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Focus and Concentration

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Can't Catch A Break

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Hi,

I'd like a mentor's help in focus and concentration. I finished my novel and went to type it, but the plot was disjointed and uninteresting. I have the basic "Bible", but I'm on the verge of starting the story again. I know what I want to write but I get swayed from the outline easily.

I'd just like some helpful tips and how to plow through even through a patchy scene.
 

scot free

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Whut's up, CCAB. I wouldn't call myself anybody's mentor, but I have two pieces of advice that may help. My writing buddy, who also happens to be my best friend - I know, go figure - and I have differing approaches to this issue:

His - No matter how much you think a particular part of the story blows, get it in. Getting it in, down on the paper, no matter how half-baked, is the most important thing. You cannot go on to the next part of the story otherwise. As you forge ahead it will become clear where the changes need to happen and what needs to be fixed - hint: make notes. Once it is all in, go back and make the neccesary corrections to make it a true representation of what you envisioned. Plunge forward, get it all in, remold.

Mine - You say you sway easy from the outline, most of the time I don't even have an outline. I have a general idea of where I want the story to go but nothing concrete. And if a creative wind may blow by, I'm apt to wander off of the beaten path, and explore. Sometimes, it doesn't pan out and I go back to where I deviated from the general idea, sometimes it ends up better than what I had in mind. But I don't move on to the next part of the story until I am satisfied with the part I am working on. That way I always have a solid place to go back to if my wanderings get me lost. So I do most of my heavy lifting in the first write while my buddy does his in the rewrite.

I hope this helps in some small way, and if not just tell me to shut-up. :D
 

cree

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scot free said:
Mine - You say you sway easy from the outline, most of the time I don't even have an outline. :D
Another person in favor of chucking the outline here; chuck it, burn it, grind it up in the garbage disposal.
I think outline people are control freaks who won't let their characters have their own lives. :)
I know, I know, it works for some people, it's a touchstone, etc. etc.
I still think you should chuck it. If your characters are well-developed enough, they don't need you to map their fate in an excel spreadsheet.
 

soloset

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scot free said:
His - No matter how much you think a particular part of the story blows, get it in. Getting it in, down on the paper, no matter how half-baked, is the most important thing. You cannot go on to the next part of the story otherwise. As you forge ahead it will become clear where the changes need to happen and what needs to be fixed - hint: make notes. Once it is all in, go back and make the neccesary corrections to make it a true representation of what you envisioned. Plunge forward, get it all in, remold.

That's my method, too. Anything else results in my bogging down on chapter one as I obsessively polish it to perfection, or winding down and running out of steam after thirty pages.

And I happen to outline, just very freely (I'm not a control freak, honest). I have two text files; one is "mind dump" and the other is "overview". Anything and everything, including commentary, goes into the first and then I pare it down to a rough outline for the overview.

I update those files as needed and keep a third file, "notes", for little things, like the MC's sister being younger than I originally thought or the heroine's job changing.

On good days, I'm Michaelangelo, chipping the statue free from the confining marble. On bad days, I'm trying to mold a big amorphous blob that keeps oozing out the edges.

Anyway, welcome, Can't Catch a Break, and good luck with the mentor search. :)
 

cree

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Can't Catch A Break said:
I write and get to editing on the spot like it has to be perfect.

You're right to recognize this problem and seek a cure :) Seriously, it's the kiss of death. My first drafts are a mess of misspellings, typos, bad data (e.g., I said a character was 40 and suddenly he's 29 or I change his name suddenly)..and i just roll on, and fight the urge to correct every teh that should be the, because it doesn't matter right then. You're making something matter that's getting in the way of completing a first draft.
Early in my career, I did this, and I have dozens of half-finished WIPs that couldn't stand up to my abuse. When I let it go, I finished my WIPs. And then I can go back and fix all those bad, bad things that would have stopped me cold in the past.
You're still in control. Just apply the control at appropriate times. :)
 

SherryTex

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Can't Catch a Break

If your story keeps going in different directions, perhaps you don't want to write the story you outlined.

An outline is kind of like the Pirate Code, (See Captain Jack Sparrow for more information), it is more of a Guideline. It creates structure, but like when you build a house and you decide you really want to add on an extra bathroom, you have to be willing to make adjustments on the other rooms that will be affected. The Outline isn't the book, it isn't the story. It may just be the platform that helps you get to the story you really want to write. Relax and enjoy the process. The end story may be even better than what you had planned.

Open a vein and write.
 
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