Brilliance in the night tugs at the back of my mind.

Well, we should not say brilliance exactly. Perhaps, awareness of stupidity would be more appropriate.

For all intents and purposes, after dozens of edits by me and three edits by two very intelligent, english oriented people, including a sixth grade teacher, I sent out my query, etc to my first agent.

Did you ever go back and have this sinking feeling? Darn, how did that get into the first page? I found a grammar error in the query and a book error in the first page of the book. What??? Do gremlins come in the night and change your words??? How did that get there?

I decided I better go through one more read, yet again, for errors. Then, in the middle of the night I woke up with the realization that I had to change my ending.

I've had this nagging thought that I was doing a "Oh and then the magic fairy whipped in and solved the problem." It was not exactly the major plot but it should have been.

So, now I shall go through, one more time out of a zillion, and do several things: make a definitive list of curriculum references, check for those gremlin errors, and make sure that my plot is resolved by my protagonist and not by any pesky fairies.

But first, I'm going to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving, with turkey or with vegetables. It's the friendship that counts.

Everyone has their own method of working

I would never get a book done if I hand wrote it, but everyone works in different ways. Everything about my book is on the computer: research, notes, manuscript, everything. My brain is jumping around so much that my 100+wpm typing can barely keep up. I love Word and the fact that it has a neat comments feature that allows me to share what I have written with my oldest daughter, who adds extremely invaluable comments.

All Middle Grade/Young Adult writers should have a teacher mentor. My daughter teaches math and science to sixth grade advanced students. She is also a writer and loves to read. Sorry, she is all mine. I cannot share my mentor.

The second thing you should have is a folder for Writing It and for Writing After. That is what I have labeled my two invaluable files of information. The first, Writing it, is articles and information to help me with plotting and all aspects of writing. The second, Writing After, is for all the things I need to do right, to successfully submit. my manuscript.

I do not wait until I am ready to write the synopsis or a query letter and then go searching for ‘how best to’ articles. I read and save information, I feel will be helpful for me in the future, when I need a break and am trolling writer’s sites, etc on the Internet.

And, the future is now!!! I have finished my outlines and am onto my synopsis.

I have kept a chart of what I felt were the things I needed to track for each chapter as I did my final twenty-something edits. In going through the “how to outline” folder though, I have found out that I saved a lot of stuff I did not need. So, first, I redid my chart.


I used a two column chart in MS Word. Above it, I have the chapter #, chapter title and the pages it covers. I.e. Chapter 3 – The Tunnel – pp. 17 to 25. Each chapter has its own chart so that I can print them out without breaks in a chart.

The first line of the chart gives the date it takes place and the conditions, or information about place. Since my fantasy has a lot of nature and outdoor locations, I put weather conditions in here, phases of the moon, etc.

Line two is titled Action, and it contains what happens in that chapter

Line three is Protagonist Development and details what is he anxious/fearful, etc about.

Line four is the characters that are in, or mentioned in, that chapter.

Line five is for key lines.

Line six is specifically for Foreshadowing. Since I am working on book one of a series, some foreshadowing is for future books and will say “Book 4” at end to remind me what book they will foreshadow. Some foreshadowing is for this book and I go back and run a line through it when I have completed the items foreshadowed.

The reason I settled on this is that it covers the items agents/editors want to see in a synopsis: Character, Motivation, Key Scenes, Character's blackest moments, resolution.

Next, I went from this chart outline to a chapter outline, where those notes are now in word form. i.e. “The brothers escape into a tunnel with Fergus MacDonald etc…” It is a dry outline and not for submitting to anyone. It is purely a “this is what happened.” From that dry outline, with its seven lines or less per chapter, I have created a two page short outline.

This outline is also not for submitting but is for following the Plot and Subplots to their conclusion. I have worded it a bit closer to what I would show an agent or editor but it still needs a lot of work to become a synopsis, but that is where I am heading right now. See you in a day or two.

And, if you are having trouble, keep trying until you find your own way.

Submitting my novel to Master's Daughter

I am one third of the way through my line edit. Since the first chapter has been edited a gazillion times, and the last two chapters are not complete, it will get slower as I go. I thought though that you might like to see my instructions to Master’s Daughter, who is doing an edit of my book. She is a teacher, mother of three (four, counting her bear of a husband), and a knitter with a busy life. I decided to send her installments so she can edit them at her leisure and not open her email and go, “OH NO!!” She did know it was coming eventually.

Dear loving and patient daughter, who is doing me an enormous favor:

I am attaching my completed chapters 1 through 7.

I am basically doing my final edit (till the very last two chapters) and have completed the attached, so rather than flooding you will all of it at once, I thought submitting it in installments might be better.

Believe me, I know you are busy and this is low on your list. So, don't panic. "Oh, no. I have to grade papers, feed children, knit, enjoy life and here's this thing." Don't worry. Just grab it when you are in the mood.

Mainly, I need checks on punctuation, grammar, tense, etc.
Second, IF YOU WANT, mark up anything else that needs help.

