A Plot Curveball

When I woke up this morning, I assumed my day would follow a particular pattern. Breakfast, work, home, writing, running, and bed. Not that exciting, I know. But it's my life.

Only not all went according to plan. In fact, a big part of my usual routine is missing. Which is rather upsetting. Though people around me like to act like everything is totally normal and fine.

                                        

Though unexpected surprises pretty much stink in real life, they are gold in books.

Ever read a book where you can perfectly predict what will happen? In the YA craze of dysotopian books, I've found a formula that most of them fit. Prepare yourself, it's Earth-shattering.

Usually dysotopian books are a series, and this series makes up three books (aka a trilogy). Book one involves a girl who lives in a society run by a tyrannical government. She falls in love with Boy 1. In book two, the girl realizes that the government is corrupt, and it needs to be overthrown. Boy 2 is introduced as a potential romantic interest. Hello, love triangle! Finally, in book three, the government is taken over by the rebels and the girl must choose between Boy 1 or Boy 2. The end.

                                         

This formula has worked for a lot of popular series today. But sticking to the status quo? No, thanks. Reading a book where you can predict the ending is boring.

So add a dash of unexpected! Throw in a situation that will completely throw your reader. Have them get to the ending and be like "No way!" (A positive "no way," not the ending to Allegiant kind!).                                              

Which is a pretty good reaction to the end of a book, if I do say so myself.

Creative Death By Stupidity

I almost died Tuesday night.

Not literally, but creatively. Why, you ask? I almost lost my entire book. Entire book. All because of my stupidity.

Karma probably had something to do with it too. Spiteful thing.

I spent the majority of Tuesday working on my book... at work (shh!). My office's programs are all in the cloud. I didn't think this would be a problem, so I saved my book like normal to a USB I carry with me everywhere. 

Only when I got home, the document wouldn't open. In fact, this error message popped up.

After a fair amount of "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh" and "I'm going to die," I tried to think rationally. Maybe logging onto my office's cloud would allow me to open it. Only I didn't have the link to the log in website. Time to text a coworker. After a fair amount of taunting, he gave me the information I needed.

Hopeful, I tried opening my book again.

Same error message. There may have been tears and hysterical screaming at this point.

                                         

Then my sister came up with a genius idea that ended up saving my life. I opened my book through Word Pad, then copied and pasted everything into Microsoft Word. IT WORKED! 

                                             

...Except all my formatting is now screwed up. But I have my precious words back.

And you know what I did after this? Backed my book up on every technological piece of equipment I could get my hands on.

Which is what I should've done in the first place. So, my advice to you, wonderful readers, back everything (EVERYTHING!) up. You never know what might happen. And when it comes to your precious book?

It's always best to be prepared.

Plotting in Pants

Plotter or pantser, that is the question...

Okay, well I suppose the first question really is: What are plotters and pantsers?

Plotters are the prepared people in our world. They know exactly where they want their book to go and start the process by creating an outline. This all takes place before they even start writing.

                                   

Pantsers are a free spirited bunch, jumping in front of computer and working magic with their fingers. They've really no idea where the story is going to take them, but that's the fun of it! No plans, no destinations, just words, words, words!

                                       

Any of this sound familiar to you? Are you a pantser or a plotter? Or maybe you fall in the grey area in-between. I like to call this location Plotting in Pants (PiP).

As I've developed my writing, I've figured out the best method for me. In my first book (which I rarely mention to anyone out of sheer embarrassment), I was a hard core pantser. I wrote without a plan... And it was a disaster.

Albeit at this time I was learning how the whole writing thing worked. It was a dark period in my life where I thought adverbs were like salt on fries, to be used generously.

                                    

Not so much.

Because I know you're an understanding reader, I'll share the horrible first line of that book with you: "The bone-chilling water was absolutely excruciating." And what was my character doing? Jumping into a pool. An indoor pool. How cold could it seriously be? Not bone-chilling, for goodness' sake.

Ahem. Moving on.

So after that blunder, I thought I'd give plotting a go. For my next book, Bound, I plotted about half and then pants-ed (is that a word?) the rest. It went okay, but I wasn't entirely happy with the results.

Now for my third book, and current work in progress, I am making use of the my PiP method. I have outlined my entire book, only the outline isn't a prison, but more of a guide. I can't begin to tell you how helpful it's been when I've gotten stuck or forgotten where I want my story to go.

                                   

Which happens more often than I'd like to mention.

But, in the end, your writing process is entirely up to you. Different methods work for different people. As you grow and experience through creating your books, you'll find the right groove.

                                  

The important thing, as always, is to write.

Escape & A Cold Dish

Ever have one of those days?

Work stunk; your boss could care less about your ideas. Traffic jammed, and you had somewhere important to be. Maybe you didn't do so well on that test, though you knew an "A" was in your future...

                                           

Yep, those moments that are oh-so-often a part of life. And sometimes?

Well, sometimes, you need to ditch reality for awhile, N'Sync style.

                              

Everyone has different methods of escaping. My personal favorite is ice cream and a movie. Or a bag a of chips and a good book. Okay, okay. Just junk food in general.

But as writers, we have one of the awesome, "suck it, you jerk!" escapes.

                            

Annoying people in your life? That one event from high school you can't get over? Weave it into your story! This is where writers get to use the following disclaimer:

"This is a work of fiction. All characters in this novel are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental."

Read that? Entirely coincidental. Run with it.

                             

Just don't choke on your maniacal laughter. ;)

Woops... I Forgot

While I was getting ready for work this morning, my sister, clad in PJs and sporting adorable bed head, whipped out her phone and declared, "You were talking in your sleep last night, and I wrote it down."

 
Apparently (though I will always deny it), I am a notorious sleep-talker. After sharing a room with me for seven months, my sister has finally caught on to this. And now, whenever I make the slightest mumble, she jots it down as a note in her iPhone.

Last night I said the following, "Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness! They really wrote on the basement walls, didn't they!?"

Cinderella sure got her song wrong. I don't want anyone writing on any walls. Especially not basement ones with who-knows-what. Yes, my mind immediately went to blood. I'm a pessimist with a dark imagination, so what?

                              

Dreams are crazy things. Scientists still aren't quite sure why or how we dream. But we do. And dreams hold excellent ideas for writing a book.

In fact, my current WIP? You know, the twist on "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"?

It all started from a dream. Not that the dream necessarily had anything to do with Wonderland. But it did have to do with crossing worlds and a debonair young man. Vampires and soul-stealers were also involved. Thankfully the idea went through quite a metamorphosis during plotting!

This isn't the only dream I've had that I thought would make a good book. Only, with most dreams, I forgot what they were about. Or, while daydreaming, I've thought up a great dialog line. But then started doing actual thinking and lost it. Even after I swore I was going to remember it. Five minutes later? Nothing.

Ever happen to you?

There is one cure: a journal. Whether it be a physical journal or an app on a smart phone... INVEST! Keep it close to you at nighttime to write dreams down. Carry it in your purse (or guys... a pocket, maybe?) to pull out when inspiration strikes.

So invest the $1.99 (or if you're feeling fancy, a bit more). It's immeasurably worth it.