Thalia, O Thalia -- Wherefore art thou?
Wherefore am I so downtrodden, you ask? Or, if you actually know me -- Why the hell are you whining again?
I've got the Not Gonna Pants No More, Gonna Plot Til My Head Falls Off Blooooooooos.
I've printed out Kate Hardy's 10 Step Plan To Writing A Book, a 2 page character worksheet, and the first 5 steps of Randy Ingermanson's infamous Snowflake. The first few steps aren't too bad. Beyond that it gets really scary.
Kate says Step 1 is Write your synopsis. Maximum one page, main events only, with no adverbs, adjectives, dialogue or description. (Action, action, action. Keep it really spare.) Ok. So I also looked up Deb Hale's Synopsis Suitcase article. I've actually used this before and that was how I discovered one of my stories had no actual plot. Kind of a useful thing to know before I spend a lot of time writing it.
So here I am. At Step 1. Again. Knowing that I write because...well...I just do. But why does writing comedy have to be so damn painful?
Working title -- Sweet Revenge
Subtitle -- Your Ass is TOAST!
7 Comments:
Hey, Great Snarky One, email me, would ya? kristen @ romancedivas.com
Thanks!
By 
, at
4:47 PM
You must go Hunt the Snark!
The muses are on Spring Break. Probably in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. Olympus gets pretty boring sometimes.
I am having the same problem. Different solution. Blogged my misery.
Good woman, you must go Hunt the Snark and return her to us!
You're a goddess.
I need to write a synopsis too (despite having no plot for this book whatsoever) and you've just put the resources in one place for me. Thanks, babelicious.
Jul
P.S:The Snark was a Boojum, you see.
By 
Julie Cohen, at
5:50 PM
Sela -- find a way that suits you. Your muse is goingto desert you if you try to write in a way that doesn't fit.
There is no right way to write a book.
Yes plotting can help. But when to plot? How much of an idea do you need before the full thing springs into your mind?
The importance of plotting is that it gives you the next twist (or three) when you get stuck.
Good luck on jump starting the muse!
Tragedy is easy. Good comedy is very hard to write. It just looks easy.
By Michelle Styles, at
2:24 AM
Hey you! Yes, you!
*tackle hugs Sela*
There you go honey :-)
I am in the same boat, 30,000 words in and seraching for the next bit. My problem is I'm looking for comedy, romance and murder. *sigh*
Toodles
Bidsxx
My muse must be on vacation in the Bahamas with your muse ...
By , at
11:44 AM
My muse is sitting out in the sun in one of my adirondack chairs smiling and saying, "Why should I do all the work? You're the one whose name goes on the cover!"
Don't give up! I'm a "pantser", too, and am convinced that excessive plotting is a waste of time because the writing goes best when I let the characters develop the action.
By , at
12:00 PM