Blogiversary Winners & Writing Flexibility
Yay! I’m back from my vacation break, and I want to give a humongous shout out to all my guest bloggers: Rachel, Tamar, Rhoda, and Amy. (And a bonus shout out to Kerry, who filled in ahead of time to give me a chance to pack.) Weren’t they fantastic?
I also want to thank all of you for helping spread the word about their posts. I didn’t get to thank people for tweets and mentions like I usually try to do since my internet access was spotty at best, but I greatly appreciate everyone’s involvement. I hope the posts were helpful for you!
The winners of my blogiversary contest are announced below, and as of this past Sunday, I officially passed my five year blogiversary. Holy cow. Five years. *boggles*
Given that for most of my life I’ve been rather…um, flighty? in my interests, five years doing anything is serious business for me. I’m the kind of person who changed her college major before freshman year even started. Who enjoyed changing jobs every year (or even every couple of weeks). Who moved even more frequently.
So to stick with something for five years? This writing thing must be love. *smile*
Are You a Pantser or a Plotter in Real Life?
I’ve often mentioned that I’m a pantser, writing by the seat of my pants. Yet in normal life, I’m a planner/plotter to the extreme. That can be good or bad.
Even when we think we know how things should work, life happens. Plans can change. And sometimes adjusting to those changes can be difficult.
If you saw my post on Facebook, you know this vacation didn’t quite go as planned. My family met up with my parents and my brother and his family, and 10 of the 11 of us promptly started sharing germs, and we all felt sick much of the time.
(Tangent: I’ve had several people ask for an update on my brother. If you weren’t around last October, my brother had brain surgery to remove a tumor. His biggest challenges post-surgery were balance issues and facial paralysis from nerve damage. The paralysis is minor now, and he did one of those rope climbing obstacle courses on this trip, so his balance is much improved too. Yay!)
Regardless of our illnesses, we all decided the show must go on. (I get my stubbornness—er, determination from somewhere, after all.) And we’re not a chilling-on-the-beach-or-in-a-mountain-cabin family. If we don’t need a vacation to recover from our vacation, we think we’re doing it wrong. *grin*
The “Dangers” of Making Plans
We still managed to visit and do everything on our packed to-do list by cutting back…a little. Rather than spending all day at the water park, we spent a few hours. Rather than doing All. The. Things. at the museum, we hit only the highlights. Etc.
This “determination” is why outlining or plotting out a story doesn’t work for me. If something is planned, I’m going to make sure it happens. No matter what.
On my sickest day, I still went on a 2 mile hike with an elevation change of 700+ feet. Going on this hike to a waterfall was on “the list,” and I wasn’t going to let congestion and a fever hold me back, gosh darn it.
(Why yes, as a matter of fact, I do qualify as a “Too Stupid To Live” heroine sometimes. *smile*)
That personality trait is why, despite my love of story structure and beat sheets, I don’t write down my writing ideas or plans in advance. Determination is good, but strict adherence to The Plan (TM) can get in the way of a great story.
Writing Requires Flexibility
Others with similar personality traits can find themselves paralyzed by the thought of needing to get their first draft “right.” They’ve read all the advice about what to include in the first page, first scene, first chapter. They know what’s needed to hook a reader.
And they want to make sure they have all that in place from the get-go. They don’t want to get their draft “wrong.”
That’s crazy-making, however. A draft is just a draft. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It won’t be perfect.
A draft—a first draft especially—is a tool to help us discover the story we want to tell, the characters we want to meet, and the themes we want to explore. That’s it.
We might end up with something close, or we might not. We hope we get closer with each successive draft.
But especially when we’re first starting as writers, our first draft might not be as close to done or perfect or matching-the-story-in-our-head as we want. It won’t be perfect, and that’s okay. That’s what revisions and editing are for. *smile*
Writing Drafts Are Not the Final Word
It’s because of this truth about writing that I’m disheartened by the marketing and buzz surrounding Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman. It’s being marketed as a “sequel” to To Kill a Mockingbird, and the buzz is making it sound like it’s revealing the “truth” about the character of Atticus.
However, the real truth is that this manuscript is an early draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s Harper Lee’s first stab at the premise of exploring racism in the South.
It’s certainly not a sequel. And the characters within this early draft are certainly not more “true” than those within the final draft that was published decades ago.
Those issues don’t even touch the question of whether Harper Lee really wanted this manuscript published at all. We have the word only of those who stand to profit from its release, and their claims of Harper Lee’s mental and physical ability to consent don’t match those of some of her longtime friends.
Writing that Changes for the Better Is a Success
Just last month, I completed a revision of a story that completely changed the motivations of a main character in the big climax ending. These were not minor changes.
