Pantser or Plotter?

When you write a book, do you fly by the seat of your pants or plot it out play by play ?

I’ve experienced both now.

With my first book, I pants it all the way. This means creating the story along the way with only an idea of where the book should go. Honestly, I wrote the end first, then the beginning. After that I filled in the middle one chapter at a time. Occasionally, it was difficult because I’d finish a chapter and have to ponder what I should do next to have the plot progress to the ending I’d already written.

With my WIP, I decided I’d try my hand at being a plotter. Of course, I didn’t do a major huge outline the length of 20 pages. All I did was write a brief sentence or two about what I wanted to have happen in each chapter to get it to the ending I’d imagined. So far, it’s turned out to be successful. I like how quickly writing is going due to this method.

However, with my first book, I sort of didn’t know what I was doing at the beginning stage. It took learning more about the writing industry and a lot of great advice from critique partners and writing friends to help me get my book, Félicité Found, to where it is now—a query-able book.

This time around, I know the foundation of how to write a story well from chapter one. I feel like plotting it out has been a useful and beneficial technique.

Yet, maybe Félicité Found took longer to write because of not knowing where to go once I finished a chapter, but the creativity flowed just as easily. Only a couple times did I suffer from writer’s block.

I like both methods, but am partial to plotting now. Who knows what system I’ll use with my next project or those that follow, but they’re both ways in which a story can come to life.

So, as I asked before, are you a pantser or a plotter? Do you have a preference? And, why?

Ideas for Stories

I attended a writing conference today at a university near my home. Dan Wells was the keynote speaker; author of I Am Not a Serial Killer; Mr. Monster; I Don't Want To Kill You; and to-be-released in 2012, Partials. 

He spoke about how authors get their ideas. Dan said, "It's not about ideas, it's about turning ideas into stories."

I'm going to let you in on his secret to getting ideas—all the time! You need to Pay Attention! 

Simple, right? Right! Anything, even the ring on your finger or a piece of peppermint candy can inspire you. Look everywhere for your ideas, if it be on the History channel, a dog barking outside, or the bowl of soup I'm eating even though it's getting too cold. 

Dan taught us to take something normal and combine it with something strange to develop it into an idea for a story. 

For example: a pocket watch and a crazed chicken.

Here's what I came up with:

A teenage farm boy finds an old pocket watch in pristine condition under his bedroom floor boards. When he picks it up, he hears it ticking; no, clucking loudly. He stuffs it in his pocket thinking its cool. As he works on the farm the next day, the chickens appear to be going crazy, practically biting each others heads off. And they are growing bigger at an alarming rate. He takes his family to hide, fearing they will be killed. Over the next months, the world is taken over by these huge chickens. No longer is chicken the poultry of choice, but humans are. It's not until the boy realizes the pocket watch was the catalyst for the chickens dominating the world that he destroys the watch. The chickens die instantly, leaving the world free from their reign of terror.  

Now, it's your turn to practice. Comment with an idea using the example above. Let's see what awesome ideas spring to mind.   

Adventures in Wyoming

Last week I was on a trip doing recruitment for the place I work at. I took some pics along the way for you all to enjoy! Well, I enjoyed seeing them first hand! For the duration of the trip, I drove a whopping 1300 miles and was able to listen to two full audio books. They're definitely what kept me awake, especially during the 5 1/2 hour drive home. 

Me with a pretty view of the Grand Tetons in the background (just outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming). They are my favorite mountain range and I've backpacked a couple times there; once a 40 mile trip. 

Grand Tetons again. Sigh!

They're a little difficult to see, but if you look closely enough,  you'll get a view of some cute dear. FYI: I didn't zoom in at all. They were right there by my car. Super cool! The deer were probably wondering what the giggling sound was coming from the car. Uh . . . it was me. You can't blame me, I was excited.

Lets play "Where's Waldo?" Or should I say, "Where's the Plane?" Did you find it?

I had fun! Haven't taken a real vacation for a couple years, so this will have to suffice till I can do something not work related. 

Now I'm back to the regular routine. Oddly enough, last night I could hardly sleep for excitement to be back at work. It was like Christmas. Yep, I'm crazy. A good crazy, though. 

Photography Copyright Julia King 2011

Work Road Trip Check-In

So I thought I'd let you all know I'm alive and well just in case you were wondering. And I know you all were. Haha

I've been having lots of fun doing something new for my job. I've driven almost 600 miles all over Wyoming. Done a bunch of recruiting for the place I work at. Stayed in a place one night  that reminded me of the Bates Motel. I hoped there was no chocolate syrup in my vacinity. I'm a little sick of restaurant and fast food. Afraid to check my weight when I get home. I've swam a couple times, even pulled a muscle in my arm in the process. Does that mean I'm a wimp? To be honest, I haven't been sleeping very well with not being in my own bed. But alas, I'm still wide awake while driving. It's all because of audio books. I first listened to Austenland by Shannon Hale and now I'm working on The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Love those two books; thought they'd keep me entertained on the road.  And I forgot how much I like speed while driving. Passing cars is fun!

Well, I hope this check-in has been somewhat entertaining. Have a great day or night or whatever time it is where you're at. 

This Week...

This week has been a bit of a downer for me. I've been sick. Blast the evil ailment that has invaded my life and is still trying to weasel its way into my mortality. I could very well kick its sneering little head for interrupting an it-could-have-been-a-great week. No probs. Slowly but surely I’m starting to feel a little bit more like myself: a delightful ball of fun. Uh, maybe I won’t go that far.

Anyway, just wanted to check in on this lovely Friday and say hi.

So, “Hi!”

It doesn’t feel like Friday at all, however. I haven’t actually worked a full day at work this week due to the above mentioned demonic uprising of a sickness that has overcome me. Thus, it has more or so felt like a week of blah-ness. I’ve slept a lot and watched a lot of T.V. Fun! But I did manage to write some chapters in my WIP. That's an achievement.

Well, all next week I’m going to be out of town for work. I will try to post on my regular Tuesday and Friday even if it’s only some photos of me in Wyoming waving to some tumbleweed. Stay tuned. haha 

How has your week been? Hopefully better than mine!

Back in the Saddle Again

I’ve been so focused on rewriting, revising, and editing my book Félicité Found that I’ve forgotten how much fun the creation process of writing can be.

Last week, I started working on my next project. Yippee! I’ve only written a few chapters, but I’m already in love with the story. I adore typing word after word to craft my idea into an intangible reality. Writing is liberating. Fun. And to finally bring my story and characters to life is entertaining. I find myself giggling occasionally or wanting to cry. And a pretty big plot hole I couldn’t figure out how to fill during outlining was solved right as I was lettering out a scene. Inspiration comes at the most random moments. I love it.

One thing that I’m happy about my second book is that I have so many more tools under my belt that I didn't have with my first book. I have a greater understanding of many of the crucial aspects of writing. I feel more confident this time around. And I hope that it won’t take as long to write.

I love writing!

While I’m querying, it’s a great way to distract myself from the long and sometimes agonizing process.

How is writing going for you? I hope very well.