How Sioux is Turning Into a Planner (Shudder!)

I'm a pantser. I fly by the seat of my pants. The WIP I'm most proud of is a middle grades novel and is being critiqued as we speak. Because of this manuscript, I'm wearing the I-didn't-do-any-outline-or-map-any-of-it-out badge of honor. (Of course, I wrote 27,000 words, had to scrap almost all of it, and then had to build it back up, through "channeling" the main character, until it's now at 50,000 words. Perhaps a dollop or two of planning might have made things easier for me.)


I've had many writing friends and colleagues try to use a taser encouragement to prod me into trying to plan out my writing. Sue Bradford Edwards writes about her story boards, and I envision a board the size of an art-gallery wall, covered with organized post-its and photos and illustrations and colorful yarn connecting the different parts. I don't know what her boards truly look like, but I do know she's a prolific and successful freelance writer. Planning obviously works for her.

An editor I hired tried to convince me to map out my story into 3 acts. Margo Dill gave me some specific suggestions for each act. I now have to admit: Margo, I did all my "planning" in my head as I went. I hope you'll agree that in this case, pantsing worked. (Margo has my manuscript and since we're snowed in today, perhaps she's reading it right now.)

However, it's a miracle! I'm embracing planning. Finally. I just finished Jessica Brody's book Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and it's transforming. I'm already thinking about how I can make my story map (with index cards and corkboard) portable, since I'll be going to a writing retreat in February.

If you check out my post at The Muffin you can find out some details about this book.

(A book that can change Sioux from a pantser into a planner? That book must have some powerful mojo...)

Sioux's Confessions

I have many things I could confess as a parent (and now grandparent). I've bitten the ear off a chocolate Easter bunny (a solid one, which was slated for my daughter) and had to buy another one. (This happened before Easter.)

I've dug through my kids' Halloween candy in the middle of the night, while they were sleeping, looking for some delicious milk chocolate.

I've made my teenaged son wear a rented Speedo. I've worn white socks with hole-y Crocs just to embarrass my kids. I've fallen asleep (many, many times) when babysitting my granddaughter. I've gotten my son out of bed often by just saying the word "bacon." (Confession: I never made him bacon on a school day. Never.)

So many confessions... so little time.

Margo Dill is hosting a contest. All you need is a parental (or grandparental) confession of 500 words or less. Here is the link to the post:

But hurry. The deadline is January 5 at one minute to midnight.

Back on the Chain Gang

Well, yesterday afternoon I finished my manuscript. In the last two years it went from 25,000 words to almost 0 to 49,926 words.

Now I'm finished, right?

Wrong.

Now the real work begins.

I'm sending it off to an editor (Margo Dill) tomorrow. Then I have to wait while I bite my fingernails til they're bleeding patiently for her feedback.

Will she say it still sucks? Or will she say it's an improvement? I'm keeping my eyes and my toes crossed. (I can't cross my fingers because I'm too busy gnawing on my nails.)

Then, if she says it doesn't stink too badly, I can start re-examining the editors and publishers I listed as possibilities. And then submitting.

Ugh.

I'm back on the chain gang...

Dog Rescue Fundraising vs. Writing Work

This weekend was full of dog rescue fundraising work. Love a Golden had a booth at a craft fair on Saturday, and on Sunday we did Santa photos (with dogs and one really brave cat). Thinking back on the two days, I made some connections with the writing work I do. (Doesn't everything connect to writing?) Here they are:

• At the craft fair we made our money a dollar at a time. Oh, we had baskets and dog blankets for sale, and we sold lots of them, but mostly we sold scoops of homemade dog biscuits for $1. Writing a short story or a novel is written one word at a time. When we were swamped with customers, it was hard to guess our progress. Had we made lots of money to put toward our vet bills, or had we made little headway? It's also sometimes difficult to determine how far we've progressed with our manuscript when we're in the middle of working on it. Don't lose your faith. Keep moving forward.

•  Listening is key. I got the joy of listening to people's stories about their dogs. As a writer, we have to listen to our writer's intuition. What would be an authentic response for our character? What mementos would our character bring with them when they leave their home forever? Our writing ear will tell us if we're writing true or not.

•  It's exhausting. Getting up early to set up a booth... spending all day on your feet as you wait on customers... socializing as you try to deftly prod them into spending money to help rescue more dogs--it's tiring. Writing is also exhausting. However, when a chapter is revised, when a manuscript's third draft is finally finished... Well, that's rewarding.

Here is Radar getting his picture taken with Santa. As usual,
his three-foot-long tongue is out and dribbling a river of slobber
onto the floor.

 How about you? What did you do over the weekend?

I'm Baaack!

I'm a writer. It's been three months and one day since I last posted. What have I done in that three months?

• I did the normal stuff. You know, I worked. It was an incredible beginning of a school year, and the unbelievable qualities continue. 

• I went to an authors' event and got to chat with Pat Wahler about her compelling book I am Mrs. Jesse James. Reading how artfully she wrote about that era made me second-guess my own writing. After all, she sucked me in so thoroughly, I began to think of her book as nonfiction instead of historical fiction. The events all seemed true. The characters all seemed to have existed in that time period. Will readers think the same thing when they read my story? I certainly hope so...

• I led and participated in a writing retreat in early November. Two days of BIC ensured that I was able to go through my entire manuscript and read it (quietly) to myself, painstakingly going over it word by word and line by line. (Below is one page of it. Some of the them had so many red marks and words scratched out and then changed, later, I could barely keep track of them.)

• I've almost finished my manuscript. It's at 47,863 words. There's a couple of bits I want to insert--a thread here and there--but otherwise, it's done and I do mean done. It's been in the oven for two years and finally, I can hear the impending ding! indicating it's risen enough and is set in the middle and the top is no longer jiggly.

• I've written several posts for The Muffin but my most recent one debuted today. If you'd like to see what I have to say about revising, check out my post.

• I got the courage to ask Margo Dill to edit my manuscript. Again. My goal is to finish twerking tweaking it by the end of November and so that in December, I can deliver the fire starter manuscript to Margo.

I've read lots of posts, but I'm sure I've missed some newsworthy tidbits while I've been absent from the blogosphere so I'm wondering: What exciting or important things have happened to you in the last three months?

The inquiring mind of Sioux wants to know.

Pat Wahler's Journey... and a Giveaway

I'm still on a blog break (I'm at 29,000 words on my WIP) but I have a post on the Muffin today, and I'm offering a giveaway. I'd love if you checked it out.

Pat Wahler has a new novel coming out on August 28, and she was gracious enough to grant me an interview about her journey to publication.

You can read the interview here.