The character changed from near-suicidal to fighting her fate. I made those changes for a reason.
I would be furious if someone found a copy of that earlier draft and declared it to be “true.” To expose the “real” character. To, in fact, supersede the final draft.
I, for one, won’t be reading Go Set a Watchman. Or if I do, I’ll be looking at it as the early draft that it is, and I’ll marvel at the power of revising and editing to change a story for the better. After all, Harper Lee received feedback and revision suggestions just as we all do, and given the success and literary accolades of To Kill a Mockingbird, I don’t think anyone can argue that her editor misled her about how to make a great story.
The differences between the stories emphasize how much our plans can change and adapt if we let them. As well as how much we don’t have to get things right or perfect—or even close—on our first draft. *smile*
Blogiversary Contest Winners
And now, the part you’ve all really been waiting for… Here are the winners of my Fifth Annual Blogiversary Contest:
And call me a softy, but we were so close to adding another winner that I went ahead and picked a bonus winner too. I wish random.org would have let me pick you all. *smile*
Bonus Winner: Glynis Jolly
Congratulations to you all! You should receive an email from me within the next day, so start thinking about what prize you want.
Did you have a favorite of the guest posts I ran? Are you a pantser or a plotter in real life? Why does that work better for you? Are there any aspects of that approach that don’t work for you? Have you ever significantly changed a story from draft to final? What do you think about the Go Set a Watchman controversy?
Pin It
Congrats again on the blogiversary, Jami! And I just want to say THANK YOU for sharing your take on Go Set A Watchman. To Kill A Mockingbird has been one of my favorite books since I was 12 and when they first announced this “long lost” book, I was so worried it wouldn’t live up to expectations. With everything that has happened since, the origin questions, the doubt of consent, and the revelations about our beloved characters, I feel like my heart is breaking (melodramatic, possibly, but just shows how much this book has touched its readers). Like you, I doubt I will read GSAW, but if I do, I will remember that this was a DRAFT and try not to let it effect how I remember my old friends.
Hi Kate,
Thanks for the congrats! As for TKaM and GSaW, I can be a bit distant because TKaM didn’t make a huge impression on me when I was young, but things look squicky even from this distance. So I can only imagine how those who love the story must feel. 🙁 Thanks for the comment!
Hey Jami! I’m glad that your brother got a lot better from his paralysis now. 🙂 I wish him a speedy full recovery! As for your question on pantsing vs planning, I’m a complete pantser in my writing, and even in my real life, I’m pretty much a pantser everywhere unless I’m forced by necessity to plan or I see that planning will get me better results (e.g. be more productive) than not planning. But other than that, I’m someone who prefers to “wing it” or to “think of a solution in the moment”, lol! And I find change in life really exciting and fun; I love how most of the things that happen to me in life are things that I would never have imagined would happen to me! Yes, I admit I’m thinking about the miracles and great positive events in this case, haha, but it still is very cool. You know what? I was actually quite surprised when my pastor said to us in our fellowship, that “not being able to predict what will happen everyday/ life’s unpredictable changes can be scary”. Because I thought life’s changes are very exciting, not scary, and I would be so bored if it was so predictable, lol! And I am admittedly quite a happy-go-lucky person, so I like and enjoy being flexible, adapting to things, and dealing with problems as they come rather than worrying about them years before they happen (I still worry, but much less than I did… — Read More »
Hi Serena,
I’ve mellowed a bit as I’ve gotten older, in that I still prefer to plan things in real life, but I don’t panic if things aren’t as planned. Like for this trip, I planned one week and my sis-in-law planned the other, and I was okay with not knowing the details for that second week. 🙂 I know that doesn’t seem like much, but it’s progress for me. LOL! Thanks for the comment!
Lol! Yeah that reminds me of group projects, where when I was younger, I wouldn’t feel comfortable entrusting tasks to teammates and prefer to do it all myself. But now I feel more comfortable about trusting teammates to do it “properly”, lol. So I guess I was a bit of a control freak on that aspect at that age, haha. (I’m not saying that you are a control freak, I’m saying that I was, lol.) But just to clarify in case others read my comment; even though I’m such a pantser (lol), I have nothing against planning! I understand that my non-planning attitudes may drive some people crazy, lol, and I understand that having a plan can give structure to what we do, and save much time from my pantser-ly wandering! Often, I think: aw, I should have planned this out instead of just leaping into it; I would have gotten more done or done this more effectively /efficiently! So I definitely see the disadvantages of pantsing and the advantages of planning in life. ^_^ P.S. The reason why I’m being extra careful in clarifying here, is because I just saw a thread on the Writer’s Group Facebook page, where people are lashing out at each other, probably because they interpreted some comments in the worst way. :/ I completely understand why they would be upset, but I don’t think the original commenter meant to offend or insult anyone…Or maybe I’m just optimistic, lol. But it’s easy to misunderstand messages… — Read More »
Hi Serena,
Oh, don’t get me started about group projects. LOL! (And yes, I can be a control freak, but I’m getting much better. 😉 )
Yikes! Yeah, I’m an adamant pantser and tend to roll my eyes at those who think plotting is the end-all-be-all, but even I don’t get the “war.” I really roll my eyes at that. 😀 Thanks for the comment!
