Getting Started
The question raised from my last post was: "Do you edit as you write, plow through to the end and then edit, use a crit group to discover the nits and gnats in the prose, send it off to a professional editor, or ask your house guests to take a crack at editing for the practice in the English language, and what do you suspect the pros and cons of these approaches might be?

AND the simple answer is a famous quote: Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm (let's take "great" in this case as meaning great story... not world-changing or something mightier).

Enthusiasm is your most important asset so you have to guard and protect that enthusiasm. Editing, picking apart the prose or showing it to house guests as you write could all destroy enthusiasm so I say write it all out before you do anything else.

Prior to writing it out is plot outlining, and bouncing the story off a few trusted individuals who write in the same genre. There is potential there to either increase enthusiasm or deflect you from wasting a lot of time writing something that has been done. If you ask people who read and write in the same genre, they are likely to not only have read widely in that genre but also to have thought about and extrapolated many of the common themes of that genre.

Either they will say something like: "That's excellent. I think lots of readers will love to hear about secret genetic research, it's a hot topic right now with the whole stem cell research thing, and you know, there is a chance to expand into a conspiracy theory if you link it to secret rich people organ transplant, and you can even touch on those urban myths about waking up in baths of ice if you want..." and wahoo suddenly your plot outline takes on another dimension (let's face it, novel plots need many dimensions and most of us only have a couple when we start out on a novel). Or they could say, "Isn't that really similar to that book "Organ Grinders" and I don't remember that doing so well." Then you get to quiz them on the plot outline of the similar book and ask them where they think it fell down, and even read it as background research so you don't repeat someone else's mediocrity (btw Organ Grinders is an excellent book, not at all mediocre - I don't know why it didn't do so well - altho I wish I knew).

I've seen people ask for plot outline feedback at various online groups. Plot outlines can't be copyrighted so if you think that there is a high chance a writer will discover your plot and be so enthused by it that they steal it and write it up better than you ever could, be a little guarded with your questions. It's true that it's impossible that two writers would ever write the same plot up the same way but it is also true that there's no room in the marketplace for two similar books at the same time.

I often bounce ideas off sf or children's writer friends face to face. Normally, I do it after I write the opening scene which is bizarre, but it makes the main character and the situation real to me, and after I have a few drinks. Helps with extrapolation.

Using this method, I always have to rewrite the opening scene when I've sorted out the plot, and sometimes I have to rewrite it from scratch. I have a lot of opening scenes that just don't turn into stories because I've realised at that stage that my idea was mediocre and it needs more: that other new element or a complete overhaul.

I've been thinking a lot lately, especially since a small company offered me a publishing deal on a novel that I just can't get completely satisfied with. What I really want more than a publishing deal on that novel is to write something awesome. Something that kids will pick up and go all word-of-mouth about like Lemony Snicket, or Artemis Fowl, or Eragon. That wow factor. That complex combination of fun, imagery, imagination, empathy, adventure that grabs most kids. Mind you, a nice fat biblio can't hurt especially if I ever write that word-of-mouth novel and need to convince a publisher to publish it.

Once the story is finished, I would suggest writing three short stories to take your mind off it, or get out and paint the house. Then haul it out again and self-edit before sending off to a crit group. Get out a whiteboard (or the side of the fridge) and write out a plot map at the self-edit stage too and see if it is all entirely logical (ie. does any character do something just to further the plot not because that is the logical thing for someone in his position to do?) Pick out the ideas and obvious flaws that resonate with you from the crit group (be selective) change it, and then, if you still think it has potential, send to a professional editor or, if you're confident that the story is not only the best it can be but also better than every other story in any slush pile anywhere and that the grammar is perfect, figure out which publishers do this size/genre/style and make a list from your favourite publisher down to your okay publisher and start mailing. Mail all at once if you want to, or if you think you should respect a publisher's wishes to have exclusive submissions (which you should do ONLY if their slushpile actually has a legitimate turnaround time - check at Duotrope because imho trust has to work BOTH ways) then give them a 2-3 week headstart.

Skip the agents if this is your first novel. Anyone who thinks earning 10% of a first novelist's earnings is a good idea is seriously dodgy. If a publishing company breaks even on a first novel, then it is a success. Give up any hope of making money from writing and you'll be better off.

Some writers hate plot outlines. These tend to be novelists who have the wordspace to ebb and flow and follow their natural instincts. They also know they won't be finished in under a year and that they will have to cut 20,000 words at least in the editing stage.

Short story writers and children's writers generally know the basics of the plot before they start writing. Often there is a twist at the end of short stories that has to be built up to. Not knowing that twist until you get there means going back and taking out accident red herrings, and inserting real ones with the actual clues and destroying the flow of the story. Short story writers like plot outlines even if they deviate from them vastly. And they should never feel hemmed in or stifled by a plot outline. Follow your natural instincts as you write and if it all turns to custard, you've lost nothing because you can always go back to the point at which you deviated from the plot outline and try a different direction.

SUMMARY - Get enthused - get a plot outline - get more enthused about it - write, write, write, and don't let anything interfere with your writing until after it's done, that's how you get started.



Hotel MacDibble Inmates: 4!
Projects of the Week: Tiling laundry
Critiqued this week: 0!
Reading this week: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Writing this week: Girly Chomp (a children's science fiction story about hitchhiking the galaxy)

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