When it comes to writing, I have found the "pantalones flambé" approach to work best. I am no expert, hence the term "aspiring" author, but I like to just sit down and write, pounding the keyboard with abandon, tying strings of words and phrases together...I like to write as if my pants are on fire. "Pantalones flambé!" is my war whoop.
Other people prefer to plan: character sketches, plots, sub-plots, etc. I am a perfectionist and a neurotic planner - not a good combination. I become paralyzed with research and planning. When I am writing, brackets are my best friends. If I am missing information or need to do research, I throw in a set of brackets and keep right on typing. That way, I can obsess and lose absurdly long stretches of time researching AFTER my first draft is complete.
Find what works for you and don't be afraid to think outside the established "rules". The most important thing is to just get that first draft down...whether you do that by following an outline, a rough sketch or by the seat of your pantalones flambé, just do it!
Showing posts with label author. Show all posts
Showing posts with label author. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
To be or not to be...was never the question.
How did I decide to be a writer?
I never really sat down with a plan to be an author…it was more of a stumble, followed by a headfirst plunge into a crazy, wild, vibrant, new subculture.
Last fall, when my "baby" started kindergarten, I found myself with a serious case of PMS, acne and angst…I suddenly felt like I was back in high school, pondering the age old question, “What am I going to do with my life?". And like the proverbial seeker who can’t see the forest for the trees, I was in a quandary.
I panicked. I cried. I got depressed. I threw myself into projects that didn't feel quite right. I journaled, did my fair share of soul searching, then decided to do as my recent read, Life Organizing, by Jennifer Louden, suggested: hop on the inner tube of life and float…to go where the current would take me.
Yeah, easy for her to say...I am what you might call a die-hard, goal-writing, objective-making planner. To sit and go with the flow was, needless to say, not only completely foreign to me but frightening: nail-biting, sick-to-my-stomach, can't-sleep-at-night frightening...it scared the royal you-know-what out of me…
But, I digress.
So, there I was in a premature, pseudo-midlife crisis when I stumbled upon the NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) challenge. I can’t remember now how I found it. I wish I could. I decided to give writing a novel in thirty days a go. I wrote, read articles from the website and faithfully digested the "pump up" emails. By day 27, I had a sloppy, painfully rough 56,00 word first draft. Hmm, I thought, interesting experience. I promptly put it away, and resumed my primary duties: cleaning house, doing laundry and chauffeuring our three children here, there and everywhere… then something strange and wonderful happened. I woke in the middle of the night longing for the companionship of my characters. I missed my heroine’s sassy repartee and romantic yearnings. I pined for my hero’s charming, debonair, arrogant presence. So I went back to my novel and read it for the first time. Groaning an "ugh" of disgust in various places, then raising my brows in a, "Holy s@&* did that really come out of my brain? It isn’t half bad!" in others, I started editing and adding. I now have a new baby: a 95,000 word historical romance!
If you are floating along but think you might like to give writing a whirl or if yours is a deep-seated, heart-tugging longing, my advice is to just plant your keister and write. Bring your inner tube if you like…
Nike had it right when they said, “Just do it!”.
I never really sat down with a plan to be an author…it was more of a stumble, followed by a headfirst plunge into a crazy, wild, vibrant, new subculture.
Last fall, when my "baby" started kindergarten, I found myself with a serious case of PMS, acne and angst…I suddenly felt like I was back in high school, pondering the age old question, “What am I going to do with my life?". And like the proverbial seeker who can’t see the forest for the trees, I was in a quandary.
I panicked. I cried. I got depressed. I threw myself into projects that didn't feel quite right. I journaled, did my fair share of soul searching, then decided to do as my recent read, Life Organizing, by Jennifer Louden, suggested: hop on the inner tube of life and float…to go where the current would take me.
Yeah, easy for her to say...I am what you might call a die-hard, goal-writing, objective-making planner. To sit and go with the flow was, needless to say, not only completely foreign to me but frightening: nail-biting, sick-to-my-stomach, can't-sleep-at-night frightening...it scared the royal you-know-what out of me…
But, I digress.
So, there I was in a premature, pseudo-midlife crisis when I stumbled upon the NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) challenge. I can’t remember now how I found it. I wish I could. I decided to give writing a novel in thirty days a go. I wrote, read articles from the website and faithfully digested the "pump up" emails. By day 27, I had a sloppy, painfully rough 56,00 word first draft. Hmm, I thought, interesting experience. I promptly put it away, and resumed my primary duties: cleaning house, doing laundry and chauffeuring our three children here, there and everywhere… then something strange and wonderful happened. I woke in the middle of the night longing for the companionship of my characters. I missed my heroine’s sassy repartee and romantic yearnings. I pined for my hero’s charming, debonair, arrogant presence. So I went back to my novel and read it for the first time. Groaning an "ugh" of disgust in various places, then raising my brows in a, "Holy s@&* did that really come out of my brain? It isn’t half bad!" in others, I started editing and adding. I now have a new baby: a 95,000 word historical romance!
If you are floating along but think you might like to give writing a whirl or if yours is a deep-seated, heart-tugging longing, my advice is to just plant your keister and write. Bring your inner tube if you like…
Nike had it right when they said, “Just do it!”.
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