LOL! Yeah, though I say I’m a lot more comfortable relying on teammates on group projects now, I still prefer to work alone too, haha. Speaking of, have you ever considered co-authoring a book with anyone, or has anyone asked if you were interested in co-authoring a novel with them? I had two friends ask me that, though it was more like asking me to be their ghostwriter since it would be their core idea but I do the writing. At first, I thought it would be cool, so I said yes, but sometime later on, I realized that I didn’t have enough time to manage my own projects, let alone other people’s, lol, so I politely told him that and suggested he find someone else, but thankfully he was okay with my final refusal. 😀 Thus, when my second friend asked me about a similar collaboration project, I learned my lesson already and said no from the start, because of my lack of time–politely, of course–but he was understanding about it, so all was good. The other reason why I don’t want to collaborate with anyone on novels, is that I’m, uh, very possessive of my stories, haha! So I want to have “full ownership” of the stories I write; not sure if this possessive urge makes sense, but hopefully it does! And as a pantser, I want complete freedom even from the start, right? So I don’t want to follow anybody’s rules, even if their rules are really… — Read More »
Hi Serena,
I’ve never considered co-authoring a fiction book, probably for similar reasons to you. I don’t know that my process would work well with someone else’s process. I know one writing team that’s made up of a pantser and a plotter, and I can’t imagine how that works. LOL!
A non-fiction book would be different. Although I tend to pants my blog posts too, that’s mainly because I often don’t have ideas in advance and have to discover my point while I’m writing. 😉 A non-fiction book would have a purpose, point, and structure ahead of time, so it would be easier to collaborate, I think.
Like you, I’m too busy with my own ideas to think about ghostwriting for someone else as well. I know people who have done it (one of my guest posters got her start as a ghostwriter), and I think it depends on what path we see for our career growth.
That’s an interesting point about preachy or flashback sections. As you noted, I think it comes down to whether we can make something feel relevant for the reader. For you, those preachy sections felt relevant because they made you think, and the flashback sections felt relevant to the story. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Glad you at least arrived and got back from your trip okay, Jami. First, congratulations to all the winners, I meant to enter again, but life happens, I won last year, but I’m waiting for the right time to send you a piece of my WIP when it’s not crazy rough… Did you have a favorite of the guest posts I ran? The ones I loved most were the recent ones with Amy about audiobooks and the one with Rhoda about writing humor. Are you a pantser or a plotter in real life? I’m a little uncomfortable describing myself as a “panster” only because I associate that choice of words with sexuality (and no, I’m not just saying that because you read/write romance, LOL) but yes I tend to like to be laid back whenever possible. That said, it doesn’t mean I’m not overflowing with details, whether we’re talking writing and something else I’m trying to get better a planning without being OCD about it, because that doesn’t serve me, but having been raised by a grandmother who INSISTS on planning, I don’t get much chance to be “spontaneous” and sometimes I just want to do something spur of the moment. Why does that work better for you? Because I’m too OCD about my planning, I’ll either get overconfident and try to do too much in a day, and while I’m not as punctual as I’d like to be in various areas, I’d hate the alternative being I’m not doing… — Read More »
Hi Taurean,
I’m glad you enjoyed the guest posts! I think they all did a fantastic job (but I’m biased 😉 ).
The phrase “laid back” works for me too, especially when talking about “pantsing” in real life. 🙂 I think part of my issue is that I don’t always deal with unexpected things (especially bad things) very well, so being overly prepared (even if plans get tweaked) gives me a sense of control over situations. I do better if I have heads up on what might happen or go wrong or need to be tweaked. LOL! When I feel “prepared,” I’m better about being laid back about the specifics. That seems counter-intuitive, but that’s helped me avoid OCD/perfectionism is real life.
LOL! Yeah, I know what you mean about at least something is upstaging FSOG for a while. 😀 I just hope that we’re still able to look at TKaM on its own, without having to analyze it within the context of GSaW all the time. Thanks for the comment!
