage, bare feet, and order everyone else out of the house including the cat and the dog and the budgie.

The beauty of taking it into the think tank with small pieces of summarised elements is that it’s not overwhelming. You’ll be surprised what you see and realise about your overall story as you first break it down and summarise into separate elements, and then put it back together looking for weak spots and the right areas to implement change.

On the Corkboard:

Once you’re satisfied you’ve done all you can to improve the story at this grassroots stage, pin your pieces of paper onto the corkboard. At this stage you might still spot some further weaknesses. There’s something about lining it all up then standing back to take a look that gives you a very clear picture of just how much of each of those colours (elements) you have.

On The Page:

Now you can go back to your story itself. Open the manuscript document. I always save it as a new file name so I know I have the old one safe and sound if for any reason I want to go back to it.

Work your way through each coloured piece of paper, strengthening and changing just that part of the story one piece of paper at a time. Some things will need minor tweaks. Some elements might get moved from chapter three to chapter seven. Others will change so much they’ll hardly be recognisable. The beauty here is that even though you’re not looking at the story as one big 55 000 word lump, you can still be confident you’re headed for a cohesive result.

So there it is. One way of taking the story apart, breaking it down, and putting it back together better and stronger than before.

If you have a lovely long revision letter sitting on your desk, or you’ve woken up this morning and realised despite all your efforts you don’t have a clue who these people are and what they’ve done for the past 167 pages maybe The Big Breakdown will help you as it’s helped me. I hope so.

If you have questions, ask away!

Best wishes to you all.

Jennie

Jennie’s latest Harlequin Romance ‘The Italian Single Dad’ is available online at http://www.amazon.com and will be in stores in the US in September 07.

For further information about Jennie’s writing and book releases, visit her website at http://www.jennieadams.net .

Muse Constipation....

Laura: As you may be able to tell from our lack of posts here on our Adventure Blog lately, Sherry and I are both suffering from that dreaded authorial disease: Writer’s Block. Yep. Our Muses are constipated, and despite offerings of medicinal chocolate and "adult beverages" (Yes, I thought I might shake something loose out of my Muse if I got her tipsy)... here we sit. Our WIPS dutifully opened, read and read again, discussed over IM, commiserated over IM, bounced like playground balls. We’ve done everything but take our WIPS out on the town for dinner, drinks and dancing! Now, what are the odds of us both coming down with blockage? (Pardon me while I consult the miniature-yet-living Mr. Spock I keep in my desk drawer for such occasions.)

Who knows? Does anyone care besides Sherry and I? (Because figuring out the odds would be an admirable way of procrastinating on writing.) What does it really say about our methods now that both Ms. Panster and Ms. White Board-Diagrams-Flow Charts can’t seem to write a sentence they don’t immediately delete?

To me it says that Writer’s Blocks can happen to anyone. I’m reminded of an interview I read in the RWA magazine, with Nora Roberts. Towards the end of the interview, Nora had something to say that made me laugh out loud. Paraphrased badly, here it is: "Chain the damned Muse to the keyboard and write." (I’d scrounge around for the actual interview, to give you the unparaphrased version, but I haven’t unpacked my writing magazines yet, my husband has already gone to bed and that’s where my boxes are, AND I have no idea in which box the magazine is actually in, PLUS, my bedroom is already a disaster and doesn’t need me to help it anymore by unpacking anything else. *Ahem. My apologies to Ms. Roberts on the manglefication of said quote.)

So... what am I going to do about my Writer’s Block? Certainly not break out a white board, a flow chart or diagram. Nope. I’m going to go "borrow" a set of plastic handcuffs from one of my sons, set out Muse Bait (read: medicinal and recreational chocolate; another fuzzy navel), and hide under my desk with said handcuffs until the Muse takes the bait, thereby enabling me to cuff her to the keyboard and write. Dammit.


Sherry: Museal Constipation. Nothin’ worse.
I’ve tried every suggestion. Oh, yes I have!
And the amusement of picturing Laura skulking under the desk waiting to leap onto, and handcuff her Muse to the computer isn’t helping. Can’t picture my characters while envisioning Laura’s near maniacal face, (chocolate smeared and a bit tipsy) primed and ready to attack.

Heh.

But anyway.

