Slow Writer Reform School

So we writers can sometimes be a superstitious bunch. We make up stories for a living and many times that creative thinking bleeds into our real life. And one way we do this is by placing some mythical or magical significance on our "process."

Shh...don't disturb the Process. Don't try new things. This is working for you. You ARE a (insert appropriate designation: a plotter, a panster, a fast drafter, an edit-as-I-go writer, a morning writer, a midnight oil burner.)

I know I've done this. I read writing craft books like they're going out of style, but I quickly discard suggestions that may go against my Process. I can't write shit down on notecards! *gasp* That will send my pantsing brain into a tailspin. My muse will curl up into the fetal position and weep in a corner!

Okay, maybe you aren't as melodramatic as I am. But I know I'm not the only one who is scared to change things around too much because it might just suddenly steal our ability to write. Like our creativity is made of some delicate blown glass that will shatter if jostled.

Here are the things I've told myself: I'm a slow writer. A thousand words a day is about what I can do. I'm a panster. Planning ahead will kill my passion for the story. I will hit writer's block at some point in every one of my stories. I'm a morning writer. I must blog brilliantly every day and must be on Twitter all the time.

Well, guess what happened though? I sold two more books which have tighter deadlines than I've ever worked under before. My kidlet switched preschools and now goes in the afternoon instead of the mornings. And I fell in love with the Save The Cat! technique.

My Process has been tossed into a blender. Everything I was doing before isn't going to fit into this new setup. I had to figure out something different.

So for book 3, FALL INTO YOU, I've changed up the sacred process. I'm calling it Slow Writer Reform School.

Slow Writer Reform School Procedures

• I've dialed back my online time to free up more hours for writing. I don't need to be constantly available online.

• I wrote the synopsis of this book before starting to write it. (Something you have to do, btw, if you want to sell on proposal.)

• I plotted out my beats using Save The Cat!

• I wrote out a sentence for each of my major scenes and turning points on (ack!) index cards

• I'm holding myself to a 1k a day minimum goal

• I'm writing in pockets of time I usually wasted doing something unimportant

• I'm am not tying my ability to write to a certain time of the day

• And when I want to make a major change in the story, I just make a note and don't rewrite the whole thing right then.

And you know what? In seven days, I've written about 12,000 words. Now that may not seem like a lot to you fast drafters or Nano-ers (congrats, btw, to those of you who won Nano), but for me, that is a revelation. I even had an afternoon where I wrote 3200.

And it's been fun. Refocusing myself has helped me remember how awesome it is to get lost in your story and to be itching to get back to it. And having those simple plot points already sketched out has kept me moving forward instead of taking a day off to figure out what happens next.

So if you are feeling stuck or not as productive, consider throwing a few curve balls to your sacred Process. If it doesn't work, you can always go back. You never know what you might find.

And if you need more inspiration, there have been a number of posts recently about how others have sped up their writing:

• How I Went From 2k to 10k a Day by Rachel Aaron (I linked to this last Friday, but worth a read if you haven't looked at it.)
• Writers Must Write First by Susan Kay Quinn
• The 10,000 Word Day by Zoe Winters (found via Susan's blog above)

2016 Update: Practice does make you faster. Now I have a regular goal of 10k a week (2k a weekday) when I'm in drafting mode. And though I haven't had 10k days yet, I have had a few 7k days.

So how about you? Do you see your Process as precious? Have you told yourself that you can only do things a certain way? What have you changed up in your process that's helped you? What hasn't worked?

Letting Your Character in on the Secret by Ashley March

It's Monday again and time for one of our regular guests--the lovely and insightful Ashley March. Today she's giving us a great idea on how to turn some tropes on their head.

Take it away, Ashley...

Letting Your Character in on the Secret 

by Ashley March

Awhile ago I had the pleasure of reading Julie Anne Long’s most recenthistorical, What I Did For a Duke. I say it was a pleasure because not only amI a huge JAL fan (if you haven’t read her work already, please do so—you’remissing out), but also because this was the first book I ever remember readingwhere as soon as I finished I wanted to start over again.

Butthat’s from a reader’s point-of-view. From a writer’s point-of-view, whatreally struck me about this book is that although it could have been a typicalrevenge plot where the hero gets back at the heroine’s brother by breaking theheroine’s heart, (warning! partial spoiler below)

Ms.Long instead surprised me partway through the book by having the heroinerealize that this was the hero’s intention. I admit it, I was stunned. Here Iwas, sure that the hero would succeed in his plans, make the heroine fall inlove with him (while he falls in love with her, of course), and then at the endwhen she finds out what his true intentions were from the beginning, therewould be drama (!) and angst (!). Yet Ms. Long completely turns thatpredictable plot upside down by having the heroine figure out the hero’sintentions before he could break her heart.

