Happy Wednesday, everyone!
Roommate is still stuck in bed, alternately snarling at the necessity of being in bed and moaning in pain. He's beginning to see the light, because the pain's finally gone down some. Good for him! (Note to self: never fall over backwards due to backing up and not seeing the rolling chair behind you. It's not good for your balance and your long-term health.)
My friend Olivia and I have spent a lot of time at Starbucks and Hooters since my last check-in. She's cranking out words like nobody's business - she's got over 30,000 just this month. But she's a pantser. Livvi is adamant about not trying to fashion a skeleton or musculature to hang her story on. She's just going for it. I admire that. But whenever I try it, I always get muddled, somewhere around the middle. And I usually have more storylines than I know what to do with.
Livvi's probably some sort of writing goddess in disguise who won't have to do a lot of rewrites. Me, I would. That's why I'm still plodding along with my Story Engineering. And I've made some progress.
For anyone who's using that method (and I know there's a few of us) I'm having a lot of fun with the "what if" questions. I've explored a couple of different things that didn't occur to me before, and I found a couple of things I needed to fix that way. It tightened up the overall plot a bit (for now), and since I've had to cut something I thought had real potential I might get another book out of it. Maybe.
On a different note, Livvi and I are at Hooters right now. We've had lunch, and are fueled with food and caffeine such that we can easily last several hours here. Woo hoo! But something...off...is going on. We're in a booth, under a fan. Two men sat in the booth behind us. I'm sharing the side that their booth is on.
Now, I know we're mammals, and mammals are methane-producing creatures. And that's not the only odoriferous thing we produce. Sulfur is another. And I bet if this man's lunch break goes on much longer I'll discover more. Phew! This is a day I wish I had a wicked cold!
Oh, well. Maybe I can use it somewhere...in something...
In the meantime, happy writing all. See you Sunday!
Lara
3 comments:
Ouch! Sounds like your roommate's had a bit of a rough time of it!
It's interesting to read about different people's methods of writing. I pantsed my NaNoWriMo last year, and while I finished it, there were so many inconsistencies that had to be fixed up in editing.
The story I'm working on now is hopefully going to be much tighter; I've been plotting it in one form or another since about January.
Hope you didn't have to suffer too much more from the, er, gentleman in the neighbouring booth!
Well, it's good to hear that your roommate is feeling better enough that you can get out a little bit. Sorry about the guy with the odor issues - I think we've all been faced with that issue once or twice.
I remember my first day at my current job, overseeing a janitorial service division. One of the workers came in that first afternoon, and as he walked into my office, he let loose on what was likely one of the absolute worst smells I've ever smelled. Nice first impression, huh?
As for writing, I cannot be a pantser. I might write a short story from a simple, small idea, but I require a skeleton structure at the minimum to write something so complex and intertwined. I admire the pantsers, but would never want to be one.
Spaciireth - I did some pantsing during Nano a couple of years ago, and I got some really great scenes. They just poured out of me and I had a good time doing it. But I don't know how to keep it going consistently, so I'm hoping Story Engineering will help that.
Mike - I really admire the fact that you can write a short story! I can't do that to save my life. The best thing that comes close is the first chapter of my book "Fireheart." Every time I try for a short I end up with an epic fail due to multiple storylines.
Good for you!
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