My Writing Process (and Why NaNoWriMo is only for fun)

Today starts the August session of Camp NaNoWriMo. As I mentioned Monday, I signed up for this session, but have no real expectation of having a 50,000 word draft done by the end of the month. I'm actually not even sure how to do a word count for NaNoWriMo, because in the course of one month I'll probably write half a dozen 'drafts'. Each starting from 0 pages, 0 words.

Sound crazy? Come on, I'll show you how it works.

Confession of a Former Pantser

I used to try writing by the 'pantsing' method - don't plan out, plot out, fill character charts. Just sit down and write by the seat of your pants. I really like pantsing, it seemed to be a great way to let the characters grow and surprise me on their own.

But I never got anywhere.

I always ended up writing myself into a corner, or stuck in a situation where the characters wouldn't speak to me and I didn't know where to go, or just putting words on a page with no goal, which led to really crappy writing. I know some great writers who make pantsing work. I envy them a bit, but eventually I had to admit, I'm not one of them. So I gave it up, and went looking for another method.

I Love Fractals

I've loved fractals since I did a presentation on them in a high school math class. Those buggers are just fascinating the way they build on each other. An insanely simple shape, like a triangle, can become an intricate and beautiful design. So when, in my search for ideas on a new way to tackle my stories, I came across a writing method based on fractals, I was immediately interested.

That method was Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method, and if you are interested in some ideas on structuring your writing process, it is probably worth looking at.

The first few steps of the Snowflake Method combine fractal-style growth, with solid character development.

First, write the idea of your story in one sentence.
Then expand that sentence into a paragraph of about 4 sentences.
Then expand each sentence in that paragraph into a paragraph (which should give you a one page synopsis.)
Randy's method has you stop expanding after you reach a 4 page synopsis, and switch to plotting out a scene-by-scene outline, but here is where I took a left turn.

Fractals, remember?

I just keep expanding.

Fractal Writing

Here's how it works. I take my four page synopsis, and save it in one word file, with all the earlier smaller versions. Then I start on what I call 'Expansion 1'.

Opening a new word file, I copy the first paragraph of the synopsis over. I don't edit or expand the paragraph. Instead I use it as a reference for where the story is while I start writing a more detailed version. Here is an example from 'My Mistress':

Mattin's life is turned upside down when Lord Oeloff forces his sister Marta to become his slave. With no other options, Mattin turns to Lady Jahleen, Oeloff's enemy, and offers to become her slave if she can free his sister. After some hesitation, Jahleen accepts his offer, believing that she can use political means to force Oeloff to free Marta and undermine Oeloff's power base at the same time.

  - Synopsis first paragraph

 

Mattin was coming out of the inn stables when he saw the coach. Ebony and gold, and a perfectly matched team of four. He runs to the market to warn Marta that he thinks one of the fae lords is at the inn. He tells her to hide for a while, but she laughs and tells him to stop being so over protective. Gossip in the market – another animal was found tortured to death. Speculation that a lesser fae was hiding in town amusing himself w/ the animals.

Mattin's fears prove true, and when they reach the inn they find the Lord Oeloff waiting for them. He is claiming Marta as part of the tax owed him by the town. Mattin's father says nothing, silenced by fear of the fae's power. Mattin tries to protest but Oeloff stops him

 - Expansion 1 first and second paragraphs

In total, the expansion of the synopsis first paragraph filled one and a half pages. There are scenes that get significant detail in expansion 1 are the scenes that will be the backbone of the story. Other scenes, and entire chapters, are skimmed in a few sentences.

When I finish the first expansion, which ended up being 11 pages for 'My Mistress', I start on expansion 2. Again, more details, more expansion. Secondary scenes that reinforce and move along the main plot begin getting fleshed out. Side plots (like Brit's on going rivalry with the Head Cook) start getting mention here and there.

Each expansion ends up being about 2.5 times longer, so when I finish expansion 2 on My Mistress, I expect it to be around 25 pages long. Around expansion 5, I'll be hitting 400 pages and 100,000 words. At that point I will have a completed first draft, with fully detailed scenes and (hopefully) solid dialogue and characters.