Whatdid this do?

1)     Mostimportantly, I was even more excited to continue reading than I had beenbefore, because now I had no idea what to expect.

2)     Itmade me believe that the heroine was an equal match for the hero, which isn’talways the case with plots like this.

3)     Itmade me even more envious of Ms. Long’s genius.

Italso, however, made me wonder why we writers sometimes choose to take the easyway out. Is it because we’ve read certain tropes before and know that they cansucceed, thus we want to emulate their success for ourselves? Or is it becausewhen we brainstorm ideas, we choose something from the first three options,never daring to explore beyond the predictable?

Icould challenge you to copy from Ms. Long by choosing a common plot device andthen turning its on its head to make it unique—and I’m sure each of us couldfind a way to do that without much effort. (Throw in a rabbit here, a redherring there.)

Butinstead, I’m going to challenge you to dig a bit further. Specifically, whatcharacter(s) can you give knowledge to of an event/person/thing, etc. that iscurrently ignorant of that event/person/thing as the story stands? For you see,giving your character knowledge—whether he chooses to reveal it to anyone elseor not—makes him stronger and smarter in the reader’s eye, and it also makesthe story more complex and fresh.

Thinkof the heroine dressing up as a man and becoming the hero’s best friend. Whatif the hero knows the heroine is pretending, instead of questioning why he’ssuddenly experiencing sexual awareness toward a member of the same sex whenhe’s never done so before? (I have to admit, I like my heroes to be smart,too.)

Thinkof two ex-lovers reunited by circumstance. Instead of them both being attractedto each other still and constantly questioning whether the other person lovesthem, have one of the characters confident of their love being reciprocated.What other reason would they have to keep them at a distance?

Theseare just a couple of examples off the top of my head, and I’m sure you can comeup with better ideas when you look at your specific characters. Figure out whatthey currently don’t know (this could be about anything), then change it so thatthey do know. This can deepen notonly your characters and your story, but also create something that might oneday make your readers stand in awe and rave about your incomparable genius.(Here’s to you, Ms. Long. J )

What other book(s) can you think ofwhere a character’s knowledge turned what could have been a predictable plotinto something astounding?

AshleyMarch is a historical romance author who lives in Colorado with her adoring (oris that adorable?) husband, her two young daughters, and their dog. Her latestbook, ROMANCING THE COUNTESS, was released by NAL Penguin in September 2011,and she is currently psychoanalyzing the characters of her next two projects:the story of Joanna and Ethan, two secondary characters from her Victoriandebut; and the first book in a series set in 1920s Long Island.

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“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order! Read an excerpt here.

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All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

Deep Characters for Plot-First Writers by Suzanne Johnson

Welcome to the first week of our new feature--genre columnist Monday! :) Today we have the lovely and talented Suzanne Johnson talking to us about developing characters when plot is what comes easiest to you.

Already, this makes me happy that I'm bringing in others to post here because this is a post I could never write. Characters are what come easy to me and plot is my challenge, so I'm the opposite of Suzanne. That's why this is going to be so helpful. Different perspectives open up a whole new slew of topics to cover. 

Also, you'll notice at the bottom of the post that each Monday columnist is going to give you their monthly suggestion of a great read in their particular genre. This recommendation may or may not be related to the post, but I hope it gives everyone some great new books to check out! :) So now, over to Suzanne...

Deep Characters for Plot-First Writers

Writing craft is a process—we’re all learning as we go if we want to take this business seriously. Or at least that’s what I tell myself when I’m trying to excuse my penchant for taking online writing workshops or buying yet another book on technique and craft.

My latest read, bought to help coalesce my thoughts as I developed my own online workshop on plotting, is Jeff Gerke’s

Plot versus Character: A Balanced Approach to Writing Great Fiction

. I haven’t gotten far enough along for it to impart some revolutionary new approach for me to try, but I was struck by something he hammers home early in the book, and which I believe to be true:

He writes: “I believe there are two types of novelists, i.e., two archetypes into which all fiction writers may be grouped. On the one hand you have those for whom plot ideas come naturally. On the other, you have those for whom characters arise wih ease. … Rarely do you see a novelist who is naturally good at both. I have never met one.”