I try to think of Nora Roberts as well. What WOULD she do? Surely she doesn’t schlep to the computer in the mornings in ratty jammies, nursing a cup of coffee as if it were the elixir of life, only to bang her head on the desk because the Muse has deserted the writing camp.

No. Absolutely not. She writes.

I’m guessing she doesn’t sit around, posting and whining on her blog, either. (I forgive her for that).

Well, dear Readers. I’m hereby declaring that I’m not going to take this Museal abuse any longer. I have a plan. Actually, it’s not MY plan, but it is a good one. Oh, it’s a great one! Charts, corkboard, push pins… the works! *rubbing hands together in glee*

What is the plan? I’m not telling my methods. Mainly, because for once, this isn’t my method. Nope, this method has been supplied by a Famous Author. It’s a secret.

BUT, if you tune in next Friday, all will be revealed. Oh yes. The Secret will be out. We might even have a guest.

I’m sure even my errant Muse will even turn up for this.

Stay tuned.

Write? Or Wrong? The debate continues....

Laura Hamby Is On Vacation, which means....

Yep! All alone and in charge of our blog again. mwaaaaaaaaahahahaha! Will she ever learn?

Heh.

So. This morning, while checking out my favorite threads at Harlequin the pantster/plotter question reared it's head again.

Yanno, I really think it boils down to this: For every million writers out there, there is probably a corresponding number of different writing styles. I don't think any two books of mine have been created in exactly the same way. Sometimes the book and all its various components come to me in a practically complete package (ie, "gift books") Rare, that is.

Other books come with just a flash of an idea, sketchy character details and an only a bit of the conflict. Typical book creation for me.

Either way, the work has be written into an imperfect first draft. Then with revisions, the book begins to take it's final shape. The story lives.

In the end, it doesn't matter how you get there -- pantster style or plotter or a combination of the two. Just. Write. The. Book.

And on that note, I'd best begin.... now where'd I put the chocolate Muse lubricant?

Yin? Yang? Pantster V. Plotter

Laura:

How to Write Like a Panster

1. Pluck an idea outta the ether.
2. Think, “Gee, I could write a story about that.”
3. Create a character list (because, after all, you want your characters to have the same color eyes all the way through the entire novel.)
4. Just start rioting it down as it comes to you.
5. Feed the muse chocolate and caffeine as necessary.

Now, it should be noted that cobbling those tips together took me less than 5 minutes. Sherry, on the other hand, came up with 2, and IM’d: “I'll work on mine and see what we finally sum things up to in the end.”

Yes. I have visions of her pulling out her dry erase boards, charts, graphs, and post-its and planning her tips. Which is A-Okay. It works for her. (And, yeah, I’ll admit, I do enjoy teasing her about her dry erase markers running out of ink, I should point out that she enjoys teasing me about the predicaments my panstering sometimes puts me in.)

So, the eternal question: Whose way is the right way to write? The answer: YOUR way, the way that works for YOU is the right way to write.


Sherry:

Tips on How to Write as a Plotter

Challenged by this topic, and determined to give it my utmost consideration. I have compiled my list and attached it below:

1. Characters. After due consideration to determine appropriate compatibility and comparable wants and needs, escort them from the Character Lounge and proceed to the next step.
2. Eat Chocolate. After all, the above step was mentally taxing and you deserve something nice to recharge the brain cell.
3. Conflict. After observing the key characters for a bit, the crux of the conflict should be fairly obvious. Use the ‘what if’ and ‘interview’ techniques if this important component is slow to materialize.
4. Pondering Nap ® Do not discount the importance of a good power nap. It doesn’t always solve the issue, but it also certainly never hurts. Heh.
5. Assembly: Assemble various outline notes (there should be a copious number by this point), character sheets (of course you need to know their eye color. And their birthdate, and any particular food allergies), double check your formatting and move on to the next step.
6. Eat Chocolate. Because by this time, you are ready to put apply pants to chairseat, fingers to keyboard, and chocolate lubricant to the Muse.

Easy peasy. A snap.

These are my tips and steps for creating a new project. Different from yours, you say? Sure. Check out Laura’s tip above. See any similarities? (the chocolate parts don’t count, because eating chocolate as part of the process is a given). It doesn’t matter HOW you get there. Just get there. And bring your readers along for the ride, because that’s what its all about in the end.

