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Margaret talks about digging yourself into a quagmire
What do you do if you dig yourself
into a quagmire, a big, murky bog from which there seems to be no escape? I’m
guilty of having done this myself on occasion. I guess it’s a case of not
plotting properly. But as I’ve said many times before I’m not a plotter.
So – do I get a shovel and dig
myself out? Metaphorically speaking, yes I do. I carry on writing until I’m
back on firm ground, and then get rid of the slush. It’s not an ideal way of
writing. I wouldn’t advise it. But it’s my
way and I cannot do it any differently.
I’ll give you an instance. In one
of my books my heroine had an interesting back story and I made the
unforgiveable mistake of putting it all in at once. Fatal! It’s something
beginners do. I should have fed it in in bits and drabs before digging myself
into this deep hole. Naturally there was
a lot of re-writing to do, time wasted if I hadn’t made that elementary
mistake.
But, you know what they say, we all
learn by our mistakes. How about you? Have you made many mistakes? Has it
taught you a lesson? Do you do things properly the next time?
I have wasted months writing myself into dead ends. That's why I decided to try plotting. I've not perfected a plotting system--that will evolve over time. I have gone back and plotted the pantsered WIP's I am revising now, and I believe the stories will now be publishable. Whether this is due to the plotting or my improving skills, I can't say.
ReplyDeleteThe better test will come when I start my 3rd story.
Its plot outline is brewing in a mental kettle right now: a contemporary romance about a free-spirited herbalist who has to convince a physician's assistant to risk his career by proving her incarcerated father did not murder her mother.
I think there is no one-way for everyone. The approach can be fix-as-you-go or pre-plan. Either way, the plot has to be worked out.
Ana, your new plot outline sounds very interesting, but from what little you've said it will definitely need plotting. My fear would be that I'd put everything in at once and there would be no more story. I guess its part of the fun finding out how to feed information in dribs and drabs?
DeleteSolving what really happened to her mother will take chapters to unfold. Heroine accepting that her father can never come off the anti-psychotic drugs he's been given in prison (under the auspices of volunteering to be a test subject, but really as a way for the villain to keep him from remembering who did it) will take chapters.
DeletePlotting helps me to see where to dole out what information.
Good luck with it, Ana. It sounds like a lot of writing, a lot of hours spent pondering - but good fun all the same.
DeleteI've often written into black holes. Frustrating, yes, but also fun trying to work out how to dig yourself out! The same applies when you drive into fog - or, invariably, your characters drive you into fog! You think you're going the right way, even though you can't see more than a few inches in front of you - but you keep going, in the hope that the fog will thin and you'll eventually be able to see where you're going!
ReplyDeleteVery true, Paula. A good analogy.
DeleteOh of course I've written myself into a quagmire! Multiple ones! It's very satisfying, though, when I figure out and fix the problem.
ReplyDeleteVery true, Jennifer. But why do we do it? Why don't we see where we're going and save ourselves all the trouble? Too anxious to get our words down I guess.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about you, but sometimes I don't see where I'm going until I get there.
DeleteI think writing is a never-ending learning process. I learn something new with each and every book I write, edit, and publish.
ReplyDeleteWith my current WIP, there seems to be a lot of narrative drag in some spots. It's just not moving quickly. But I know the story is there, so I keep on. I'm sure I'll need to do some major tightening when it comes to editing time, but for now, as the story is flowing, I'm writing it as it comes to me.
Debra, I find it fascinating how we know somehow (instinctively?) that the story isn't moving quickly enough. That was why I abandoned my early drafts of what eventually became Irish Intrigue, because I knew the pace was dragging.
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