Neither have I.

I’m a plot-first novelist. I come up with a big What-If idea, spin a story around it, and then go searching for characters to do my bidding. The result, as anyone who read a first draft of my first novel would agree, is a rambunctious story peopled by characters so cardboard they barely qualify as one-dimensional. Some books like this get published and widely read (clears throat and mumbles *da vinci code* mumbles), but not many, at least not outside the thriller genre.

One of the writers in my critique group is a character-first writer at the other extreme. His writing is lyrical and mouthwateringly rich. His characters are deep and I want to know them and learn more about them. But they don’t actually DO anything, and I worry that his book will never get written because he can’t wrap his head around the plot to sustain them for 300 pages or so.

The ideal, I think we’d all agree, is a book that combines the best of those two. It’s just that we have to work extra hard to make up the shortcomings on whichever side of the plot-first/character-first spectrum we fall on.

For my workshop “textbook,” I deconstructed the plot of J.R. Ward’s

Dark Lover, the first in her wildly successful paranormal romance series, the Black Dagger Brotherhood. I chose this not because it’s my favorite series (it is), and not because it’s the best book in that series (it isn’t, at least not to me), but because this book—this whole series—is such a perfect blend of plot and character.

In her Black Dagger Brotherhood Insider’s Guide, Ward talks about the series, and about her process. This whole empire, whose tenth book will be released next spring, came from a group of characters formed inside her head, who wanted out on paper. Wrath and his “brothers” came first, because Ward is a character-first novelist.

She’s also incredibly disciplined, and compensates for her character-first nature by serious plotting. Her “outline” for Dark Lover ran forty-four pages.

So, how do plot-first and character-first authors compensate for the part of their writing that don’t come easily to them?

As a plot-firster, here are some techniques I use to get to know my characters:

*The interview.

Ask them questions. Don’t filter their answers but type them out as they come into your head. It’s a great way to find a character’s voice. Don’t just ask deep, meaningful things like “What do you want most in life?” Ask them things like “What did you eat for breakfast this morning?” or “What kind of underwear are you wearing?”

*The character sheet

One of the best books I’ve found with character questionnaires is Noah Lukeman’s The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life.

*Visual cues.

Look in magazines or online to find people who look like the people in your head. Having a strong visual reference as you write can help with better descriptions not only of appearance but actions.

*Narrative shifts.

If you’re writing in third-person POV, shift to first-person for a while (it’s easy to shift it back). If you’re writing in first-person, shift to third for a chapter or two. If you’re writing from the POV of one character, rewrite a scene from another character’s POV. The change of perspective seems to plug into different parts of the writing brain and help you figure out how your character would respond to plot points.

*Find your character’s type.

I discovered Enneagrams about a year ago and never looked back. This is a great tool for finding which archetype your characters fits into, and how he or she will respond to different scenarios based on type. You can find online info at http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/ but I ended up buying a copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Power of the Enneagram.

*Think like a Shrink.

In generic terms, this is just studying your character’s psychological makeup to look at past events that contribute to behavior. But there’s also a great book by this name by Dr. Harold Rosen.

Suzanne’s Recommended Read for August:

Dark Lover, first in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, by J.R. Ward

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other—six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood. The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But when one of his most trusted fighters is killed, leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate, Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

Suzanne Johnson is an author of urban fantasy “with romantic elements.” Her first book, Royal Street, a magic-based fantasy set in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina, will be released by Tor Books on April 10, 2012. Two more in the series will be released in Fall 2012 and Spring 2013. Find Suzanne online at her Preternatura blog, or read about her books at her website.

*Look for more from Suzanne here every 3rd Monday of the month!

So, are you a plot-first or a character-first author? If you’re character-first are you a pantser (usually character-first writers will be)? Or do you, like J.R. Ward, compensate by rigorous outlining?

Three Ways To Avoid Pantser Pitfalls

I've talked in the past about my pantsing tendencies.  No matter how hard I try to outline or be a plotter, I always end up sliding back into my deviant ways.  So I've learned to accept it (mostly) at this point and try to work around the weaknesses of this method.

Here are three things that have helped me avoid some of the pitfalls:

Don't hit delete even when you HATE the scene.

