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.
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| Maligne Canyon, Jasper National Park Canada (Camp August 2015) |
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.
ReplyDeleteI don't do that for all projects, though, only mob novels. :)
Thank you, Ruth. Your blog posts and suggestions help me focus! I keep losing the connectors. This will help.
DeleteHmm... 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! :)
ReplyDeleteHello, 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!
DeleteWhen 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.
ReplyDeleteHappy revising!
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.
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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!
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.
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteYay 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.
Deletewell 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:)
ReplyDeleteThank 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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