I'll also have had 5 changes to have caught and corrected plot holes, inconsistencies, and similar authorial dropped balls. So with a good dose of luck, my 'first draft' will avoid needing any major revisions, though scene deletions, character tweaks and other moderate and minor corrections will definitely be necessary. 

My Numbers

So, if I'm going to 'win' Camp NaNoWriMo, (have a 50,000 word draft) I'll need to get at least to expansion 4, more likely at least half way through expansion 5. Assuming that 2.5x expansion rate continues, and going with the industry-standard 250 words per page, that means I'll have written:

Expansion 1 - approx 10 pages, approx 2500 words
Expansion 2 - approx 25 pages, approx 6250 words
Expansion 3 - approx 62.5 pages, approx 15625 words
Expansion 4 - approx 156.25 pages, approx 39062.5 words
just over half of Expansion 5 - approx 200 pages, approx 50,000

Or a total of about 313 pages, and 113,437 words.

I'll admit, I've considered counting all the expansions towards my word goal - at which point I'd finish towards the end of expansion 4, but that doesn't sit right. That's certainlly over 50,000 words, but it's not a 50,000 word draft. More like 4 mini drafts. And that distinction matters to me (it may not matter to the folks running NaNoWriMo, but it matters to me). Call it an excess of stubbornness - I haven't completed a 50,000 word draft until I've completed a 50,000 word draft.

Maybe next time I'll plan ahead and join a NaNoWriMo when I'm ready to start expansion. In the meantime I'm going to have fun next month writing my ass off. The real victory will be watching my story develop over the course of the month.


I hope you've enjoyed my rambling on my approach to writing, and NaNoWriMo. I'd love to here your experiences with writing and pantsing vs plotting, so please drop a comment.

Three Shorts for My Mistress

A great deal of the time I spend on Second Life, I am hanging out with some of the writer's groups doing prompt exercises. The group leader chooses a word, and we have 15-20 minutes (depending on the group) to write whatever we can, inspired by that word. Since I'm typically taking part in 2-3 prompt exercises a day, that makes for a lot of shorts. You can find some of them on my Tumblr, updated every weekday.

The last few days, at least half of the prompts have led to scenes from my work in progress "My Mistress." I don't know if any of these snapshots will make it into the final draft, but they were fun to write. For lack of better ideas, I thought I'd share a few of them with you.

Inspiration: Inchoate

Parlen sat on the floor, legs tucked neatly under his long skirt. "It's not going to work you know."

Jahleen, sprawled on the couch with am arm over her face, answered with a distracted "Hm?"

"The plan. It's not going to work."

Jahleen bolted upright, and started pulling her long hair back into a braid, "Explain."

"We're relying on Lord Oeloff doing what we want him to," a raised eyebrow.

Jahleen groaned, "You're right, damn and blast it. You are right." She focused on her hair for a few minutes. "I can't think of anyway to make the plan not rely on him. We need to catch him interfering with my household. Which means we need him to be interfering with my household. Since he never stops causing us problems, I think it's a safe enough risk."

Parlan didn't reply immediately. His hands automatically smoothed his skirts, his eyes narrowed. "We can't really rely on Mattin either. If Brit can't get him trained well enough-"

Jahleen sniffed, "Brit will manage. He has never failed me."

You've also never asked anything like this of him, Parlen thought. Aloud he said, "I might have some ideas to push Lord Oeloff down our path. Let me think about it."

Jahleen accepted that with a nod.

Inchoate: Just begun and so not fully formed or developed; rudimentary: "a still inchoate democracy". Rather like Jahleen's plans.

Inspiration: Control

Mattin pulled at the collar around his throat. The high neck of his shirt kept it from being obvious to others, but he knew it was there. Knew his life was no longer his own.

"It's a fair bargain," he thought again, "My life for my sister's."

Which didn't do anything to make him like the situation. Taking a deep breath, he step out of his sleeping closet to face the day.

To his surprise, he saw Brit had been about to knock on his door. "Good, you're awake. Something's come up," the older man said, "I need to ride into town. You're on your own today, so try not to get into trouble."

The old man jogged out of the room, His voice echoed back, calling for the Goon Squad.

Mattin stared after him.

