I always eschewed the idea of being a plotter. I was a rampant pantser, with no time to get bogged down in outlines, character sketches, planning, or any of that other stuff. I just wanted to write…and write…and write. While writing my first novel, Unladylike Pursuits, I found that that meant quite a number of rewrites, but other than having to reread and re-edit and review over and over and over again, it didn’t bother me.

Four years later, and I’m only on book 2…writing and writing and writing. I’d say I’ve easily written 750 pages or more for this book. And yet I’m still going strong with fresh material that I feel good about. I finished my first draft with Candace Havens’ Fast Draft, and since then I’ve gotten one long-distance critique partner (who’s really working out well) and one local, ocassional C.P. who also has plenty of good insights. So I’ve been making changes, trying to trim and edit and hook and emote, and that’s all been good, but now I’m really ready for the home stretch. Kids are in school, I can arrange for big chunks of time to work on the WIP, and I’m really gonna push.

I made an outline (my long-distance C.P.’s idea). It’s numbered by chapter, and each chapter has a sentence or two or four about happens. I’ve color coded the sentences based on plot lines, and separated the chapters into Acts and Turning Points a la the Jenny Crusie/Bob Mayer
Writing Workshop, and I’m thinking big, trying to keep it all in my head, referencing my handy-dandy print-out everyday. And so far, so good–it’s working.

So…I think after I get that initial idea for a book, I really need to give into my pantser tendencies and do a Fast Draft, but then I need to step back and write the outline, the synopsis, the blurb, the one sentence idea–all of it–to make sure I know where I’m headed.

My first book was total trial and error–I wrote alone, with no help from workshops or conferences or RWR articles. And now, I learn new tricks, techniques, and ideas, and I’m trying something new all the time. Maybe on my next book, I’ll finally settle into a zone. I really, really hope so.

For the past several weeks, I’ve been (mostly) locked in to a seemingly never-ending chain of books on-hold at the library. There was Me and Mr. Darcy, which I quite liked, Eclipse, installment three by Stephenie Meyer, which enthralled me…then I took a short break to read the ARC of Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas that my RWA buddy scored for me–loved it!–and now I’m back on track with Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely (what no one ever told us about fairies), and next up is Agnes and the Hitman by Jenny Crusie and Bob Mayer. I am getting so behind!

I have a pile of recently ordered books from Amazon on a stack on my nightstand, and I’m pretty much salivating to read them, but I’m on a schedule here! If I get off track with my library holds, then I either miss out or I have to remember to re-request them. I don’t have a good system for that. Basically whenever I learn about a book, I nip over to the library website and place it on hold. While this has cut down drastically on the number of books I buy, I still do buy. Hardly ever in hardback, but if I read it and love it, I will buy it when it comes out in paperback. It’s just a quirk of mine. It’s part frugality, part cheapness, and part comfort–I mostly read lying down and don’t like those hard bindings pressing into my stomach.

I’ve now converted my oldest son to the ‘heads-up’ on a book library hold. When he finishes a book, he asks if we can look up on Amazon to see when the next one’s coming out. Then we check to see if the library is ordering it, request it, and voila–we’re good to go! I’m so proud.

Anyone reading any good books? Should I buy or put them on hold at the library?