I am not the best planner. Oh, I can be, don't get me wrong. I can have notes, and lists of things to accomplish. Actually I work really well with lists, in the real world. Well, mostly. Sometimes I still get away from them and do other things.
In the creative world not so much. I like to have a goal to work towards, but I find that if I have things too set in stone, I lose some creativity along the way.
I am working on my organization skills during writing though. You'd be proud. And I think it has helped my writing. Its a lot easier for me to concentrate on tiny chunks of my story rather then the entire thing. I have started using a program called Scrivener and I absolutely love it. Its very creativity orientated and helps me organize my thoughts in a way that works well for my specific writing style!
Ideally I'd like to get to the point where my brain can come up with things exactly when I want them, but right now, in my life, thats not how things work.
Today I sat in front of my computer willing the words to come to me for two hours. Do you think my brain was kind enough to cut me a break? Nope. It was an asshole today.
The thing is, I know where I want to go with my story, I know what my plot twists are. I just don't know how to get there. And its the most frustrating thing in the world.
So, needing a break, but not wanting leisure time, I fired up my Kindle to see what kind of books I had archived on writing.
*Side note: I have a bit of a problem with buying books on Kindle. I have so many books on there, and a lot of unread ones too. Its a bit of an obsession and I fear that my fiancee will one day send me to K.A. -Kindle Anonymous- for my problem.*
Anyway, I stumbled upon this book:
I read a lot of blogs about writing, and one of the blogs that I read recommended Holly Lisle's website, so I signed up for her emails. Then a few weeks later I ran into an old neighbor, who lives next door to my parents. She is working on publishing a few novels, and we started talking about the writing process. She also recommended Holly Lisle to me. So I got on Amazon and did a little shopping.
I had completely forgotten about that until this afternoon, when in a complete state of failure, I desperately read the first part of the book.
Instantly I was intrigued . She is a very good writer. She writes so that dummy's like myself can understand what she is saying. And she had a lot of good points early on, which I love because I lose focus quickly.
She says, "A plot is not some fixed and finished document that you work from and follow like a blueprint. A plot is a messy, chaotic combination of your logic, your passion, and your Muse's magic that is, at best, as stable as quicksand and as reliable as that uncle on the other side of the family who may show up on time and in his best suit, or who may show up three hours late drunk off his feet and singing You Shook Me All Night Long.
You deal with this by bracing yourself, making sure your sense of humor is turned all the way to Extra-High, and breaking out your Muse-taming toolkit."
I loved it. That was exactly what I needed to hear. I cant wait to finish this book! In the meantime, maybe I should go sit in front of my novel for a little longer, maybe my Muse will show up this time.
Happy is the man whom the Muses love: sweet speech flows from his mouth.
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