On First Drafts

I'm slogging through my first draft of my latest WIP. First drafts always pose a challenge. This time I spent lots of time thinking through the plot and I even went so far as to do a basic outline of each chapter. Now I'm on chapter 11 and I realize my characters wouldn't react the way I had outlined.

Back to the drawing board or in my case the white board. The white board is the most helpful writing tool I have. Just sitting in front of it and ideas come pouring out of me. So that's this weekend's plan...even though its going to be gorgeous outside. Perhaps a little nature hike will also help unstick me. Its worth a try!

Agent for a Day

My query was picked for Nathan Bransford's Agent for a Day.
I will the first to admit it wasn't ready to go since it was a first draft (and a couple people caught that), but I couldn't turn down an opportunity to get some feedback.
And get feedback I did. A big thanks to everyone who left specific comments.

The biggest thing people didn't like was the sci-fi terminology. How much to include was (is) something I struggle with. I love it when authors just drop me into their worlds, but the query may not be the place to do that. Thoughts?

I'm back to work on it putting all the great advice to polish it up.

Getting stuck

You hear it all the time, when writing is working it rushes out our fingers onto the keyboard. When its not...its likely there is a problem. Identifying this problem is key to getting the story moving again.

Things that cause issues:

1. Not having done adequate research. This will always cause a hitch in your get-a-long.
   
2. Not really knowing your characters (see research)
3. Not really knowing (or following) your plot (see research)

In the first draft I'm a big fan of avoidance, I just jump to the next scene, chapter etc. There are drawbacks to this plan, but if I stop every time I have an issue, I'll never write the first draft. No first draft - no book.

Writing Madness

I'm working on my first book. This is the first time that I've stuck with writing a single story for any length of time. I'm not about to quit my day job, but since I invest far more time world building and pondering word choice, I think its time to give voice to my frustrations.