Wednesday, September 2, 2015

ROW80 Weds check-in: Organize, organize?

Still unpacking from the Canada trip, but slow progress IS being made. Here's the summary of this week's progress so far (sorry if this is hard to read):



But, I'm happy to report success. In fact, let's celebrate! Got the picture for the cover for DH's Vietnam era book finally. The process may be an interesting blog topic because I discovered what appears to be copyright OK may not be. Not all pictures advertised on Flickr under Creative Common licenses are really copyright free. So, as a purse-pinching indie writer, I parted with a single image fee ($10) and found a beautiful image on Adobe's new Adobe Stock program that both DH and DD (dear daughter) approved. Stay tuned for cover reveal soon. Happy dance!

To my own progress in writing. I keep getting lost in the scope of the book (draft at 90K) and the level at which I'm working (ie, distracted by editing and not writing; distracted by research and not writing). 

Two ideas I may try (your feedback please!):

--Do I need a serious chapter-by-chapter outline . . . maybe on Excel where I can include dates, character names, track plot and character arcs, and editing questions?

--Should I put editing questions at the beginning of each chapter in red.

Either approach would be useful, but I'm still facing down months of writing and revising. How I would love this process to go more smoothly. Sigh.
Maligne Canyon, Jasper National Park
Canada (Camp August 2015)
Meanwhile, finally the days are a little cooler, the trees are just beginning to hint at coming fall, and all is well. May your own writing goals be met with joy!


12 comments:

  1. I do the date and character checking once I have the first rough draft finished. Then I add info in Scrivener in the comment area as to who, what, where, and when so that I can compare. I also color code scenes for pov character to check for consistency.

    I don't do that for all projects, though, only mob novels. :)

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    1. Thank you, Ruth. Your blog posts and suggestions help me focus! I keep losing the connectors. This will help.

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  2. Hmm... I'm not really a great person to weigh in on the outline/Excel question. My first two books were from a complete pantser approach and my third (current) book is requiring all sorts of notes and timelines and whatnot... and I've still written myself into a corner 64K words in. I hope you find an approach that works beautifully for you. Please share when you do! :)

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    1. Hello, Kristen. Thanks for commenting. This gives me hope that I'm not the only one with this challenge. I'm more of an intuitive writer to discover as I go, so pantser I am at heart. I hope you write about how you work out of the corner, and I will too!

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  3. When I was revising one of my novellas, I created a detailed scene outline with time stamps and included whose POV each scene was in. (I also include moon phases because I tend to mention the moon a lot and it helps not to have a full moon, then another a week later.) Maybe something like that would work? I created mine in Word, but Excel might easier.

    Happy revising!

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    1. Nice one, Denise. Full moon imagery! Reminds me that when I do these read throughs (again), I'll spot similar wording here and there, maybe like echoes of the moon. Yes, I'm headed in the direction of that detailed scene outline. Thank you.

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  4. I am still finding my own editing practices. I am just glad to have finished my read thru and notes taking. This month I start actual editing and re-writing, while trying to outline and organize this novel.

    I like having the editing questions in a different colour and at the beginning might be helpful. Although not completely sure myself. I am working on creating a document of notes and dates as I begin this edit. So, as I discover what is working for me, I will gladly share.

    Sometime you will have to pay to get what you what, I guess. At least it was only 10.00, right? You take some lovely pictures, could you maybe use something that you've taken yourself?

    Here's to a great week, Beth!

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    1. Hello Cindy, Thank you for commenting. Sometimes I think we find our way slowly, and it's a good thing we don't always know how much time it will take to achieve our goals. I have found notes and a timeline useful in the past, but because I've found new research, it's a little overwhelming so late in the writing/editing, and I'm needing a really clear picture of each section. This discussion is very helpful. Re the picture . . . well, hubby's book is about the Vietnam war, but I found Adobe iStock and am very happy :) May your own editing go well.

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  5. I thinks it's good to try different techniques to find the one that works for you. I've tried a few different ones, but always go back to being a pantser, and then cleaning up the mess that made afterwards. Such is life.

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    1. Yay for pantsers, Chris -- and for cleaning up the mess afterwards. I will post what I come up with on the writing blog. This is a doozy, but the comments here have made a big difference. Rather like the encouragement I needed to just dive in, once again.

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  6. well got into bit of mess with this one so have untangled with copious notes and timelines - cannot get on with excel or any other spreadsheet for that matter - have found scrivner suits me and I like lists with lots of doodles and colour around the (thats not on scrivner:) thats in my notebooks - the doodles and colours seem to motivate my synapses better than order!!!! all the best:)

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    1. Thank you, Alberta. Your success with Scrivener inspires me to try once again . . . though I fear this project is so big, I shall just start that new program with the next writing project. Yes to lists, so many notes, and drawings too!

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