Writer’s Block vs NaNoWriMo

Back in early October I blogged about doing the prep work needed to take on NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I had hope and ambition. I made plans. The universe laughed.

Little did I know that I was going to get a rewrite request right before Halloween. I got that done but I didn’t get the NaNoWriMo prep work done. I had my characters and settings. I even had some material culture. While I had a premise and a vague idea what would happen, I didn’t have anything approaching an outline. No worry! I could do this.

Toward the end of week one, I turned in my rewrite and jumped into writing. I would outline and draft simultaneously. This time the universe wasn’t just laughing. It was rolling on the floor, kicking its feet. Frankly, it was a little embarrassing.

For two days, I worked on my draft. How many pages did I accomplish? I managed to write two lackluster pages. Yes, I got a few more clues into what would happen in my story but I finally had to face reality. My outline wasn’t coming together and I couldn’t get the writing to flow. I was blocked. Maybe not entirely but if this was plumbing or an artery we’d be panicking. What to do?

Here are the steps that helped me.

Step 1. Acknowledge the block. After two days of beating my head on my keyboard, I finally faced facts. Block acknowledged.

Step 2. Look for possible causes. I was exhausted physically and mentally so it wasn’t hard to figure out. While working on my rewrite, my father had a health setback, two distant friends lost their mothers and my son’s scout master lost his wife. No quick fix here. I needed time and space.

Step 3. What can you do about it? I could recharge. I knitted cactus pin cushions. I started knitting a lace shawl. I read and read and read some more.

Step 4. Once you’re ready to get back into it, assess the progress you had made. Time to face reality. I needed an outline but whenever I tried to work on it, I felt adrift. I had to be missing something. The best planning tools that I know are The Plot Whisperer book and workbook. I’m now rereading these, working my way through the exercises and adding to the scrapbook about my story. I don’t have a full outline yet but I do have my main character’s emotional arc, the action arc and the thematic arc. Same for my bad guy.

I’ll start writing when I have a complete plan. Until then, I’ll work on other things and that’s really okay. I’ve submitted a piece of middle grade nonfiction to an agent. I’ve rewritten an early reader and sent it out to an ESL publisher.

Writer’s block isn’t the end of the world. It’s just a signal that you need to move forward on a different path.

--SueBE

To find out more about Sue Bradford Edwards writing, visit her blog, One Writer's Journey.
She also teaches our class, Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults.  The next session begins December 5, 2016.

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5 comments NaNoWriMo, outlining novels, The Plot Whisperer, The Plot Whisperer Workbook, writer's block

Outlining Your Way to Greatness

Dad reading to us, pre-James Patterson.
Photo courtesy | ekhumphrey

My father, who passed away more than a year ago, used to read James Patterson novels.  Apparently, he was not alone.

I read the VanityFair profile on Patterson in its January 2015 issue. It contains the statistic that one of every twenty-six books of hardback fiction sold holds his byline. According to the article, his books alone provide his publisher with 30 percent of its total revenues.

Let that sink in for a moment.

I've read a couple of his books through the years, but I've never purchased one. I used to borrow them from my father. I guess Patterson hasn't been missing my father's purchases too much.

Patterson's ability to be so prolific is amazing. He balances dozens of his manuscripts at one time.  The article does explain how he manages. (Hint: He has help.) The mega-selling author's idea of slowing down in his golden years--a few books a year--sounds fabulous to me for my middle-aged ones.

The article is worth reading for so many reason, including learning how Patterson's managed to  extend his brand. And capture readers in other age groups. I was intrigued to read how extensive his outlines are before the writing of his book--upwards of 80 pages.

I love outlining books. Reading about his outlining as one way he is able to produce so much was comforting. Too often I am caught up in writing a story and its shape is rarely as pleasing as those I outline first, kind of like decorating a Christmas tree before securing its base. From now on, I will outline everything.

I know I will never reach the heights of Patterson's prolific abilities. Long ago he decide to be a successful genre writer. For now, I am happy to be a writer who outlines.

I wonder what kind of a pen he uses to write his best sellers...? Watch out publishing world!

Do you know about any "secrets" of a popular or successful writer? What do they do and do you try to emulate it or does it interfere with your projects?

Elizabeth King Humphrey is a writer, editor, and teacher. Her free guide, Harmonizing: Find and Communicate to Your Audience, helps health and wellness professionals communicate with their potential clients. When I should have been working on my blog post, I was perusing The Chicago Manual Online Favorite Things 2014 list.

 

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Leave a Comment Elizabeth King Humphrey, James Patterson, outlining novels, Vanity Fair, writing outlines

Friday Speak Out!: A Tale of Two Outlines

by Jessica Levine

Mention the word "outline" to a novelist and you're likely to get a grimace as a reaction. But outlines are necessary as road maps. Let me explain how I suggest using them in writing fiction.

