WRITING DECISIONS

Plotting, Submitting and Hibernation
It's not been a bad week. I'm working on several short stories at the moment and sometimes it's hard not to let them blend into one huge story. So every now and then I just put them all to one side and do something different. 


Having skimmed through the email plotting course I talked about last Monday here are three things that I've been playing about with.

• Start with a character. Without a character (at least one) there is no plot! I've made this my starting or returning point for all my stories this week. 
• I've thrown out the stuff written about 'basic plot outlines' - I read somewhere this week that these aren't plots, they are a series of conflicts which help to create and develop the plot. I was beginning to get a bit hung up about that which means no writing. How sad is that. Instead I shall think about the problems my character could have and what they might do to solve them.
• I've also ditched the 3 Act Structure,  again I became caught up in the technicalities. So for a simple soul like me, it's will be Beginning, Middle and End but after I have some idea of my character and their conflicts.  

I've taken this approach with the stories I've worked on this week and I have made great inroads. That's not to say the course I've been reading through is rubbish. I've just made some decisions about how it best works for me and I will continue with lessons 4-7 next week.

I now have three short stories which are coming together plus I've reviewed another short piece of fiction for submission today (part of my Write 1 Sub 1). And I've finally decided to put my first draft novel (All Will Be Well) into hibernation. It's not working and again, I'm tying myself up in knots with it. I just need to forget about it and learn from the process. Maybe in years to come I'll pick it up again, but now just isn't right.

Until Later...