Happy Writing and Happy Reading!

Recharging the brain cell.

Sherry: So, my DH and I went to the Texas Hill Country on a motorcycle trip to meet up with friends and on the trip there I’m admiring the scenery and reminding myself that I have a book to finish writing and that I’m stuck. I should be using all this downtime spent riding on the back of the Harley occupying my brain cells to solve my wip problem.

So, sez I, here goes….

Now my H needs some motivation… oh, look! There is ….count em. 10 deer! Beautiful. Anyway, so why is does he have the heroine…mmm, spectacular view of a field of purple thistle. With the rolling hills, it might be somewhere in Scotland…

Focus!

Okay. Now concentrate. The hero has hied away to the cabin with another man’s intended bride. How will he turn this into his advantage? Oh… What a gorgeous cloud of butterflies. Wonder where they are off to? Oh my gosh, look at the roadside display of pottery. Is that a water feature? Sure would look great outside my dining room window.

What was I saying about the wip? *confoozlement*

Finally, I sighed and told the DH my predicament. He was quiet and seemed as confoozled as me. Finally he said, ‘we are surrounded by some of the best scenery in Texas. Maybe your braincell is trying to tell you to give it a rest and to soak up some new experiences. Maybe you should just relax’.

Relax? Huh. There’s an idea, but could the anal side of me concede the point?

Well, 14 hours of ride time, a pitcher of the best Sangria wine ever, one Hawaiian luau and two days spent with some of the best people and fellow riding enthusiasts around, all in some of the most wonderful countryside that Texas has to offer --- I’m no closer to solving my wip problems, but even my anal retentive brain cell is thanking me.

Today we are rejuvenated, refocused and recharged. Still don’t know how I’ll fix my wip, but I’m a lot happier and more relaxed trying to figure it out.

Sometimes, you just gotta let it all go and then it will come to you.



Laura: My braincell gave up the ghost on the current WIP a couple weeks ago. I KNOW what I need to do to finish this novel, and get it done, but gee... I have a house to finish unpacking, pictures to hang, laundry to do, children, a spouse and pets to clean up after, swimming lessons to take the boys to, read HP7, see HP 5 (both excellent, BTW)... What's the problem? Why can't I just Sit the Heckadoodle Down and Finish the WIP?

I think it's because my brain has moved on to the next project. I'm chomping at the bit, as it were, to get to my "Adventure WIP"-- the one I should be writing while Sherry's writing hers. Hmm... we seem to be on the same wavelength most of the time, I wonder if writer's block is contagious.

Anyway, it all comes down to having the time AND the motivation to finish. I can make the time. Just need the find the right motivation. After all, I can only clean the kitchen and bathrooms so many times before they're scrubbed away due to my procrastination. Huh. Maybe I should contemplate painting the downstairs bathroom as my next procrastination event.

Oh, brother.

Pass the chocolate.

And put Procrastination back in his cage, for crying out loud.

The Big Switch-A-Rooney...

Laura: To cut or not to cut... that is the question. Whether the scene serves any purpose, or is just there taking up space, hoping it will be tied into the fabric of the store further into the novel... Who’s to say when they don’t write by sticky notes, dry erase boards, diagrams and charts?

Yes, it’s one of the woes of being a panster. The scene is good. It’s a nice scene. I like the scene, even. Did I manage to tie back into, as I initially thought I would when I was writing it? Um... nope. Didn’t. Am I going to on my revisions rounds? Um... dunno. Would it add anything to the story if I did? You betcha. Can I think of a way to tie it in and make it significant?

*Crickets*...

The Perils of Pansterhood.

So, here I sit, IM window to Sherry open (she’s off getting lunch for herself and her wild monkeys— grandchildren), pondering the notion of hijacking her post-it notes. After all, she’s tried to write the panster method. Why shouldn’t I try to write the plotter way? (Pardon the twitching... it’s an allergic reaction that occurs every time I think about actually plotting on purpose.)

Digs through post-its... Hmmm...

Goals! What goals do the H/h have?
Conflict. Make it hurt. Make the H/h earn it. How? 1)...2)... 3)...
Motivation! I need H to do X, so Y must happen, and that’s going to occur when the heroine does Z... Z1)... Z2)... Z3)...
How does this move the story forward? A)... B)... C)...

