Welcome To The New Year

Back to work, for those of us fortunate enough to have a job, and for those of us who are less fortunate it is back to job hunting.  Either way, we welcome a new year with new goals to accomplish.

At the beginning of every year I start a new journal.  I look back on my journals of 2009 and I see all of the things I'd set out to accomplish... the trials and tribulations.

One of my main goals was to finish my novel.  Now, in the past I'd said that every year... "This year I want to finish my novel by June... July... November," and so on and so forth.  I think I had that goal for at least two years.  However, 2009 was the year I would finally see it through and I honestly attribute part of the accomplishment to the support I received from my friends (Thanks Rachel!  You're the best!).

My goal for this year is to get my novel published (this is me shooting for the moon), or at least make significant progress in that direction (and here are my stars in case I miss hehe).

I have a printed version of my manuscript finally (thanks mother!), which is a good solid 375 pages.  I will begin reading it through soon once the January rush settles down for me a bit.

I hope to hear something from the agencies I submitted to.  I mailed my materials to them December 9, 2009.  January 9, 2010 will mark the fourth week they've had them.  I'm supposed to give it up to six weeks for a few of the agencies, and I know some of them take longer.  In the meantime I have lots of work to do and I have to not be so lazy about doing them... I have a mission to accomplish!  Let nothing and no one stop you from achieving your goals!

Chapter by Chapter Synopses

Some authors do them and some do not. In the 2010 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market Gregory Frost says the following in regards to outlining (making fantasy real):

"There are writers who stick to a form--who outline everything in detail and then stick to the outline right to the end.  There are writers who, like Raymond Carver, follow a sentence down a rabbit hole and don't know where it's taking them.  I fall somewhere in between.  I outline to ensure that I have a story, a structure, as a point of reference, and once I'm satisfied that's the case I abandon the outline and let the story run." 

I share a similar method.  I usually write a story synopsis and a chapter by chapter synopsis.  My story synopsis is usually just a brief, one page, summary of the book.  The chapter by chapter synopsis is sort of like my blueprint except I don't always follow it.  Like Gregory Frost, I create the outline of the chapters just as a guide to make sure I'm keeping on track, but then I generally just kind of let the story take me where it may along that path.

So this is a method I would recommend especially if there are a number of characters and perspectives or twists in the plot of the story.  Sometimes it just helps to have something to keep you on track, otherwise your story could end up heading in a direction that you definitely did not want it to go. 

Before writing The Mechanical Room I was working on a trilogy that was very complex and had many characters and twists in the plot of the story... I didn't outline for that one, and I got lost.  Now, I have to go back and map out things correctly before I can revisit it.  And that's okay... it's all a part of learning and growing as a writer right?  We each have particular things that we do that work for us, but may not work for others.  I share my experiences for that aspiring writer who is looking to know what may have helped others who have experienced something similar in their journey.

I hope this helps someone out there!