The Non-Outline

I was surprised I didn’t outline. I mean, I’m a typical Type A nut, control freak and perfectionist. If you had asked me three years ago if I would outline my novel, I’d have shown you the color-coded Excel document waiting for the right idea. (Control freak, remember? Also, fan of rainbow spreadsheets.)

At first, I was minorly freaking out. How will I know what to do next if I don’t have the next scene planned out? What if my character is staring into space just waiting for stage direction?

But then I remembered the other two novels I started (and, due to life circumstances and the manuscripts’ utter suckitude, never finished). I built a story without anything more than an idea, a spark.

So after all of my brainstorming and fantasizing, I felt like any additional planning would zap the fun out of writing my story.

See, what I was doing during my season of procrastination (longingly called NaNoProMos) was creating a roadmap to my novel. I knew where it started. I knew where it ended. I had played in my mind at least four or five rest stops along the way.

Sometimes it doesn’t matter if we don’t know whether our characters will take I-95 or I-390 to get from inciting incident to climax as long as we know what needs to happen at each of those “rest stops.” Doing that, we have something to work toward from the beginning. The road trip isn’t wild and reckless. But there also isn’t a strict itinerary that’ll suck the inspiration and excitement from the trip.

And now I’m off to use that color-coded spreadsheet to categorize my budget. I can hear The Man’s screams now.

Do you have a road map, a detailed outline, or nothing but a spark of an idea before you start writing?

Just Wait

I know I’ve talked a lot about procrastination. During my Procrastinating Period I thought I was nuts—and I was partly right. But once I started writing, I realized how important that time of thinking was to my story.

So yesterday I read Ally Carter’s blog post on waiting. I did a little happy dance because The Ally Carter unknowingly validated all of my procrastination. You should really read the full thing, but for the curious I’ll sum it up: Wait.

To every question writers asked Ally on her blog—How do I get published? How do I build characters? How do I find an agent? And on and on—Ally told readers to stop and wait. There’s no rush, she said. Waiting can make you a stronger writer.

Now, was I consciously waiting because I have some weird telepathic connection to Ally Carter? Um, no. (Though that would be incredibly cool.) But still, the waiting made me a better writer and probably helped me avoid querying too soon.

Plus, I swear it’s the reason I’m here. And by here I mean at the computer with a finished manuscript, dark circles under my eyes, carpal tunnel, and cookie crumbs on my shirt. (Don’t judge.)

I spend months—11 months if my Gmail history is telling the truth—doing everything under the sun to avoid having to type the words Chapter One.

It started with the spark of an idea. I tucked it away for safe keeping for that one day maybe in the near future but probably really, really far into the future when I eventually wrote that book I’ve been wanting to write since I was young. I decided to write a book some time around sixth grade. I figured, what’s another six years? (I really asked that, a testament to my pathetic math skills.)

Anyhow, I procrastinated. I read agent blogs. I read writing blogs. I stalked/followed author blogs.

I panicked about having a lame idea. I panicked about not having any other ideas.

I got another idea. And another. And dozens more.

I tucked those away for safe keeping. Then I kept procrastinating.

I knew about queries and page formatting all before I ever opened a blank Word document. Which isn’t to say I’m in a better spot than anyone who jumped in head first.

I am saying that all of this procrastination, this waiting was actually part of my process. It’s the first step I took to being one of those people who don’t just say, “I want to write a book someday” but can say, “I wrote a book.”

And then Ally Carter stole my idea.

Merry Christmas To All

 photo from flying house studios

To all my readers,

Thank you for making my first week of blogging so special. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas.

Eat too many cookies for me, will ya?

Procrastination

Yesterday I mentioned that the first step to writing my novel was to procrastinate. If you’re my mom (and, let’s be honest here, with the number of readers my blog gets so far you probably are) you’re probably shocked that I procrastinated.

I rarely procrastinate.

The Man finds this terribly annoying. He’ll wake up at 9 a.m. on the weekend, veg in front of the T.V. or computer for two hours while I sleep (I love sleep more than air I think). I’ll wake up, plop down on the couch, and start rattling off my to-do list.

“I need to wake up!” he’ll say.

“You’ve been awake for two hours.”

“Don’t you need two hours to wake up?” he’ll ask.

No. I don’t. Why put off for later what you can do now?

And yet when it came to writing that book I’ve always wanted to write, I procrastinated. Even when I knew I HAD to write it.

Partly this was out of fear. (Psych majors are all yelling a collective Duh.)

Part of it was perfectionism—not wanting to take the test before I had studied.

But most of it was fear.

Do I think my story’s stronger for it? Yes.

Do I think it’s the most productive way to build a writing career? Absolutely not.

Do I think I’ve used my allotment of statements starting with “Do I think” for the month? Most definitely.

The Secret to Getting Published

So, I was going to write a book. I did all of the normal stuff would-be writers do, which is talk a lot about how one day I’d write a book. That, and sign my name on other people’s books just to get my signature right. (Sorry, John Green.)

Also, I read author and agent blogs like I was getting paid to do it. (Which I wasn’t.)

And then I learned the Number One Secret To Getting Published.

I’m sure this post will come in handy to anyone planning on writing the next Great American Novel. Which is to say, 98 percent of Americans. No matter, this applies to everyone.

The key is, you have to actually write the book. As in open a blank Word document or notebook or stack of napkins or what have you and put pen to paper, fingers to keys. Go figure, right?

Here I was, spending all this time reading and reading and learning and absorbing the endless publishing knowledge that’s out there and I kind of missed the whole point: Unwritten books don’t get published. Shocking, I know.

So that’s why I’m here. I’m writing it. Cross my heart, there are words on this page. Words about a story and not just the title or acknowledgments.

This blog will chronicle my journey from writer wannabe to (fingers crossed) real, live, actual author.