I want honesty. Total honesty. Because if you think it's crap, and you have read a lot of sixth grade novels, then there is a good chance editors/agents will agree. I would rather turn around and start something new and "hopefully not crap", or fix this (if there are just minor problems) than waste time on something that is going nowhere. I will not be heartbroken, perhaps bent a bit, but not broken.

One thing they say is , it is good to have editors put their first gut feeling in places that are either like "Wow, awesome scene." "Really tense" "Boring and slow" "What the hell is this about?" "Don't understand" "You are the second coming of ***" or "Go take a course in advertising copy. Maybe you can write that."

If you catch anything wrong, please mark it. Like not wrapping up plot points or "What the heck is the Plot supposed to be."

Love you.
Mom

Missing Plot Points

The sound you hear is me pulling my hair out. I have just discovered that I missed two steps in the 12-point plot. I was scrolling down and highlighting each of the steps, just because it is easier to do banal things like, highlighting all the plot points rather than writing that last chapter, when I discovered I had a huge block of my favorite chart without any plot points.

That doesn’t seem right?
Scroll up, scroll down, and, sure enough, right between 5. Protagonist engages, and 8. Point of no return-even, Is—nothing. Well, not quite. There are lots of scenes there but no plot point. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Stay tuned to see if the plot points fit without rewriting.

Keeping track of facts in your novel

I am an organizer. You would not believe it if you visited me right now, but in my working environment, I want everything in it's place and, I want the elements of working on my novel to be organized so I can go right to what file I need, when I need it, to check a fact. I have created files and charts, by the dozens, in an effort to find a method that works.

Now, I'm in what is turning out to be my second, but not last, final edit of my young adult novel. In looking for more reassurance on plotting (I have a fear of plotting that transcends all rationality), I have found Beverly Brandt's 12 steps to Plotting; which I highly recommend. http://www.beverlybrandt.com/spreadsheet.htm and which I will go over, as how it pertains to me, in a future post.

Beverly Brandt got me thinking about this whole spread sheet thing as a way to organize my novel. I now have a six column chart, in MS Word, that is my salvation to organization. I do realize that a spreadsheet might actually make more sense, but my comfort zone is in word processing. I would not even begin to try to count how many files and charts I have started and found too cumbersome to track my work. But, this one does what I need, at this time.

Column one is for Scene: I put the chapter number/the scene number (that would be 2/13 - as in chapter 2/scene 13, then the chapter title and the page the scene starts on. Because. I am focusing on scene, in this edit, to ensure that every scene has a purpose, knowing what page a scene starts on is a real time saver.

Column two is for the date and day this scene takes place. A word here about scene: It takes place in one location, in one time. So, when the day ends, you move on to another scene. When they change locations, you move on to another scene. It's just life-little chunks of life on paper. And, in creating this chart, I have found dates out of order and even foggy winter breathing in July.

Column three is for Plot Category: is it part of your main plot or a sub-plot and which one?

Column four is for Scene Description. At 60,000 words plus, I need reminders.

Column five is for Purpose of the scene. It MUST have a purpose. Today, I cut out a scene I really wanted but, in examining it, it served no purpose.

Column six is for things I have to follow-up on: foreshadowing, explaining, don't forget to wrap all those lose ends up. As I am nearing the end of the book, I am going back and striking out those things that are wrapped up.

AND, I have also added a row every time I have hit one of Beverly's twelve Plot Points. I was proud to be right on until Plot Point 9, when I had to add to a scene to hit that point. It has made the book much better, and now I'm back on track. YIPEEE!

This chart has been a great help to my not-so final edit. It takes a lot of the fear of failure out of the equation when you are able to see that it is all coming together

The Truth of Plotting

Plotting can strike terror in a writer’s heart. It is one factor that kept my Mystery from being sent out into the world. I knew something was wrong but, no matter how many books I read, I just could not quite figure out if I was doing it right or not.

It is estimated there are only twenty plots, yet plotting can be one of the most difficult concepts for a writer to deal with. In my not-so final, final edit, of my YA novel, I am using Beverly Brandt’s 12 step plot. See: ttp://www.beverlybrandt.com/spreadsheet.htm.

Somehow, I have apparently absorbed more about plotting than I knew, as my plot was dead on until I got to Plot step 9, which is when the worse thing happens to your character. It has to shake up his world and cause him to feel like he will never recover. I have a feeling, when I go back and review my Mystery, that this will be the same spot I bogged down in it. It was an easy fix because I did have things happening, I just needed to up the stakes.

Another article I have found helpful is by Kathye Quick on AuthorsDen. Plotting the Romance Novel (article) by Kathye Quick on AuthorsDen. Kathye points out that Plot is not an object. It is a concept that "touches every word we write". It actually organizes our writing. This is a great article, so take a look.

I highly recommend you stop on over to Beverly Brandt's site, as well as read Kathye Quick's on AuthorsDen. It doesn't matter what type of fiction you work on, Plot is still Plot.