Pockets post-it notes and whistles an innocent tune... Heh. She’ll never know I stole these notes. Nope. I bet she has 11ty gazillion more just like them...


Sherry: *noting Post-it notes, numbers 16, 47, and 119 – all dealing with GMC have gone missing*

I do have 11tygazillion notes. I also have a GMC issue with my current Hero. Have all those notes helped me this time? No. I’ve jotted notes, plotted extensive flow charts and diagrams and nada. Zip. Zilchola.

*twitch*

Lord help me, I’m going to have to pantster this scene too! I’m going to need more chocolate. Clearly.

The moon must be rising, Mercury is in triple retrograde or something if Laura is plotting and I’m still panstering. I wonder if somehow, our writing together these past two years has gotten our writing styles out of sync. Can that happen?

Whatever the reason, all I know is that I keep staring at my stuck scene in this wip and the only solution I can come up with involves either imbibing much chocolate or a lengthy “pondering nap”. Heck. It’s a big problem; I’ll just do both.

Zzzzzz…*her sword, the failed wedding…a cabin* snurfle…zzzzzzz…..

How Well Do We Know Men?

We took a blogthings quiz to find out.

Laura fell off her chair when she read her results:

You Have Your PhD in Men

You understand men almost better than anyone. You accept that guys are very different, and you read signals well. Work what you know about men, and your relationships will be blissful.

How Well Do You Understand Men?

Hmmm... Why can't I stop thinking PhD stands for Piled higher and Deeper?

Sherry's thought when she read her quiz results: "Let my guy off the hook sometimes?? Never! This way I can keep both of us on our toes..."

You Are a Good Student of Men

You're pretty good at knowing what men are thinkingBut you're not dead on 100% of the timeLet your guy off the hook sometimes... because you may be reading him all wrong!

How Well Do You Understand Men?

Now the question to answer is: how well do we apply what we apparently know about men to our writing?

Just Sit Back and Enjoy the Scenery

Laura: So, there I was, just minding my own business, writing along and my WIP took an unscheduled, unforeseen left turn. "Hmmm," sez my Panster Muse, "Surprise!" I sat back in my chair, staring at the screen at what I’d just typed. My first thought wasn’t "Gee, now what?" It was, "Jones is gonna laugh her Plotter butt right off at me."

I pinged her. No answer. I posted a note, "You’re gonna laugh at me." No answer. I pinged. She says, "What did you do this time?" I said, "You’ll be very surprised to know my WIP just turned left, without using the turn signal."

Sherry Jones is STILL laughing at me. Not with me, but AT me.

"So, what did you do?" she typed. (How she managed to reach the keyboard from the floor, where she was rolling with laughter, I don’t know. We’ve met at a writer’s retreat, so I know she doesn’t have gorilla-length arms.)

I c/p’d the entire chapter to her.

Her response?

That rolling on the floor, laughing his butt off smiley icon. Then the comment, "Color me surprised."

I held my breath, waiting for her to pull out a dry erase board. Flow charts. Diagrams. The dry erase markers. I figured she’d draw me a road map, to show me where the Muse turned left and kept going. Not because I couldn’t recognize the illegal turn myself, but because I clearly need a map if I’m ever going to finish this novel.

She says, "So, whatcha gonna do?"

I smiled my best innocent smile, put up the angel icon, and said, "Run with it, of course."

"Of course you are. Just another stunning example of you writing by the seat of your pants," she replies.

And then there was silence for a while. Nervous after ten minutes, I IM’d, "You already blogging about this?"

"Nope. Just killing time until I have to strap on my school bus and go get DD," she replies.

Yeah. Right. She’s already got her part of this entry jotted down on little sticky notes.

I never think at all when I write. Nobody can do two things at the same time and do them both well. ~Don Marquis

Sherry: Hey! Is she talking ‘bout me?
*digs out from under a pile of sticky notes* My glance falls on a paraphrased quote:
‘If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up somewhere else.’ Yogi Berra

Exactly. Is that a bad thing? Nope. But it does have its hair-raising moments and some really funny ones, too.

