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…..