Sometimes, the only way for me to move forward is to try a scene a few different ways to see where it goes.  That means I end up with a lot of words I can't use.  I used to just discard the version I didn't end up going with.  But that was NOT bright.  Oftentimes, I realized later that parts of the other version would've worked better or could've been used somewhere else.  And you know how words are, it's almost impossible to recapture them the exact way you had them the first time.

So now, I don't delete anything--even if I'm only going to play around with a scene to see if an element can be shifted, I cut and paste the original in my "cuts" file in case I decide I want to go back to it.  My cut file for this current WIP is 23,000 words.  Ugh.  I know.  But I'm glad I have that file.  This week it helped me out.  I had one scene that I thought I hated and never thought I would use, but then it ended up being just what i need in another part of the book.  I was so happy I had saved it.

Anticipate unscheduled vacation time for your muse.

Goals are great.  500/1000/whatever words a day.  Terrific.  BUT be careful about the goals of, I will have this book finished by said date.  Don't cut it so close that you haven't planned for road blocks.  Everyone hits blocks, but I think pantsers are even more at risk for it because we really don't know what's going to happen next so we lean very heavily on our muse.  And sometimes, that muse goes on a bender to Cabo.  So make sure you give yourself some cushion so that you can take a few days off here and there to let your mind rest and your creativity return.

Make notes (and remember where you put them).

Plotters tend to know their plot threads before they start.  They make these beautiful charts, usually color-coded, with each of the different plot lines and subplots and characters.  They mark where they need to drop in each respective thread within a chapter.  *turns green with envy*  I, on the other hand, come up with terrific ideas for new plot threads fifteen chapters in.  Therefore, I end up having a number of threads, clues, logic details that I need to add into the earlier chapters after I finish drafting the book.

All these little things can add up and are easy to forget.  So have ONE place (a word document, specific notebook, post-it notes to put on a paper manuscript) where you keep all of those reminders, so that when you start revisions, you know what you need to add in and fix.

So those are three simple things that I've learned the hard way.  Do you have any other tips that help you work around your weaknesses?  And if you're a plotter, what are some of the pitfalls of that method?  What are some of your tricks?

**Today's Theme Song**

"Once Bitten, Twice Shy" - Great White

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

Pantsers Beware!

Photo by Denis Defreyne (click pic for link)

Hi, my name is Roni and I'm a pantser.  (This is where you guys say "Hi Roni" to make me feel okay about myself.)

Alright, over the past few weeks, I've attended two workshops for pantsers--one by author Sandy Blair and the other by author Kathleen Baldwin--and have learned a lot.

First, I've learned to accept that pantsing isn't an affliction, it's just another equally valid method at getting to the same goal.  But more importantly, I've learned that often, it is not really a choice.  Pantsers and Plotters brains work differently--not just with writing but in most aspects of our lives.

Pantsers like creating order out of chaos, but in order for us to do that--we need the chaos first.

An example:  I love to cook.  I'm good at it. But, I am by no means a neat or organized cook.  I cook like I'm on fire--pans banging, spice bottles littered everywhere, veggies being chopped at random moments, dishes piling up on every counter as I go.  However, once the meal is ready, I present this lovely, gourmet plate of food.

So, my husband (who would definitely be a plotter if he were a writer) watches me do this at night with knitted eyebrows.  "Honey, why don't you chop everything all at once?  Why don't you move the salt dish closer to the stove so you don't have to sprinkle to world with kosher salt on your way over to the pot?  Why don't you load the dishwasher as you go?"

To which I, of course, reply with a perplexed look, "Why would I do that?"

That would take all the heart and excitement out of the process for me.  I can clean the kitchen after the meal and bring it back to order, but doing that during the cooking would ruin the joy of creating for me.

Now for him (the plotter), he gets pleasure out of sitting down to a meal knowing everything is already done and organized for the night.  He will never "get" my viewpoint, just as I don't "get" his.  But both are perfectly okay.

But what does this mean for you if you're a pantser?  Well, what I took away from the workshop is that we have to go with what works for us and stop beating ourselves up.  Otherwise, we are going to screw with our creativity. Here's the warning:

If you are a true pantser and force yourself to intricately plot out the whole book--it could kill your creativity and you may no longer be able to write the book!

Did you hear that?

The passion and excitement for a pantser is in experiencing the story as your write.  If you write it all out in outline form first, you've already gone on the journey and you may lose interest in going on the same journey again.

Now, if you're a plotter, this is not the case.  Plotters take comfort in having that outline and thrive with that order already in place.  So if a plotter tries to pants, their stress over the unknown may choke their creativity.  So the key is to know what works for you and to stop forcing yourself into a round hole if you are a square peg.

