Writer Retreat

So, this weekend was the weekend of my self-proclaimed writer's retreat. How'd it go? Well, first a smattering of eye candy...
My room

My writing space.


This is only one of the many porches, shot through a door.

A sad, lonely Gargoyle, waiting for someone...

The Penthouse for birds


If we wear fur coats, trees wear ivy coats. Oh, yes, darling, you look smashing!

I always thought these trees look like a paint-by-number.
In case you're wondering... It is a Sycamore or also known as a London Plane Trees. (But they're quite fancy... hahaha)

Where to begin... Well, first of all going away, being out of my element, opened my eyes to things I hadn't considered. When I am home, I am distracted, as previously posted, and I don't think I saw things in my own writing, quite as clearly.

The Retreat...

My First Revelation...
The first day I got to my B&B, I read the pages previously written and it was as if someone had handed me a special pair of writer's glasses where mistakes were now glaringly obvious. At first, what struck me was how much I told in my story instead of showed. Now, I thought I was aware of this before, but for some reason, it was so obvious when I was away -- all the mistakes I had made and hadn't even seen them before.

Maybe it was so obvious because I had put my novel aside for a number of months and read it fresh. Maybe it was because I was away and out of my element and so I was able to see it through fresh eyes. Maybe it was a little of both. But, whatever the reason, I was so taken back when I read my pages and saw these mistakes. At first I was discouraged. But don't worry - that didn't last too long.

My Second Revelation...
I hated the pacing! Hated it! I was told once, very early on, that I had to quicken the pacing. And perhaps I did, but I misunderstood I think exactly what that meant. I thought, then, that it meant, I needed to bring the fantasy element right upfront. But now I realize that is not necessarily so. I realize now, that it means to hint about the fantasy element right away, to show it little by little, to tease the reader with foreshadowing so they can guess what the fantasy element is and lead them to the REVEAL where they will then feel like, Yes! I knew that's what it was!

My story is considered low fantasy - like ghost stories - it takes place here in our world, with our strengths and weaknesses and our beings... But, there is that fantasy element in my story.

So, I slowed the pacing but added hints about the fantasy and made the hints grow, and grow, and grow, until the reveal -- which makes it actually feel quicker paced, even though, in reality it slowed the reveal down. I learned that quickening the pace doesn't mean a sudden thrust into the REVEAL. Of course in a high fantasy novel, the fantasy element should be right up front, but again, you should still take time getting to the reveal. And if the reveal IS your fantasy element, then I like the slow hints along the way, slowly building and building. So, I turned up the sound a notch or two on my subtle references and painted with a few brighter shades...

My Third Revelation...
I realized in order to slow down the pacing, but make it still engaging, I would need new chapters in the beginning of the book, so, I would need to change my intention for the weekend....

My original intention was to turn out new pages, but seeing these two glaring mistakes (telling vs showing and pacing...), made me re-think these intentions.

Instead, I went back to outlining. UGH! But this time, it was a real, bon-a-fide outline. I outlined and wrote very detailed summaries for three new chapter, re-organized two subsequent chapters, and completely, and I mean completely, changed the reveal. And you know what? I love it!

At first, yes, it was very hard to see that my work was not on paper as it was in my head. But then I got over that fast and got straight to work. I have to say, the brainstorming and outlining process, for me, is exhausting! I took a three hour nap on Saturday and woke saying, Oh No! I completely forgot to put this in the outline for chapter four... so, even when I slept, I was writing, and outlining, and organizing...

The Outcome...
I was definitely ready to come home, and I am a little disappointed that I can't say I typed the words, THE END, but I am happy. I know I am on the right path now and in a much better place, especially that my new prescription for writer's lenses has been upgraded - and I owe that to the 20 books I read this year and the writer's groups and conferences I attended (and still attend...).

In the end, I didn't write new pages, and I am still sticking to outlining, but I'm OK with that. I am not going to rush this process. It takes time to write a novel, especially your first one - so I hear - so back to the drawing board and that's OK.

The Outline
Here is the outlining format I used for each chapter, old and new...

Chapter Number; Chapter Title
Characters We Meet: Here, obviously, I listed all the characters who appear in each chapter. But I did not forget to mention the ones that also came in dreams or visions. That's still an appearance, after all...

Tristan’s Goal: This is my MC. I write here what her goal of this chapter is. Sometimes a goal can also be trying to avoid doing something.

