Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Ask and you shall receive...

I guess it's going to get a little quiet around my blogosphere haunts for a little while, what with everyone going to Atlanta for the RWA Conference. So, maybe I'll use that time to find some worthwhile new blogs. Or maybe I'll just get some work done...

Before I start on my topic of the day, first let me say CONGRATULATIONS to Sophie Jordan, debut author of Once Upon a Wedding Night! Today is the official release date for her book, and let me tell you, it's worth every penny. I was lucky enough to get an advanced reader copy, and have posted my review on Amazon and B&N.com. Go pick it up!

Well, yesterday I posted on plotting as it relates to a book's overall theme. And today I was going to blog about critique partners, but there have been some exciting new developments for me. I was reading Diana P's blog and saw the picture she posted of herself in front of a post-it covered storyboard. Well I'd intended to whip one of those up once upon a time, but never really committed myself. Now...with the help of some generous commentators on Diana's blog, a follow-up post by Diana herself, and an article on Roxanne St. Claire's site, it all makes such beautiful sense. This way, I won't need to worry about getting caught up in the main storyline and leaving little bits of minor plot lines stringing along. I'll now be able to see visually--in a colorful frenzy of post-it's--where I need to beef things up.

I'm also going to borrow another tip from Ms. St. Claire. She writes that she's not a big pre-plotter (much like myself), so she makes a list of things that must happen in the course of the book. She puts each one on a post-it and carefully places the ones happening early in the book and scatters the rest of them, shifting things around as she writes. Just like the tag-line, query letter, and back-cover blurb, I think this task will help me insure that I have everything lined up to write my story with fewer revisions.

A girl can hope.

2 comments:

Allison Winn Scotch said...

Alyssa-I thought DP's post was really helpful too. I don't use a board so much as a diagram of notes, but I think how she explained it was great and totally helpful. I'm thinking of trying it in hopes that it might motivate me to get writing again! :)

Alyssa Goodnight said...

Hi Allison,
Isn't it funny how you can get so excited over those little projects that are going to (most definitely!) help you improve your writing.

I went to Walmart Monday, shopping for my son's school supplies. Now I'll have to go back for my own set of supplies...