Of course, that's not to say that pantsers don't have to plot.  Every story needs plot, obviously.  But it's just a matter of WHEN we plot--before the writing (plotters) or during the writing (pantsers).

And it's important to figure out which way works best for you.  If you're not sure which camp you fall into, try a few methods out and see what feeds your muse the best.

I've discovered that I'm a pantser, but like to have my characters backgrounds fleshed out before I start writing.  I don't necessarily need to know what is going to happen to them, but I need to know their history and wounds.  I think this need to know their past comes from my therapy background.  Plus, I'm a character-driven writer, so I tend to show up with characters and a vague idea of the hook, then decide, okay now what journey are these people going to go on.

The downside of this is that I often end up with a lot of words I can't use as I write my way into the story (I have 10k in my cut file so far on my new WIP), but I enjoy the journey of discovery.  If you are a member of RWA and get the Romance Writers Report, there was a great article called "Once More Into the Mist" this month on this very thing.  Author Jo Beverley said she often writes 200-300k words for every 100k book she publishes.  The thought is daunting, but that's what works for her.

So, moral of all of this: accept what kind of writer you are and stop trying to be something else because you may murder that fickle muse otherwise.

Alright, so I'm curious as to your thoughts on this.  What's your process?  Do you fly into the mist or have a GPS?  Do you find yourself forcing methods that seem great but that just don't fit you?  Did you try out various ways and see what works best?  Have you ever done something that completely beat down your muse?

**Today's Theme Song**

"Welcome to the Jungle" - Guns 'N Roses

(player in sidebar, take a listen)

WIP Wednesday: Sequels, Plotting, and Save The Cat!

 

For the past few months I have been attempting to write the second in the Wanderlust series.  I've blogged a bit about it.  I wrote a few chapters of one version, hit a wall, wasn't liking where my characters were going, so I started fresh with a different plot line.  Then I got stuck again.  Grr.  


This is a bit of a new issue for me.  For my first two books, I had moments where I had to stop and rework something  or cut a chapter, but for the most part, I continued to move forward without much issue.  Now I've found myself with a version of writer's block. 


Many writers say that there is no such thing as writer's block--that it's just another label for fear.  Perhaps, that's true.  I definitely have a fear of writing the second story in the series before the first has sold--even though it would be a connected series where each story could stand alone, not sequels per se.  I think this fear is what is smothering the creative part of my brain.  Then, after reading Nathan Bransford's post on sequelitis yesterday, my fear is even further confirmed. 


So about two weeks ago, I put that project on the side and returned to Exposure Therapy.  With this one, however, I decided I was going to tie up my inner pantser and toss her in a closet.  This story has a suspense/mystery element, which requires more intricate planning.  So, I am attempting to *gasp* plot beforehand.  


It's been painful.  My version of plotting so far has consisted of writing about ten notebook pages of bullet points that say--perhaps this happens, then maybe he does this because of this, etc.  I wouldn't so much call it plotting at this point, it's more brainstorming.  But I think I almost have all the pieces I need to get started on a more structured outline.  But what does that look like?


Blogs to the rescue!  I was going through my Google Reader and came across this great post over at The Guide to Literary Agents Blog about the screenwriting book Save the Cat  by Blake Snyder.

I thought the information was great, so I googled the book to see if I could find anything else out there on it.  Lo and behold, I found Ciara Stewart's post on Story Structure from Save the Cat! and I think it's just what I needed to help me start my outlining.  She posted Blake Snyder's 15 beat structure for stories using a Nora Robert's book Born In Fire as an example.  Here's the graphic she posted.  (I'm sorry some of it is cut off, nothing I did fixed it.  If you save the image on your computer, you'll get the whole thing.)

 

(image copied from Ciara Stewart's blog)

I thought this was a terrific summary.  It's originally based on screenwriting, but I think the trends in books these days are very much like movies--quick hook, jump into the action, etc.  So, I'm going to attempt to use this to make a rough plot of my book before I type any of the story.  We'll see how it goes.  Hopefully, it will move along quickly, because I'm ready to write!

*Alright, on a completely different note, thanks to everyone who participated in The Beta Club yesterday.  Your input was awesome.  Remember, there will be another submission tomorrow!  For those of you that participated, how did you find the experience?  Was having my own crit posted helpful or would the comments from others be enough?  Did anyone have trouble opening the scribd document?*

Okay, and for today's questions:  Do you plot?  If so, what structure do you use?  How do you feel about writing sequels before book one has sold?

