Figuring It Out

     So I am not a pro at this whole writing thing. I haven't even published my first book yet. So I am still figuring it all out. And when I say figuring it all out, in this blog, I mean, how I write.

     Now, let me tell you before I start this. The writing is always the same. The writing is never different. However, the way I go about the writing is different.

     I watch a lot of author videos. Now, when I say a lot, I mean A LOT! I love watching author videos. I love to get their take on things. I love to know how they go about writing and if they have any advice for writing. Of course, they do.

     It would seem that every time I am writing a new book or working on a new book, I will watch a new author video and they will have some new way of organizing your plot or the way they write and so on. An example of this is Becca Fitzpatrick. For her novels, she would have this large stack of note cards. She would have one note card for every scene in the book. On the note cards she would write plot, dialogue, character arcs, and so on, whatever would help her remember what she needed to write for that scene in that chapter. Then, she highlights or flags or uses different colored note cards for scenes that need work, scenes that are perfect, scenes that need more plotting, and so one.

     As you can imagine, I thought this was a great idea. Now, for my first book, I merely used a notebook full of scenes, dialogue, plot, and so on, to help me with the writing. But for my second book, I wanted to try Becca's way of working. So I tried it. I failed at it. I only wrote a couple of scenes and didn't really use them to help when I was writing. Again, I used my trusty notebook full of stuff.

     One thing I did use for my second book was a list of scenes that had to happen. The book needed to go in chronological order according to dates. This list of scenes was very helpful. I write what date the scene had to occur on and then what the scene was. Very useful.

     Now, my notebook full of thing and such, it is sometimes very daunting and trying to find a certain thing you need for a certain scene in a sea of ink and pages is difficult. What I do is take those little flags, that lawyers and such use to mark where someone needs to sign something. I use these flags to mark what note I need to use. Then, when I have used that note, I remove the flag until I no longer have any notes to add to the book, and I have finished the book. It works really well. I do still have to look through the flags, but it is not as difficult as trying to read through the notes I have used when they look the same as the ones I haven't used.

     For my third book, I tried to used the note cards way again. It did work better this time, but I still didn't use it for the whole book. It did help me to figure out what order I wanted to put scenes in, but it just wasn't for me in the long run. So, again, I used the notebook full of stuff and the flags. But I also had a list of scenes that needed to happen and in what order they needed to happen. When I would use the scene, I would cross it out. Again, it worked really well.

     A couple of weeks ago, this girl I follow on Twitter posted a picture of her chapter board. It was a white marker board with a post it for each chapter. These post its would have scenes or dialogue and so on on them. I thought this would be a good idea. Surely this would help e be organized. Before I even attempted it, I decided not to use it. However, I was in the store the other day and came across binders and plastic paper covers. Then it came to me. I would use a sheet of printer paper for each chapter and put them in the plastic covers. Each page would have the chapter number at the top, the narrator - because I like to use multiple narrators - the date, and then I would use different colored post its for scenes, plot, and dialogue for each chapter. So far I am really liking it. Before I started using this, I was disorganized in my head as to how I was going to put the scenes I knew I needed in the book and in what order. But then I started this and I kept pulling out printer sheets and adding post its to them. I got a lot farther than I probably could have other wise. So, for now, this is the method I am going to use. I am really liking it so far. But, also, I still am using my trusty notebook full of stuff and the flags.

     So, as you can see, none of you, I'm sure, wanted to know this, could care less, and also, I have no clue what I am doing. But I think the moral of the story is that many different things work for many different people and just because it works for one person doesn't mean it is going to work for every one, or anyone else for that matter. If you made it to the end, thanks for sticking with me, and I will try to make it shorter next time. I hope you enjoyed and got something out of this. Until next time.