My Goal: This is where I listed what my goals, as the writer, were. For example, show a relationship growing together, show a relationship growing apart, introduce a new character, etc...

Conflict/Obstacles: What is the MC's conflict or obstacle in this chapter? What is getting in the way of her reaching her goal?

Arc: What is the MC's mini arc for this chapter? There should be a larger arc that is resolved at the end of your story, but I believe each chapter should strive to have a mini arc within. So, I try to have my MC start a chapter one way but end another way, which leads to...

Disaster: The disaster of the chapter, I usually have towards the end of the chapter so it can leads to...

Cliff Hanger of Chapter: ... the unanswered question of this chapter actually takes me to the next chapter where it might be answered and then another disaster leads to another mini cliff hanger, leads to the next chapter, and so on...

Anything foreshadowed: I love foreshadowing. I think foreshadowing is what engages a reader. I think it is important to answer some foreshadowing a long the way to make the reader feel successful, like they're so smart, and leave the bigger foreshadowing to be resolved in the end. So, I need to keep track of everything that either is, or can be, considered foreshadowing.

Fantasy in the Chapter: I need to keep track of the fantasy element - Was it hinted upon? Was it the reveal? Was it used in one way or another? Was something new learned about it??

Any props in chapter:Props are a huge part of foreshadowing, in my opinion. Some items mentioned early on, can be used later as an AHA! object... So, I keep a list of all of these.

!Misc Notes:This was a very important part for the chapters I had already written. It was where I would write things like... UGH! This chapter told and didn't show nearly enough. Or... be sure in the second draft to add such and such to this chapter. Or... be sure in the second draft to delete, or change, or... You get the idea.

Chapter Summary: Obviously, this speaks for itself. But for the new chapters, that I hadn't written yet, this section was quite long and detailed. I would write the whole chapter summary from beginning, middle, end, include dialogue, and props, mini arcs, foreshadowing, the conflict, the disaster, and the cliff hanger ending. For chapters that were already written, I simply told a brief synopsis, since I can just read the chapter or the above info for more details.


I have to say, some of these outlining elements I learned from reading your blogs. So, I have to thank you, to all of you for sharing your methods, ideas, and thoughts. It is what lead me to my version of an outline.

How does your outlining method differ? How is it the same?

Not an Outliner, but Must Succcumb...

So, (I start a lot of sentences this way... must break the habit) I have mentioned many times before that I am not an outliner. I blame it on Mrs. Oken - my 9th grade English teacher...

I had a habit (yes, I have many) of letting my English teachers read my poetry and short stories as a way of getting on their good sides. Hey, I struggled for my grades. I needed to use anything I could to get an advantage. Anyway, Mrs Oken, after reading a compilation of poems and stories, asked me to stay after class one day. She wanted to know what my outlining process was and I said... "Oh, I don't outline." And she said, "What? You must! Real writers outline and if you want to be a real writer, you must outline too." Well, I grabbed my papers and puffed out my chest and said, "I just write," and left.

Obviously, this had some affect on me, if here I am still writing about it some er... harrumph... well, a few short years later... And so, I have carried on in my stubborn (but adorable) way of 'just writing.' I hang my head low and must admit defeat... Yes, Mrs. Oken, real writers outline... *sniff, wiping tears*

Truthfully, real writers do a myriad of things. And every writer's process is completely and utterly unique. I have written many times, about owning your process and being proud of it. And I still hold that I am. However, I must admit, the "just writing" process can only take you so far when you are writing a novel, especially if you wish your novel to be one of many in a series. You NEED to outline.

And not that you need to adhere to this outline like the gospel, or that your characters don't have the right to change your outline... but you need a plan, a road map, if you will, something to drive you forward, something so that when you are in the dark, murky depths of novel writing, you can say, AHA! Wait a moment, don't I have that nightlight somewhere! Ah, yes! Here it is, my outline! (I picture saying that in the superhero stance and for some reason I am wearing a cape - I don't know why...)

So, I have begun a pre-outlining process. I actually began it over the summer. Here's what I did...