See above for a perfect illustration. Heh. Laura is funny. She is also a very comical writer, which is why I love working with her. Simply, she makes me laugh.

My Muse recently took a wrong turn at Albuquerque (to quote that renown wit and raconteur, Bugs Bunny) and left me scratching my head.

Well. I didn’t expect THIS twist and where shall we go with it now? *searches frantically through stacks of notes, charts, diagrams and empty chocolate wrappers* Huh. Nothing. No writing map at all. I’m really going to have to wing this, pantster-style.

Then again, there is the tried-and-true-patent pending Pondering Nap route to carefully consider.

Hmmm…

Of course, this last method has to be used sparingly, or the family will begin to A) think I have fallen into a depression-induced coma. Or, B) a year from now, the plot twist will still be there and the Muse will have deserted me again for the Bahamas. The tart.

Decisions, decisions… there is also one more thing to take my mind off the unplotted plot twist, and that would be twitting Laura about her unexpected twist.

I’m liking that plan. Have chocolate and I’m not afraid to glut on it.

Oooooh… Laura…! Heh.

Did You Miss Me?

I know what follows that question: "Where you gone?"

I was moving. The way Sherry makes it sound, you'da thunk I'd been off on a cruise or lounging on beach in the Bahamas.

A few items to comment upon...

See, Jones? Contrary to popular belief, panstering didn't cause your head to explode. This is probably due to the block of medicinal chocolate you kept on hand. (Makes note to steal "medicinical chocolate" phrase from Sherry... and to purchase my own block of medicinal chocolate. Hmmm... I wonder if George Clooney delivers chocolate...) (Oh, and yes, I typed "George Clooney" and meant it. It's wrong, just plain wrong, to oogle hunks who are younger than I am--- makes me feel like a female dirty old man. Mr. Clooney is a tad older than I am. A "tad" is a vague measurement. Heh. Confused yet? So am I. There's still blood in my veins, rather than caffiend.)

I bought a Swiffer. Just your basic Swiffer. I think I'm in love. Yes, it took me a long time to join the Swiffer Revolution, I will admit. You don't wanna know how long it took for me to transition from record albums to cassettes, and from cassettes to CDs. And yes, I still mourn the passing of the 8-track tape.

Now, you may be asking yourselves, "What does ANY of this have to do with writing?" And that's a good question to ask. The short answer is: "Not a darned thing. Although I suspect, given time and a suffient quantity of caffiend, I could somehow turn the Swiffer Event into some sort of writing metaphor." Give me the day, several gallons of caffiend, and generous amount of Medicinal Chocolate (I like this phrase so much, I've elevated it to "Caps-Hood"), and I'm 89% sure I can do just that.

On today's agenda: wait for the cable person to come hook us back up to "real TV" and write. I'm going to ignore all the unpacking and cleaning that needs to be done. It'll still be there tomorrow. An' the day after that, an' the day after that...

Hey! Who's In Charge Around Here???

Laura Hamby has elected to be elsewhere these past few days, so *I* have control over our blog. O, the POWER!



In actuality, the above picture represents ME being, yanno up to my *ss in alligators… or, Why Did Laura Think It Was A Good Idea To Leave Me In Charge?

Nevertheless….


The day has finally come. On Wednesday evening, having been deserted by my writing partner and IM buddy, Laura Hamby, who decided to have a LIFE elsewhere for a few days, I had to set aside my *gulp* dry erase board, markers, post-its and PANTSTER my way to the ending of my chapter four in my wip.

O, the horror! All alone and with only a large block of medicinal chocolate to sustain me, and steady my nerves, I muscled my way to The End. *inserts Julie Cohen’s patented Mindless, Feckless Dance Of Joy*

Heh. I’d done it! No charts, no Plotter’s accoutrements… just nerves of steel and a good supply of Hershey’s Special Dark bar. (Have I mentioned that’s my favorite? Not a small HINT to the Hershey Corporation. No, not at all. Much.) Heh.

Whew. Good job, me. Yep, I did it.

But, what exactly DID I do?? You see, when I get into a writing groove like that, the Muse takes over and I’m not longer creating, per se, as taking dictation. In other words, I have NO FREAKIN’ CLUE as to what I wrote or what sort of plot corner the Muse wrote me into to begin Chapter Five. Hence, another reason for me being up to my…yanno.. in alligators. I tried this pantstering thing, I really did.