1. An outline is a list of steps in your story.

The outline simply divides a story into segments that form a list. This is not the kind of outlining you were taught in high school, where Roman numeral I is followed by A and then 1) and 2) and so forth in order to create a logical argument. This is simply a condensed, step-by-step narrative of contents. The sequence may in fact run contrary to logic, go back and forth in time, change narrative point of you. But your outline will enable you to keep track of what you've done. Think of it as an annotated list of scenes in a screenplay.

2. Have two outlines: a "projected story outline" and a "working outline."

Usually I have two outlines in two different docs going at once.

The "projected story outline" is the outline you make before writing. It contains your first ideas about how the story will unfold and how it will be divided into sections and/or chapters. This document may start off as a few sentences or a couple of paragraphs. Then as your ideas accumulate, the outline will grow and you divide it into steps. These steps may correspond to chapters or sections of chapters.

Ideally every section of your novel, even if it consists of psychological rumination, creates forward impetus. Sometimes I have used titles in my projected outline to help me focus on how a section is moving the story along.

The "working outline" is the outline you make after writing. It contains a record of everything you have actually written. Every time you finish a section (which may be a chapter or a unit of action or thought), you record what you've done in this working outline.

Of course, the working outline may not following the path set by the projected one! You may find the story veering into an unexpected direction. So you will want periodically to update your projected outline to reflect the story you are actually producing.

In my working outline I usually record: chapter numbers, manuscript page numbers, main points of action and psychological development, and any unresolved issues I need to return to.

Right now I'm working on a novel that goes backwards and forwards in time. I'm using a different font color for the two narratives in my summary so that I have a visual aid that helps me.

One of the hardest things about writing a novel is keeping track of which elements of plot, characterization, and description you have already introduced. Your outlines will help you keep track of what Henry James called the "baggy monster" that is the form of the novel.

* * *

Jessica Levine’s first novel, THE GEOMETRY OF LOVE, was published in April by She Writes Press. Her stories, essays, poetry, and translations have appeared in many journals, including Green Hills Literary Lantern, North American Review, The Southern Review, and Spoon River Poetry Review. She earned her Ph.D. in English at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Delicate Pursuit: Literary Discretion in Henry James and Edith Wharton (Routledge, 2002) and has translated several books from French and Italian into English. She was born in New York City and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her website is jessicalevine.com.
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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!

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2 comments Friday Speak Out, Jessica Levine, novel writing, novel writing process, novel writing tips, outlining novels, writing outlines

Hitting the Page with a Hybrid Process

A mosaic of my daily notebook and notes
for my current WIP. I'm using a mixed
approach to get the novel going.
Photo credit | EKHumphrey

In my school days, I nearly always used sentence outlines when writing academic papers. Last year, after reading Karen Wiesner’s books, I started outlining my fiction. But then I ended up spending much of last year writing nonfiction. I’m still not terribly adept at outlining my fiction, so I am using a hybrid method for my current work-in-progress.

Because I’m producing pages for a writers’ group, I’m spending time writing freely—without an outline—to let my characters reveal themselves to me. I’m using the basics of fiction—POV or dialogue, for example—and writing small snippets (mini-scenes almost) in each of those areas to find my characters’ voices.

I’m taking this approach because when I went to start an outline sketch of my protagonist, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted her to be doing or her backstory. Wiesner mentions keeping my creativity “brewing” in the background—I agree. For this novel, I needed to spend more time with my characters percolating before pulling them into an outline. (Perhaps because it is my first fiction project since mid-2013?)

With this current project, I didn’t know what I wanted my protagonist to look like. I knew that many of her activities would be familiar to me because they are the ones I want to establish some specific conflicts within the novel. But she wasn’t coming alive and fully formed to me through the outlining process. Sure, I pinpointed some of her characteristics, but she needed to reveal herself and her fictional friends to me. I don’t know about you, but more often than not, that happens to me when I step back and let my writing take over. Or when I’m stuck.

Now that I’m a couple chapters in, I’m pulling myself out of the narrative to flesh out more of the characters’ stories and characteristics. I’m utilizing Wiesner’s book, but I’m also relying on my own internal compass.

I used an outline for the gluten-free book to keep focused on the areas I needed to cover. The basic outline helped me to thread the needles I laid out for myself. Also, checking off sections as I wrote them and working on a publisher’s deadline helped direct and motivate me. By creating the small snippets, I’m able to borrow those and slot them into the narrative, my outline...and my novel. If they fit, great. If not, I may massage the snippet into place.

Working in this hybrid fashion, I realize how my approach provides me with a feeling of some control and goals as well as letting my creativity and spontaneity loose.

My groaning bookshelves let me know that I’m not unique in figuring out how to plot a course through a novel. But this is a method that, for right now, feels organic and productive to me.

What have you learned that has helped you chart your course through completing a piece of writing? What have you learned—and then tweaked to suit a particular project? What’s working for you right now?

Elizabeth King Humphrey is a writer and editor living in North Carolina. She’s getting back to writing after four days of school closures due to freakish ice masquerading as snow.

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1 comment Elizabeth King Humphrey, free writing, Karen S. Wiesner, Karen Wiesner, outlining novels, work in progress