NaNoWriMo'23 Edition

On Tuesdays & Thursdays throughout November, you'll receive a helpful tip or trick to help you WIN NaNoWriMo. In December, this'll move to a weekly email, sent on Wednesdays.

How Do You Get Ready to Write?

The age-old debate--plotter or pantser--seems to reach a dull roar in Preptober, or October if you're a normal person. Many people spend the month getting ready to hit the ground running as of November 1 and start knocking out those words like...an author hopped up on coffee or energy drinks. Which category do you fall into? Plotter or pantser? In case you don't know, "pantsing" is having a general idea about what's going to happen in the story but not detailing it out in a written outline-type format. You "fly by the seat of your pants" whereas a plotter will have a full outline, broken down by chapter and maybe scene.

But which way is the best?

Friends, it totally depends. There's nothing wrong with using either process.

As matter of fact, I will sometimes write an outline and totally change my direction as I go. Like this year's book.

Out of the Darkness, a little paranormal romance--the first in a two-book duet (thus far...) had a plot and I really liked it. But as I wrote, I realized I didn't have enough details to fully flesh out part of the world building. So, I made it up as I went along. I'm writing fiction--that's totally okay. However, I am keeping most of the major plot points the same. I think this makes me a plantser--a combination of plotter and pantser.

I spent the month of October reviewing the extensive outline I'd developed for this book, based on a plot structure I call "Romancing the Cat's Circular Journey." I really like this structure and it seems to serve this story well. I know the percentage markers I should hit for each portion of the book, and I know the big plot points I need to hit and where. I use an expanded three-act structure. And, I spent 2022 studying "Save the Cat," "Romancing the Beat," and the "Heroes Journey" to determine the best plot methodology for me and the way I write. I also believe that plot is circular--that you always have to come back to the beginning and ensure all the issues initially presented are resolved.

While I have the big plot points planned, I do not know all the tiny events that will happen to pull the reader through the plot.

I also don't use inspiration boards--but I will find items after the fact as inspiration to add more details. My initial draft will oftentimes have a TON of room for expansion through details. Please note: this is something I've learned over time. I don't have to know all the details to finish the first draft. I will likely expand my manuscript by around 5-10k words through description and details.

When I wrote Distilled, I had done so much research while I was writing that it disrupted my process and I struggled to finish the MS. When I wrote Manhattan Melody, the first book in a rockstar romance trilogy, I'd learned my lesson and kept to topics I knew a lot about and could write about with minimal research. That book flowed like snow runoff down a mountainside in the spring. I think I wrote all 50K words in a month and then spent time revising before I needed to release it. I went in with a plan for the plot arc--I knew the big points I wanted to hit, but I didn't know how I'd connect some of the points. But, before I started writing every day, I would look at where I left off and my notes about where I was headed and compare it to my beginning vision for the book at that point. How did it match? Was it too different? Do I need to modify my plot to fit a new direction?

Today I realized that I needed to make sure I was using this practice to inform my writing every day instead of fully relying on the notes I'd originally put into Scrivener that would serve as my guidepost for that scene. So, moving forward, I'll be reviewing the plot notes I've taken and ensuring--through my developmental editing chart--that I've got plenty of goals, motivation, conflict, stakes, change, and connections within my manuscript so it'll be a compelling read.

My remote writing set-up at Dr. Spawn's.

I've learned, too, that I'm as much a creature of habit as the next person and I don't like change. I thought that it would be inspiring to write at the airport and that being in a different setting would give me the chance to get thousands of words written during my three-hour layover at O'Hare.

Not so.

I couldn't settle and kept getting distracted, so I said screw it and I walked.

Closed all my rings by 3 p.m.

I was so ready to get my words written by the time I got to Dr. Spawn's that I caught up with them a little and then we both plugged into our respective music and worked. It was awesome! I didn't need the big screen I'm used to, and I didn't need my usual ritual. But my story also derailed and I know I'm going to have some Manuscript First Aid to do on that bugger in my first pass edit (I'm confident I won't have to totally rewrite it, because this book came from 20k of a story I'd already written...) which will be a HEAVY edit, especially in some spots. But, if I can keep focused and follow the plan unless a damn good reason reveals itself, the editing won't be that bad.

Are you a plotter or pantser--or somewhere in between? Send me an email and let me know!

Email Wendee!

Happy writing!

Wendee