Hello,
gentle readers!
I so admire authors who can write a story from beginning
to end without stopping or editing as they go. They save all that once they
finish their first, rough draft.
I have never been able to do this. I am constantly
going back to what I’ve already written, tweaking, changing words or sentences
or…gasp…whole pages! However, when I’m done with a chapter, I’m pretty much
done. I’m not a pantster (an author who writes by the seat of their pants). I’m
not a plotter. I don’t meticulously outline my entire story although I do have
plot points…things I want to have happen but they’re not in any particular
order.
What I am…is a puzzler. I write scenes as they come
to me then kinda puzzle it all together. This works for me. Not sure why.
As a puzzler, I never know when a scene will come
to mind. Or dialogue. Or another plot point that needs to be made and I’m
fortunate that I can write anywhere. Noise doesn’t bother me. Neither does movement out of the corner of my
eye. Once I’m writing, I can pretty much ignore everything.
So…I make provisions for that. I carry notebooks in
my purse and I always, always have multiple tablets available. I prefer
colored, lined paper. Currently, I have yellow, blue, purple and pink. I also
have some writing tablets that are multicolored (on the same page) and some
that have little designs on them. I like colored ink, too, but mostly, I write
with a mechanical pencil. I don’t use the eraser….takes too much time. I simply
cross out and keep going. I use a lot of arrows, too, because one thought
begets another thought, but it may not be where it needs to be. I’ll also write
up the side of the page (in the margin).
Here’s an example. This page was written while I
was in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles, waiting to have my car
emissions tested! Admittedly, the technician looked at me strangely, probably
because I was mumbling to myself as I wrote…and laughing a little bit, too. I'm not crazy...I swear!
Marie
No comments:
Post a Comment