1. I read from the beginning to my current latest page (pg 85 - which is as far as I got w/o an outline, trying to remember everything in my brain, instead of in an outline...). I took copious notes. I included every time a new character was introduced and on what page. I wrote down sentences that sounded like foreshadowing, or that I definitely wrote as foreshadowing on purpose. I wrote down any objects used by my MC that could have significance and be used later. I wrote down holes in my plot, questions that seemed unanswered, and things that led to questions in general. Finally, I wrote down things I must add/delete/change for subsequent drafts and things I must research.


2. Then I pretended I was each major character and jotted down all the questions I could think of off the top of my head for that character to answer.


3. This week I have been answering all these unanswered questions. Anytime I came to a plot hole, I began by asking more questions... what could T do to stop LB from succeeding? What would happen if T did this... what would happen if T did that... And I wrote it out until I felt it was a satisfying answer to this plot hole or question.

I am just about finished with this ever-growing brainstorming session. Next, I will begin to outline. I will be outlining chapter by chapter, summarizing the ones I've written already and truly outlining the ones I've yet to write. I will want to capture certain aspects, such as... what characters are in the scene, does the scene move the story forward, is there an emotion rise and fall to the scene, does it raise the stakes, does it present more obstacles for my MC or solutions to previous obstacles, has anything been foreshadowed, any objects used or hinted on, etc.

I have read about some choices for outlining on many of your blogs . Now I want to know, what forms work particularly well for you? I've heard of a friend who buys those large desk calendars, you know - the ones teachers use... and he uses each month as a sequence of scenes (this is based on screenplay writing though) There are 12 sequences of scenes in a movie. Each sequence is made up of a number of scenes. I think this could relate though, somewhat to novel writing too. I am a visual learner, so I like the idea of having the whole story laid out before me visually like this... So, let's share... what outlining techniques have worked for you time and time again. Or... what outlining techniques have not worked for you...

The Mulberry Bush and Writing Buddy Goals Week Five

Here we go again, around and around and around. You'd think with all this "around" business, I would be able to better handle the Tilt-a-World at the county fair.

What am I talking about? I am talking about which comes first, the Outline or the Pages? Now all of you die hard outliners out there will obviously say the outline. And all of you "organic" writers will say... well, it's a little of both, back and forth, do what you need as you need it.

OK. Fine. I've done it the "organic" way for a year and what I've found is I've done a lot of spinning. I also call this crazy method two-stepping because I take one step forward and two steps back (or three or four...).

Another week has passed, another week's worth of goals, and still no real amount of viable new pages have passed through my fingertips to my computer screen. Why is that? This was the topic of today's phone conference with my therapist... Er... I mean writing buddy, which is beginning to feel a little like therapy for writers.

What we discovered...
The reason I am not writing new pages is because there is still so much I have to know. I still need to do research and figure things out and fill the gaps in my story. For example, I know the ending will involve my MC realizing her journey is only just beginning - setting the stage for a sequel - but I am still unsure what her larger calling is. I know it will be some Earth First kind of thing, but I am unsure what specifically. Because I still have all these gaps and holes, I am having great difficulty writing forward.

So, I am putting this question out there to all of you, my fellow writers...
Do you think it is better for me to spend the rest of the summer (or however much time I need) to fill in all these gaps in my outline, by researching, reading, brainstorming, interviewing, etc, making sure my outline has filled in all these gaps and holes and then write the ending?

Or do you think I should just keep my notes as to all my gaps and holes, and just write the ending as if I have solved all my problems?

Which is better? Which do I work on first... or at least work on now... the Outline, or the Pages. I know writing pages will sometimes lead you away from your outline and that is the "organic" part to writing and I am OK with that.

I am used to spending my summers reading, researching, and note taking. Maybe I should listen to my natural rhythms of writing -- my process -- and not fight them or force them to be what I want when I want. OR... Is that what real writers do? -- force themselves to write no matter what, even if it's against their natural process or rhythm.

What rules me? Or should I say who (or what) rules whom? Do I rule my process, or does my process rule me????

Like I said, here I go 'round the mulberry bush...again...

This Week's Goals

1. Fill in the gaps and holes of my story. Figure things out now, not later.
2. Research about black willow trees vs white willow trees in folklore and Celtic mythology.
3. Research rain forests -specifically what ones are at most danger, what is being done to continue the hurt, what is being done to stop it?
4. (aside from writing...) Finish steps 4, 5, and 6 of refinishing my daughter's dresser.

Let me know what you think? Do I write to the end regardless of all my gaps and holes? Or do I get my outline airtight?