A day to himself? A day where he could do whatever he wanted?

What would he do?

The thought brought him too his knees. Less than two weeks of having his every moment dictated, and already he was forgetting what it was like to be in control of himself and his own life.

What would it be like when he'd been here for years? Would he even remember what freedom was like? For long moments he could only kneel there, tears running down his face.

His belly rumbled.

He looked down at himself in surprise. Then laughing through his tears, he got to his feet. Cook would have breakfast ready soon. And at least he knew now who was really in control around here: his stomach.

The ending of this one took me by surprise. Not at all where I expected the scene to end up. At the same time, I have little patience for extended angst (which Mattin is extremely good at), so . Also, have you ever noticed that in real life major emotional scenes are never like they are in the movies? The moment always gets interrupted. Someone has to sneeze, or go to the bathroom, or 'butt burp' (as my kids would put it). Bodily functions just don't stop for our dramatic interludes, ya know?

Inspiration: Masquerade

Jahleen examined the room from behind her mask. Mattin was in his place, two paces behind her. Really, Brit had done a surprisingly good job on his training. To bad the material was inherently flawed. "She'll be here. Wait until the music starts, then allow yourself to become separated from me. They'll find you."

"Yes, Lady," Mattin murmured, "I'll follow the plan."

"Good."

Sweeping out into the ballroom, knowing he would stay right behind her until it was time for the game to start, she smiled. A masque within a masque. It would be an interesting, and hopefully victorious, night.

Hopefully Jahleen isn't being overconfident, but given her discussion with Parlen... well, maybe she put the time Brit was training Mattin to good use and came up with a more complete plan.

Dreams and Nightmares (and Brit)

"A dream within a dream."
-The Princess Bride

Writing is, I think, putting a dream on paper (or screen). It's taking the stuff of visions and nightmares and random neuron firings that wake us up going 'OMG!' and making something the whole world can share and go 'OMG' with us.

Most of my best stories have come from dreams of one sort or another. And I have a few 'big fish stories' of waking up with my mind full of this dream that was beyond amazing, trying to hold on to the memory so I could write it down, and having it get away.

But if the story is the dream, than the process of creating, fleshing out, writing the story is another dream. The dream of our dream, if you will. I dream of sharing my dreams, of turning them into masterpieces of word and meaning.

Unfortunately, this dream frequently turns into a nightmare! Making the pieces of a story stand forth to be clearly seen and written as a coherent whole, resembles taking a handful of cotton candy and rearranging it into straight, even rows. Gah!

After years of ending up with cotton candy on my shirt, in my hair, all over my hands, and pretty much everywhere except the neat rows I was going for, I finally (and partly by luck) discovered some tools that have made the process of writing so much easier there are no words. If you are one of those lucky bastards and bitches who can turn your ideas into stories without major prep work, my hat goes off to you. I, apparently, am not.

Having discovered some great writing tools, it turns out I am having a lot of fun with them - finally, writing a story is not just a masochistic exercise in obsession, but something I am really enjoying.

The other day I was experimenting with the great Character Chart from Epiguide.com Filling it out, I discovered something fun and kinda cute about one of my fave characters:

I know you have sausage.

Mattin had been looking all over the manor for Brit. He finally found the older man in one of the back corridors, crouched in a corner. 
"Brit?"
Brit whirled around, eyes wide. A black kitten poked it's head around his boot.
"Mattin... I, ah..." Brit stood up, stuffing a piece of sting in his pocket. "You needed something?"
The kitten tried to jump for the dangling tail of the string. Brit pushed it away. "Pest, get out of here!"
"I thought you didn't like cats?"
Brit started, "I didn't... don't... can't stand the vermin." Brit strode off down the corridor, "What did you need."
Mattin shook his head, watching the persistent cat try and pounce on Brit's boot.
"I, that is, Mistress Jahleen is looking for you."
Brit nodded, and turned towards the Mistress' rooms. Just outside, he stopped to glare at Mattin. "Not. One. Word."
Mattin shook his head, and pretended not to notice the kitten, still following Brit into the Mistress' study.


Brit loves cats, but he refuses to admit it. Which doesn't keep everyone in the manor from knowing his 'secret.'