NaNo- THE EDITING AFTERMATH

My vacation from NaNo lasted a day. A single day in which I didn't write, but instead read through the manuscript. Even after the brain numbing exhaustion of writing 50k in a month, I couldn't break away.

I'm pretty happy the story is flowing well. However, upon reading FIXED from the beginning, I saw all the areas that need to be fixed. I want to get those dangling plot threads and foreshadowing events, fleshed out before heading into the climax of the story. 

I mentioned in the last post that I had a date with a wizard, well, before that I stumbled upon his creator, Jim Butcher's Livejournal via my friend/critique partner, jallen327.  

According to Mr. Butcher, "I'm mostly going to use this livejournal to share what I know about writing with any interested parties. My approach to writing fiction is grounded in the notion that a methodical, structured use of learned story craft skills gives a writer an excellent basis on which to approach writing fiction."

His journal rocked my world. Literally.

Rather than read Mr. Butcher's book, COLD DAYS, I spent the night reading about the mechanics of crafting a story. He breaks it down in easily digestible chunks for the aspiring author to understand. I had a blast.

Then, I read his book (which is awesome) where I saw how he used the techniques he wrote about. I admit to being inspired. *insert fangirl squeal*

With this in mind, I outlined my story so far. I broke the chapters into scenes, then highlighted certain plot elements within my story arcs with colored font: romance, mystery, supernatural. This is the result.



Fixed- novel outline, by Angie Sandro

I've never been an outliner, but this worked well. With it minimized, I can see where I'm lacking in certain plot elements, like Chapter 6 and 7 are almost all geared toward the mystery. Now, I can seed in elements which are lacking to make the story more balanced. Notes are put in the comment boxes for each scene or highlighted.

Ex: Note to self, switch around Chapter 2 and 3 for better flow.

I've even added chapters and scenes that are unwritten. I know exactly where the plot is going as I wade through what Mr. Butcher calls the "Great Swampy Middle" of the story and dive into the climax.

All the preceding elements should come together in an explosion of mayhem (with a firm resolution at the end, promise :-) It's gonna be huge. Not everyone is going to make it out alive.

Boo-yah!

P.S. I'd like to get Sharing Our Voices going again, so if you're interested in sharing what inspires your creativity, please leave me contact information so I can schedule your very own guest post.

Thanks,

Angie Sandro

COLD DAYS WITH A WIZARD NAMED HARRY!

I have a long awaited date with a Wizard. So consider me on vacation. While I dream of a beachfront bungaloo, I'll settle for a long weekend at home reading COLD DAYS the 14th book in Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series and reaquainting my family with my presence since I've virtually abandoned them this month.

To everyone who is still NaNoWriMoing... V live long and prosper.

I'll be back with regular blog posts once I decompress. I still have an amazing story to finish so stay tuned for more FIXED updates.

Thanks for following me on my journey.

April-Year of Fun

March is over--YAY!!

Between being sick and the constant rain, I spent most of March being stuck in the house. I used the opportunity to take a self-imposed vacation from writing and focused on reading some really excellent books instead.

This is my March reading list:

Every year, prior to the release of her newest book coming out, I reread Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series. I started with Guilty Pleasures and ended with book nineteen, Bullet. My favorites are Blue Moon and Incubus Dreams.

After learning that George R.R. Martin’s long awaited book A Dance with Dragons is coming out on July 12, 2011 and the HBO series A Game of Thrones airs April 17th, I decided to reread a Feast for Crows, the last book out in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. I think the last time I read the book was in 2008. I thoroughly enjoyed escaping into Mr. Martin’s world. Once I finished, I didn’t want to leave Westeros. The storyline is so intricate that I realized I had forgotten what happened in the preceding book, so I then read a Storm of Sword…etc. Yes, I ended up reading the entire series again—backwards. DOH. Craziness.

Next I read Jim Butcher’s Alera Codex series.
I’ve read all the Dresden books and love them. Of course. I happened to find book one Furies of Calderon on my book shelf. Maybe I bought the book or my husband did. I’m not sure, but I had never read it before. And like a surprise birthday party, WOW, loved the book and went through the entire six book series in a week

I’m a fast reader. Most books, I can read in a day, which drives my husband crazy. The above author’s have nice thick, meaty books that take me a couple of days to finish. I love that. Oh, and if anyone loves Charlaine Harris' books (my favorite is Dead to the World) and have been watching Trueblood, I found out some good news. This season will follow the book four plot in which Eric gets amnesia. I sure hope we get that shower scene!!! Check out this link. YUMMY.

Technically, with April, my self-imposed vacation is over. I’ve started working on my new YA story. It’s outlined and started a few pages, but I’m taking it slow. I don’t want to make the mistake I made last year, and spend my whole summer shut up in my office writing. I bought a laptop and I’ll use it to write at the pool instead.

Happy April, everyone.