is for….

Planning. As you can see from this challenge, planning has been an epic fail. In my defense, I stumbled upon the challenge 2 days before and signed up 12 hours before it began. If I do the challenge again (and I probably will just to prove to myself that I can do it RIGHT), I’ll prewrite, preplan and auto post as much as possible.

I’m a “pantser” at heart with my writing. I’m trying to break this habit, or at least tweak it so that it serves me better. I like the organics of letting the story and characters write themselves, but I’ve written myself into too many corners. I WIP2 that I’m working on has evolved in fits and starts. I write scenes or chapters, but they aren’t flowing together the way I want. Probably because most of them were written out of order, just a series of smash cuts flashing forward, backwards and sideways. I’m  happy with the individual scenes, but it’s much more difficult to spackle them together when even I’m not sure of the order.

This is not a productive use of my time.  I haven’t been able to murder my darlings yet, but I’m afraid there might have to be a serial killing spree for the greater good.

Are you a planner or pantser, and how is that working for you? I’d love for you to share some of your tips and techniques!

 

 

is for…

Queen of Denial.

Boy! This has been a tough challenge! I now know that with the dreaded Day Job plus regular life challenges, daily posting is just not feasible for me. So here it is, Cheat- the Sequel!

I had the best of intentions. After the original Cheat, I was going to write two posts a day, banking the extras so I could auto post them on their appropriate days. That obviously didn’t happen. But, that’s still my goal. Both kids are in town this weekend, which rarely happens., so I doubt I’ll get much, if any, writing done. Maybe they’ll leave early enough on Sunday so I can get a jump on next week’s posts—or at least Monday’s…

I guess I’m not quite ready to abdicate my throne…

What are your areas of denial? It’s always comforting to know we’re not alone!

 

 

 

is for…

Revision.

I have managed to sqeeze in a little work on my primary project—the Revision That Just Won’t End. But I’m really getting anxious to work on WIP2—the pantsing nightmare. I’ve tied my hands, refusing to work on #2 until I finish and send off #1. And #3 is chomping at the bit. I think my muse has ADD.

Here’s another goal for me: If I can’t get this revision done properly this time, I’m going to take a long weekend, lock myself in and do a power editing extravaganza!

Dragging this out by squeezing in lunch time and evening edits is just not working. By the time I get to the end, it just seems like it’s time to begin again. I’ve dragged this out for far too long.

What are your favorite (and most productive) techniques for revision?