A couple months ago, I opened my DAUGHTER OF THE DEAD file to finish the draft. First, I fiddled with my scene list.
Then I decided to revise the story into present tense and thought of a cool twist. I converted the text to present tense and fiddled with my scene list.
Then I decided to revise the story into first person narration and to put the twist in the middle of the book, not toward the end. I converted the text to first person and fiddled with my scene list.
Then I fiddled with the scene list some more, because the beginning wasn't right.
Then I fiddled some more to fill out secondary and tertiary story lines.
Then I moved my scene list from a spreadsheet to sticky notes, so I could manipulate things quickly.
Then my scene list was satisfactory.
And then?
I lost interest.
GEEAARRRGGHH.
Was I avoiding doing the writing? Maybe. When it comes to writing, and many other things, I love to plan. But this time, I planned my enthusiasm to death. The story's still good, and I'll finish it (some day), but for now I'm stepping away. Giving myself permission to work on other writing-career-related projects. One thing I'm working on: teacher guides for Cynthia Leitich Smith's upcoming picture book, HOLLER LOUDLY (Dutton, November 2010), an awesome read-aloud (mark your calendars!).
How about you? Have you ever planned a project to death? Spreadsheeted the joy right out of it? When it comes to writing, are you a plotter or a pantser? If you're a pantser, is it because of the whole planning-it-to-death scenario?
Monday, April 26, 2010
Oh no! I planned it to death!
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5 ate pie:
*hangs head in shame*
Yes, I've done it. I took that outline knife and plunged it through the ream of carefully crafted story, killing it instantly from planning it out too much.
Nowadays,I walk around with an ID tag that says, "Hello, My name is Michelle and I am a panster."
Oh, I'm so glad it's not just me! The first thing I ever wrote was a trilogy. I pants'ed book 1 and half-outlines book 2, and then I outlined book 3...and never, ever wrote it. I'm glad--they were all terrible--but lesson learned: NEVER outline.
Oh gosh, yes. In fact, I just did this with a book. After back and forth on a synopsis and an outline and the first chapter, I realized all the joy had been sucked right out of the book. I had to finally make the decision to put it aside in the hopes of regaining the magic.
I have definitely done this! One time I tried to fight my pantsing tendencies and decided to outline an entire novel before I wrote it. The outline came out great. So great, in fact, that I lost all interest in actually writing the book. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's allergic to planning!
Maybe finding a balance would be good, eh? Thanks for sharing, guys!
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