**Today's Theme Song**

"Move Along" - The All-American Rejects

(player in sidebar--go ahead, take a listen)

How to Find Balance Between Character-Driven and Plot-Driven Writing

 Yesterday I talked about character-driven writers and plot-driven writers.  Based on comments it seems we have more character-driven people, but there are a few plotters out there as well.

Now, of course, we all strive to find a balance of both.  The best stories have an engaging plot and memorable characters.  I used the picture above as an example.  Titanic had a major plot driving the characters--that whole ship sinking thing did require a reaction.  However, I still remember Jack and Rose's characters and their personal stories.  And not just because Leo is so darn purty.

But from what I've read, not many of us are going to naturally excel at both sides.  It appears that most writers are going to have a strength in one and have to work at the other because the brains of the character-driven and plot-driven are wired differently.

Character-driven writers tend to be more right-brained and, as a result, are more likely to be pantsers.  They get the spark of the idea and start writing, letting the characters lead the way.  Plot-driven, on the other hand, are more likely to be plotters who outline, chart, and know the conflict and turning points of their story before they put pen to page.  Each of us can learn from the other.

If you are a character-driven pantser...

• Try a very rough version of plotting.  The thought of coming up with a detailed outline gives me hives, so I know that won't work for me.  But it doesn't have to be that detailed.  

• Here's a suggestion from author Liane Gentry Skye:

Start w/ your hook, 2-3 plot turning points, and the ending.  (These can all be one sentence items).  So for an 80k book, up to 20K sets up beginning, 20K marks first turning point, 40K turning second point, 60K final turning point/complication and on to resolution near 80K

• Heidi Willis offers a similar suggestion with a bit more detail.

PercentageMethod

Stage1 (10%) draw reader in, identification with hero

TurningPoint (10%) new opportunity, new journey often followed by MC refusing totake the journey or by into the opportunity

Stage2 (15%) hero reacts, formulates plan

Stage3 (25%) hero is overcoming obstacles

TurningPoint (at the 50% mark) hero must commit, there is no turning back

Stage4 (25%) goal is more visible, stakes are higher

TurningPoint (at 75% mark) Major setback, a do or die moment

Stage5: (15%) Final push; conflict becomes overwhelming, MC must giveeverything; accellerated pace; MC determines his or her own fate.

Stage6: Aftermath, what life are they living now

• And for even more detail of this method, check out this site.

If you can get those major points out of your head and onto paper, this gives you a rough guide of what your characters need to be directed toward.  And it also helps you avoid the following pitfalls of the character-driven, panster:

• Characters who are wonderful but wander around and do a whole lot of nothing besides navel-gazing
• A plot that is flimsy or contrived.
• A plot that is full of holes.

On the other hand, if you are a plot driven writer...

• You need to play therapist with your characters.  If you were their counselor and had them in for a first session, you would first complete a personal history.  Know where your characters have come from.

• And I don't mean their favorite color.  I think those character sheets you can fill out can be great, but they are often surface questions.  You need the deeper stuff.  What were the three defining moments in the character's life that made them who they are?  If they are sarcastic and push people away know why.  If your MC is afraid of dogs, there better be a reason.  

• You don't necessarily need to dump all of their backstory into the book, but you need to know that information so you can know how they will react in certain situations.

• Don't slack on your secondary characters.  You may not need to know them as deeply as your MC (although I try to), but you need to breathe life into them.  Their personal history is that breath.

If you don't do these things, you'll fall into the pitfalls of the plot-driven writer:

• Flat characters
• Stereotypes--bitchy blonde cheerleader, wise old man, quirky best friend, etc.
• Characters who act inconsistently or unrealistically because they are being bent to fit the structured plot
• A story that is exciting but doesn't connect with the reader because they feel no attachment to the MC
• Characters who do not change internally by the end of the story--no emotional arc

Alright, I hope that helps.  I may give the rough plotting a try because I am a hopeless pantser.  Hopefully I don't break out into a rash.  :)

So if you're a pantser, have you attempted an alternative style of plotting?  What works for you?  If you're a plotter (oh how I envy you), how do you make sure your characters are two-dimensional and memorable?
 
 
 
 

**Today's Theme Song**

"I Will Remember You" - Sarah McLachlan

(player in sidebar, take a listen)