What is your path to a completed manuscript? When you sit down to the tyranny of the blank page, with the curls of a question, seeds of a story or the glimmer of an idea, how do you begin? Are you a pantser or a plotter? Or perhaps you are both, like me. I write in circles. I begin with a curl, a seed, or a glimmer. And I write. Something. I let it tumble out onto the page. I end up with some prose, or a blog post, or a short story. I fly by the seat of my pants and see what happens. I save it. Then I pause. I come back to it later and see if anything more may come. Is this short story enough for the beginnings of a novel? Is this prose enough for a book topic or chapter? Is this activity idea the beginnings of a unit plan or a book guide? Sometimes the answer is no. Or not-yet. Or yes, there is something more here. Here is when I begin to plot. I plot and outline until I get stuck. Then I write some more and see where the next idea, the next plot point, the next scene will take me. Then I write myself into a corner, or get lost along the way. Then I return to my outline and my plotting. And so it goes until my first draft is finished. Then I begin my second draft. Only this time my plot is stronger, the process clearer, and the ideas weave together more tightly. It's an interesting process, writing in circles like this. And I've found it mirrors life. I have dreams. I set goals. And I live life. My life never follows my goals or dreams the way I picture in my mind. Plot twists abound and I just need to take the next step on the next day to find out what happens. Then I return to readjust my goals when necessary. I love this quote from Helen Keller: Life is either |
|