Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Pre writing and picking up where I left off

I'm sort of between projects right now...

Waiting for editor comments on a couple of nonfiction work-for-hire projects.  Still querying (and waiting on a couple fulls and partials) my YA contemporary realistic.  I find myself not having a writing project this morning for the first time in months.  Huh?

So I pulled out the beginning of a snowflake for the new wip I started last spring.  I honestly don't remember getting so far on it!  And you know what?  It's not bad.  I might even have something to work with.

But here's the thing: having worked on nonfic so much this summer, I've got a different perspective.  I really liked having an outline.  It gave me something to work with.  I knew the general direction I was going.  One of my crit partners swears by "pre-writing" -- something I've never really done before in my fiction.  I've started a snowflake, but haven't really used it to the fullest potential.

I think I might give myself permission NOT to write on this glorious perfect-for-writing day.  I might try thinking about the story.  The characters.  Their motivation.  Their back story.  I know I have some charts around here somewhere...

How much pre-writing do you do?



 


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Switching from non-fiction to fiction would be a little jarring at first but not for long. I think you will enjoy the change, good luck:)

Laura Pauling said...

What great perspective the nonfiction projects gave you! Take advantage of the time! I used more of the snowflake this time around then I have before and I'm glad I did. Have fun!

Tina Laurel Lee said...

Hey, I have a kind of unrelated question. What does your critique group submit to each other when you are pre-writing or working on other projects? Just curious how it works.

Julie Musil said...

How nice to have time to let your mind wander for a bit. That will certainly help you!

Nonfiction, I outline.

Fiction, I do a loose outline. I need to have at least a general idea of where I'm going. I do the snowflake for the first few steps, mostly for character development.

I have a question for you. I'll DM you on Twitter.

Cindy R. Wilson said...

I've never written non-fiction but I always outline and plot for fiction.

It's pretty extensive, including a character sketch for each of the characters and a little outline for the secondary characters. I also do research and write a chapter by chapter outline, including scene by scene within each chapter. Works for me and I haven't written a story another way since I started plotting.