Pantser with the writing, planner in real life. Definitely. We can’t just go someplace without knowing what we’re going to do when we get there. We have to be sure we have enough money to do it. In regards to the book, like Taurean, I’ve never read To Kill A Mockingbird. Shockingly, it wasn’t required reading when I was in high school. It might’ve been in college. If I’d stayed the first time around to complete my English degree. LOL. And I totally agree about the publishing industry FINALLY having something worthy literature to talk about. LOL.
Hi Evolet,
Very true! How can we know whether our idea will work unless we know some of the details, right? 😉
I don’t think TKaM was required reading for me either, and honestly, I’m not sure if I’ve read the whole thing. LOL! But as I said to Kate, even though I feel “distant” from the story, I still have this squicky feeling about GSaW. Thanks for the comment!
Congrats! I’ve been writing for almost four years. This is one of the few things I’ve stuck with long-term, too. I guess I finally figured out what I wanted to do when I grew up.
Hi Laurie,
LOL! Yep, that’s how I think of it too. It just took me several decades to figure it out. 😉 Thanks for the congrats!
Thanks again for having me as your guest! Sounds like an adventurous vacation you had. 😉
And big congrats to the winners of the Blogiversary contest!
Hi Tamar,
Thank you again! I’m so honored to have been able to host you. 😀
Thank you so much, Jami! The last time I won something was when I was 9 years old.
I’m usually a plotter in life, although most my most memorable moments have been when I’ve flown by the seat of my pants. I’m over the halfway mark on my first novel. Of course, this is just the first draft too. It took me what seems like forever to get it through my thick head that this draft could change in many ways before I even consider giving it to a professional editor. Once that happened though, about a third of the anxiety I had vanished.
Jami, thank you for all the support you’ve given me and I hope you’ll continue to do so. It’s marvelous to have a learned friend.
Request: Could you go into more detail on a post about how the beats really work. Although I’m now a plotter – pantser, making summary outlines of my scenes before actually writing them, I’d like to go a little farther with the plotting if I can get a better grip on how it works.
Hi Glynis,
Yay! I’m so glad. 😀 I’m sending out an email (and we’ll talk about what questions you have too).
Congratulations on your Blogiversary, and to your lucky winners. 🙂 It was wonderful for you to give such a gift.
Hmm… I like pretty much every post you make, so I don’t even know where I’d start picking a favorite. You cover topics relevant to me, and you cover them well.
I’m a plotter who then pantses the first draft? I loosely plot it out down to the main goals of each scene but not closer than that, and then when I start writing the relationships and group dynamics are pantsed, and my draft may… we’ll just say, wander. 😉
Hi Addy,
LOL! I can relate to that writing style. On my current WIP, I’m stalled because my brain wants to do one thing (what it thought would happen), and my muse is leading in a different direction. *sigh* Thanks for the comment!
I reviewed Treasured Claim under my real name. Great book.
Question: For the pre-orders (pure-sacrifice), do you get more cash if I begin clicking from your web-site here or from Amazon/kindle?
Is the same generally true if one begins at an author’s site (more) or from Kindle for most books?
Obviously, I want authors to get as much of the payments as possible. Self-serving. Keeping you guys writing keeps me reading. Jon
Hi Jon,
Aww, thanks! 😀
To answer your question, the links from my site or from the back of my books are typically affiliate links (for Amazon, anyway), so there’s a few extra cents there. But really, any author is going to be happy for a sale and not worry too much about what link readers come from. 🙂
The bigger difference is often what vendor readers purchase the book through. For example, I make more from Amazon sales than from Apple sales, etc. But those specifics can change from author to author (how they list their book, the price of the book, etc.), so there’s no set “the author makes more money when…” type of guideline that will apply to all authors in all cases. Thanks for the thought though! And again, any author will appreciate sales from any source, especially when they’re followed by reviews! 😀
Oh WOW! Thank you, Jami! I’m off to review the list again, and will let you know as soon as I decide. I sent you an email with more details, but I’m going to allow myself time to delight in all the possibilities.
As for today’s questions, I’m mostly a plan-tster. I tend to have an overarching idea represented by a physical image–a picture my nephew drew for my first manuscript and a photograph I took for the second. For the story I’m drafting out now, the image is of a physical place held in my memory banks. The image represents the entire story arc to me–but the getting there will definitely surprise me.
Thanks again!
Hi Crystal,
Yay! 🙂
And I can relate to that process. For most of my stories, I might have an image or dialogue line or scene snippet that represents the whole story in my head. Some call it the story seed. 🙂
For me, I can change many aspects of the story during revision, but that one piece has to stay the same, or it no longer feels like the story I wanted to tell. Interesting! Thanks for sharing!
[…] story during my vacation in July, as that was supposed to be my one break from editing. But when my whole extended family got sick during that trip, the extended-dance-remix version of my plan to continue the daisy-chain plan with […]