I’m not worried, though. I know how to solve this. *drags trusty dry erase board back into center of the room*

What? You’re still here? Well, you’ll have to excuse me. I’ve got a bit of plotting to do….

With any luck, Laura will be back with us on Monday and turn this ship around.

Gone Fishin’ , indeed…

Where’s my chocolate?

Week Two: The Chocolate Solution

Typical IM session....


Sherry: ...see what I do to myself? LOLOL.
Laura: Hiding under desk from dry erase boards, flow charts and diagrams.
Sherry: *dragging dry erase boards, flow charts and diagrams into the center of the room..*
Laura: Throwing spitballs at Sherry's dry erase boards, et al...
Sherry: Mebbe they will tell me in a few. See? Pantstering.
Laura: LOL. Yeah, nice try, Jones. Not buyin' it.

Minutes later, after I’ve IM’d a bit of my WIP to Sherry:

Sherry: You just need to expand it and toss in some motivation.
Laura: Yeah. Yeah, Yeah. Right now, they are all motivated to bop like bunnies.

Gee, don’t understand why she snorted at that last line. Am muchly confuzzled by that. You mean to tell me that “wanna engage in a bunch o’ boinking” isn’t sufficient motivation to carry off the entire novel?

Who knew?

Jones did, apparently, for she immediately found a tiny blank space on her dry erase board and began diagraming how I should go about finding the motivation. Now, it’s not that I don’t appreciate her help (to the contrary, I don’t honestly know how I’d write without her)...but sheesh! I was in shock she’d managed to find a free area (tiny) on her dry erase board.

After I picked myself up off the floor (where I’d fallen off my chair— the shock you doncha know— ), Sherry IM’d, “Just reading all this, and I’m wondering how this all works for us.”

My brilliantly pithy response? “Don’t question it... It just does.”

Which of course, has the wheels turning for both of us now. Just HOW do we take our divergent writing styles and mesh so beautifully? We’ll have to ponder upon this later. Right now, we have other issues to address.

Here we are, addressing conflict and motivation in our WIPS (Sherry is wrestling with conflict today, I’m wrestling with motivation)... and clearly, neither of us has a goal in mind. (Yeah, ya’d think that Ms. Flow-Chart would have that written down somewhere, wouldn’t ya? Another shocker for the day...)

So, off we go, calling, “Here GMC, GMC, GMC! Good, GMC! I have some chocolate for you!”

Now, don’t worry. We always manage to work out our issues— the benefits of having a writing partner, IMHO— and a large supply of chocolate. This is what makes this journey so fun and productive for us both: two heads are always better than one, and having a pal along for the ride to share the giggles (and woes) with makes it Worth The Trip.


Sherry: So, Laura…. I have this lil problem. I’m on the verge of breaking open one of the big conflict issues in the book, but I’m going to need another “bear” to chunk into the canoe. No, no… come out from under your desk. This won’t take long. Let me just get out my dry erase board and flow charts. Seen my markers? Oh, well, doesn’t matter. I have post-it notes around here somewhere…

Later, waving a white flag over the top of her dry erase board to halt the onslaught of Laura-thrown spitballs…

Me: So, maybe the characters will just tell what the new conflict is in a few. See? I’m panstering.

Laura: I’m not buying it, Jones….

Actually, I’m not buying it either. I'm looking at my conflict issue and she’s looking at her motivation and it's all tied up in the GOAL we clearly don't have a handle on.

This is clearly going to require more chocolate to get to a solution.

Later in a chocolate haze…

So far we’ve not resolved our issues from above. It’s okay though. Oh, we'll get to where we need to be. We always do. The smoke from my dry erase markers will dissipate and Laura will catch her breath from haring after GMC and the whole thing will sort itself out. After we've laughed ourselves silly and hidden all the chocolate wrappers under our mouse pads. Whatever our system is, (if we ever figger it out) it works for us. And the best part is that we always have fun. And a never-ending supply of post-it notes.

Hmmm, either I have indigestion from all the chocolate, or I feel a solution coming on. Anyone seen my markers?

The Adventure Continues...

