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.

TYREESE... NEED I SAY MORE?

UPDATE: THE WALKING DEAD MARATHON on Sunday, December 2nd. 

 

THE WALKING DEAD comic book fans rejoice.

Chad Coleman will be playing my favorite character from THE WALKING DEAD comic by Robert Kirkman. Tyreese is an icon. Those who've read the scene--you know the one--view him with awe and reverence. Okay, so maybe the character is a bit of a horn dog, but that's what makes the comic and the television series fun. Characters who are so realistic that we can identify with them. Care about whether the live or die. It's the realism which makes this show great.

Source

So what if comic book Tyreese sometimes has the feel of a superhero, he's still a hero I can't wait to see on the screen. And can I say, Chad Coleman playing him. Wow, they even look alike. Hotness!

I'll leave it at that before I accidently drop spoilers.

 

NaNo UPDATE, DAY 26

It's the final countdown.

For those of you who have made it to the finish line--congrats.

To those of us still limping along. We still have five days. We CAN bring this home!

With an illness then holiday drama, I thought NaNo would be a bust again this year. Granted the month isn’t over. I still have time to crash and burn, but I’m more hopeful about finishing than I was three days ago.

 

On day 23, I was at 31,000 words. If I wanted to a have any chance of finishing on time, I had to write 10,000 words by Monday. I spent 12 hours on the story on Saturday. Sunday, I edited my critique partner’s story during the day. That night I wrote another 4k. I’m officially caught up. If I can write the necessary 1700 words a day, I’ll finish on time.
 

Okay, enough with the statistical data. Boring, right?

Last week, I asked about POV, and I received a lot of advice. My thanks go to those of you who took the time to share your views and encouragement.

Terri Bruce, author of HEREAFTER, gave the answer which made my decision.

“Hmmmm...I have seen the use of two different tenses, I think, but I can't think of any of the book titles. However, keep in mind with the tense change, what you're saying to the reader is that the first person character is telling the reader what happened AS IT HAPPENS, while the 3rd person character is telling the reader what happened AFTER THE FACT. If that's what you mean, then it should be fine (the examples I'm thinking of are usually suspense/mystery/thrillers, where one person is telling the story after the fact (like the detective/cop) and one is telling it as it happens (usually the bad guy), but I've also seen it in mother/daughter women's fic - with the grown up daughter explaining the present day problems in the past tense and then the book switches to the mom's PoV in present tense as she relates her life story). I'd have to check but Paulo Coelho may have used two different tenses in The Witch of Portobello and I think possibly Amy Tan in The Bonesetter's Daughter. But if you mean for your characters to both be telling the same story at the same time (e.g. as it happens), then you'd really need to use the same tense I think.”

 

I wrote the second POV character, Landry’s chapter in Present/1^st person, and his whole personality flowered upon the page. He had his own voice, his own views and interpretation of his world which was totally separate from Mala’s. He allowed me to explore an otherwise closed part of the story, and in turn, made the story deeper and richer than it was with the single point-of-view.

I’m 150 pages into a story that I find to be even more thrilling than the original.

I think I always worried about that. I’ve read a few sequels that couldn’t stand up to the original. As if some essential spark which infused the first is missing from the second. That doesn’t seem to be the case with this story (of course, I'm biased, lol.) I think it's because I know the characters and their world so well now that I’m able to build up on it with layers and depth.

It feels pretty cool.

So this question is for those of you who have written sequels or read sequels. Was your sequel difficult to write or easier? Do you often enjoy reading about the same characters and what would you suggest makes the sequel better than the original? Or is it even possible in your view to recapture the magic of the first book?

NaNo UPDATE, Day 19

 

There are only two more days until my vacation. I’ll be able to enjoy five days of uninterrupted writing time. Well, maybe a few interruptions, like turkey, stuffing, pie, black Friday, my sister coming in from San Diego, entertaining the kiddies who are out of school, and…the list goes on.

But I should have some NaNo time.

My work-in-progress, FIXED, is shaping up now that I’m editing as I write it. For those who followed my NaNo journey last year, you know I like to experiment.

 

This time, I added in a new POV character, Landry, to the story. I wondered how he felt about all the crazy happenings in Mala’s world.

His chapter…wow, it felt wonderful to write. It got my mojo flowing again. After I wrote his chapter, Mala’s chapters wrote themselves with little effort from me. I love when that happens, but I was afraid it wouldn’t with story after the rocky beginning.

I’m now on Chapter 8, which will be a Landry chapter. I wrote the first one in 3^rd person, past tense. I didn’t want it to be confused with Mala’s 1^st person, present tense.

 

I’m not sure whether it’s too jarring of a change. If necessary, I can always go back and convert it after I’m finished. I won’t worry about it until I get feedback from my critique partners.

I need your opinion. Do you find books with dual POV’s that are written in different POV’s distracting or is it better to have such a distinct separation?