Sherry: After digging my way free of an avalanche of flow charts, character worksheets, copious notes, and not an inconsiderable number of empty Hershey kisses wrappers, I looked up to realize I’d written my way to the mid-point of chapter (or, as I like to term it, in this early stage of the rough draft – a CRAPter. But I digress) three. Yay, me! A terrific plot twist suddenly slammed into my brain. O, spontaneous idea! So why couldn’t I get it to mesh? Suddenly the Crows of Doubt (or COD) were pecking my noggin and causing me a brain fugue. This called for an emergency brainstorm session with Laura.

After much wailing and whining (on her part, really – echoes of JWTFB), we realized that I was rushing a potential plot point and I needed to pull things back a tad. Fine. Completely doable. So I steered the crapter back in the direction it needed to go.

How had that happened? I have flow charts and copious notes, and I still got off track. A flaw in my brilliantly anal system? she asked with a wibble in her voice.

Nope. Just part of the process. Even a dyed-in-the-wool Plotter takes the Pantster route sometimes.

Just this time, the Muse jumped the gun. And then again, it could just be an old fashioned sugar rush. Heh.

Think I’ll let the ole Muse just sleep this one off.

Ssssh…..

Laura: What? Jones had written herself into a corner? Had all the dry erase markers dried up? The flow charts stopped flowing? And just who was really doing all the whinging? (Hint: her initials stand for "Sherry Jones," but I digress.)

"Go sniff a dry erase marker."

"Very funny. I'm stuck! WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Okay, so, whatcha got?"

Jones pulls out her pointer stick, lines up her flow charts, diagrams, character charts and dry erase boards, explains what she needs to happen, and WAAAAAHHHH.... Boo hoo hoo, woe is me--- I can't make it happen, Laura!

"Um, why do they have to do this right now?" I ask, completely ignoring her flow charts, diagrams, character charts and dry erase boards. "What purpose does it serve? How will it make the story progress? Is it really necessary at this point? Can't you do something a little less drastic?"

Now, mind you, I have a special expression I reserve for when Sherry says to me, "What's your character's GMC?" whenever I howl at her to bail my Panster Bootie out of the fire. And darned if she didn't make the same face at me when I blithely ignored her Plotter tendencies and went for what I saw from a purely Panster Prospective.

I drew my conclusions, IM'd them to her as she was IMing her conclusions to me.

And that, boys and girls, is how a Plotter and a Panster come to EXACTLY the SAME conclusion from totally different perspectives.

Days 2 and 3 of the Grand Adventure...

Laura: So, there’s Sherry, writing like a fiend on her Project. What am I doing? Looking at the novel I must finish for my e-publisher, for its November publication— that, in addition to only being 10% finished when I started yesterday, must be turned in, ready for publication in October, due to my publisher’s end of November due date. Got all that?

So, what’s the problem, you ask?

Oh, other than there’s no conflict (quit snickering, Sherry! That’s not very polite, yanno ;-) )... There’s no problem. None at all. So I whinged at Sherry via the Always Open IM window we have while we write together.

Me: "Houston, we have a problem."
Houston: "What’s up?"
Me: "You’ll be shocked and dismayed. I have no conflict."
Houston: "No way. Not you!"
Me: (Detecting more than a wee bit of sarcasm in that previous IM): "Sad, but true."
Houston: "What’s the H/h’s GMC?"
Me: *Inserts shrugging yahoo icon.
Houston: *Inserts rolling on the floor, peeing on self with laughter icon...

Okay, so that’s a tad bit fictionalized, but not much. I fully expect Sherry to comment, "See what I have to put up with?"— but allow me to defend myself. (As I stuff chocolates into the "Mail to Sherry Box"...)

I don’t always struggle with GMC. I really don’t. I’m just not as... *ahem*... as, um, well, anal as some about establishing it before I start writing. I’ve never gotten to the end of writing a book, slapped my forehead (a la "I shoulda had a V-8!") and moaned, "Gee, how ever did I manage to write an entire book with absolutely no conflict?" Some of my ideas arrive, fully loaded for bear with conflict. Others, well, I have to dig around for it— but honestly, it always comes together beautifully for me— Panster Style.

Progress on my e-novel: I’m up to about 20%. HOORAY!!!!!

Progress on my Project: Um, *ahem,* coughsputterwheezehemhaw... Well, see I have to finish the e-novel first. :D

Sherry: Reads the above, barely restraining from using the eye-rolling icon. Whereas, I, on the other hand, stress and angst over GMC. Is there enough? *consults diagrams, charts, and numerous post-it notes..*

Me: “But, do we really understand what the heroine wants?”
Laura: “Just write the book, Sherry”
Me: “Okay, but after consulting my chart and dry erase board, I’m sure I’m going to need more...”
Laura: “Just WRITE the book, Sherry” (at this point, I’m beginning to detect a faint edge in her IM message)
Me: “I think I need to mull it over, lie in a darkened room and ponder a bit.”
Laura: Just write the freakin’ BOOK, JONES!!!”

I made that up. Mostly. Artistic license, yanno, but I can nearly “see” the hair-pulling icon coming my way one of these days.

Plotter vs. Pantster – Yep, that pretty well sizes us up. Still, it’s been a beautiful comradeship these past few years. Somehow, Laura winds up with all the GMC she needs, and I become well rested from all my “pondering” naps. In the end, we have the product of our imaginings -- shiny, polished and winging its way to its audience.

Then we take a deep breath, throw open the doors to our respective characters lounges, and begin all over again. And don’t we just love it?

Chocolate, anyone?

Day 1 of Our New Adventure...

Laura: Last night, I spent my time researching the state in which I intend to set my as-of-right-this-very-moment untitled novel. I love this stage. I’m partial to making up my own towns, but I have a fierce desire to make sure it will fit where I need it to fit. I’ve found pictures, maps, state government sites— all most helpful for Getting This Ball Rolling. I also research names— first and last, to make sure they’ll fit with the setting I’ve chosen. I created my character list, and began sketching out a few details.

Allow me to admit right now: I’m a Panster of the Worst Kind. I’ve already done more organizing of THIS particular novel than I’ve done for any other (I don’t generally go searching for actual pictures)— and I’m even (gasp) contemplating writing a blurb and at least a very general outline of the story line. For these latest blows to my Pansterhood, I blame Sherry— completely and entirely. It’s all her fault.

Next on my agenda: yeah, that blurb and general outline I mentioned above. But most immediately, I’m going to go wash my mouth out with chocolate for uttering/keyboarding the "B" and "O" words out loud.

Sherry: I began my Day 1 Adventure by racing home from a beach weekend getaway to see Laura’s efforts in the making of this blog. Could it be real? Did we really commit to this? As usual, she had everything up and running before I could say ‘cowabunga’.

No going back now. The Adventure Begins in earnest.

Talk about diametrically opposite writers! I’m a planner. I have to "know" my characters. I have to understand their conflict. Plot, plot, plot – that’s me. I’ve just spent at least an hour scanning the Internet for the best articles on character conflict. I’ve assembled, highlighted, and studied my efforts. A diagram! Oh my! We get to make a diagram. (happy dance!) The anal part of my brain is leaping for joy. The sensible part of my brain knows that Laura is going to kill me for said diagram. Yes, Laura needs more to blame me for (snicker) so I sent HER a copy too. Hey, if I’m going to corrupt her Pantster routine, might as well go all the way. (Double evil snicker)

Of course, I’m sure this will cost me a truckload of chocolate to soothe her savaged writer’s nerves, but I know her well enough to know that she’ll rise to the challenge and love me again when I walk into my local bookseller and see the culmination of her efforts on the shelf.
If our plan goes well, then my book will be sitting close by to keep hers company. Stay tuned…

Here We Come, World!

So, here we are, ready to take the plunge. We've tested the waters. We've found success as e-published romance authors. We're thinkin' it's time to do more than just stick our big toes in to test the temperature. Darn it, it's time to swim or get out of the water! So, with our arms stuffed into water wings, we're going for it. Fortunately, neither one of us is blonde, so we don't have to worry about chlorine-green hair. We joyfully invite you along for what's sure to be a wild and crazy trip!

C: Commitment to our goal

O: Owning our dreams

N: Never give up

F: Friends smooth the bumpy road

I: I will learn and grow in my craft

D: Dream big

E: Eyes on the prize

N: Network with other writers

C: Chocolate... A necessity for a romance author

E: Everyday write something

Watch out, world! Here we come!