Sunday, August 21, 2011

Inky Linky Love 08.20.2011

Everyone was too busy with WriteOnCon to notice my lack of a post this week, right? :P I'd seen WriteOnCon around the blogosphere before but had no idea what it was. I was totally missing out! Once I found out how awesome it is, I deprived myself of sleep in order to go through all the vlogs and articles from last year, haha. Here are my favorite posts from this year's WriteOnCon, as well as some other blog posts I enjoyed recently.

 WRITEONCON
  • Jodi Meadows on How to Write a Synopsis: love her idea for a verbal diarrhea pre-drafting synopsis!
  • Taran Hudson on Pacing: her Chapter Sandwich is a good trick for making sure there's lots of tension and excitement
  • Kendra Levin on Your Own Hero's Journey: how to balance your writing with everything else in life
  • Carrie Ryan on Revision: great tip about starting with the big picture before looking at detail
  • Martha Mihalik on Building Believable Romance: love her point that romance doesn't have to be stated directly
  • [Vlog] Lisa Schroeder on Novel Beginnings: great point about being intentional with your starting point
  • [Vlog] Lindsey Leavitt on The Debut Year: omg she's so adorable!
PLOTTING
  • Marina Cohen wrote for Let the Words Flow about how thinking = plotting. I feel so much better about all the time I spend daydreaming!
  • Jennifer Hubbard talks about why middles are marvelous. I think openings and endings are incredibly difficult for me, too!
  • Patricia C. Wrede says you need to know where you are in order to determine if you can get to where your destination. Great analogy for plotting and knowing your story.
CHARACTERIZATION
SETTING/WORLDBUILDING

In other news, I've realized that I should've spent more time plotting and planning before diving into Camp NaNoWriMo. I make a terrible pantser. But participating forced me to think about my project more and I've made a lot of progress in figuring things out (if not actual word count), so I'm glad I signed up! 

I keep thinking up potential plot events and scenes, but because I hate how everything feels like a muddle in my head, I bought a ton of note cards and sticky notes in order to storyboard the plot. I'm hoping that organization and getting the structure down first will provide a smoother writing experience down the road. I'm excited to see how it goes! I'll blog more about whether the note card method worked for me once I've gotten a chance to try it out.

Oh, and here's an interesting post from Slate about how to write faster. Are you a Beethovian or Mozartian drafter? I bet you can guess which one I am!
by linda
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25 comments:

  1. JulianaAugust 21, 2011 at 9:11 AM

    Thanks for the links, Linda. I completely missed WriteOnCon and am a bit bummed about it.

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  2. Carrie ButlerAugust 21, 2011 at 10:35 AM

    This was my first year for WriteOnCon, too! I loved it. I actually got my question answered during one of the live Q&A sessions. <3 Thanks for the linkage!

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  3. mizpriz29August 21, 2011 at 10:47 AM

    I'd signed up for WriteOnCon but missed it due to soooo much stuff going
    on at home all week! So I've been loving all my blogging friends
    posting their favorite articles.

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  4. lindaAugust 21, 2011 at 10:54 AM

    Aww, no worries! All the articles, videos, and live chat transcripts are available so you can totally still catch up on the stuff you missed. :)

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  5. lindaAugust 21, 2011 at 10:55 AM

    Oh nice, congrats! How exciting! Which chat was it? I didn't look at all of them haha. Now I want to go check it out. :D

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  6. lindaAugust 21, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    Haha I wasn't actually "there" the whole time due to the time difference, but I did try to catch up whenever possible. Plus I didn't spend as much time in the forums, so I guess I missed out on parts of the experience too. Ah well, next year! :)

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  7. Carrie ButlerAugust 21, 2011 at 11:20 AM

    Thanks! It was during the chat with Sara Megibow from Nelson Literary. :)

    http://writeoncon.com/2011/08/live-traditional-vs-self-publishing-live-chat-with-literary-agent-sara-megibow/

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  8. lindaAugust 21, 2011 at 4:37 PM

    Ooohh thanks for the link! I missed that chat. Glad you brought it up since there's a lot of great information in there that got me thinking more about the publishing industry. I definitely looked for you and was SO EXCITED to see your name. :D 

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  9. Carrie ButlerAugust 22, 2011 at 1:12 AM

    You're welcome. :) Hah! Thank you. I was pretty excited to see my name, too! She gave a lot of great advice during that hour. :D

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  10. emy shinAugust 22, 2011 at 1:29 AM

    I didn't attend WriteOnCon last year -- and got really caught up with all the fabulousness this year. I'm still going through all the posts right now! Thank you for the links roundup -- there are a few I haven't read yet, so I'll definitely have to check them out. :)

    I'm looking forward to hearing about the note card method. Good luck with writing!

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  11. The Empty PenAugust 22, 2011 at 11:23 AM

    I'm glad you're enjoying your Camp NaNo experience!

    I'm a pantser who keeps trying to plot and it never works out...glad that you're able to learn from this experience! As far as word count: descriptions, descriptions, descriptions!

    Thanks for the nod.

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  12. Steven WhibleyAugust 23, 2011 at 12:12 AM

    I've heard of writeoncon from lots of people but have never taken the time to look into it. Thanks for all those links!! Awesome.

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  13. lindaAugust 23, 2011 at 10:51 AM

    Haha I'm sure you're swamped with the new addition to your family. :) There are lots of great resources and advice from agents and editors at WriteOnCon, so I think it's worth checking out if you have a spare moment or two. Hope fatherhood's been treating you well! :D

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  14. Peggy EddlemanAugust 24, 2011 at 4:41 AM

    I totally missed WriteOnCon. I've meant to go there to catch up now, but it all seems overwhelming. So thanks for the list! It's totally the one I'm going by to keep from being overwhelmed by the mass amount of information there.

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  15. lindaAugust 24, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    Yay, glad to help you out! :) There's so much great stuff in there. Definitely poke around some more if you have time!

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  16. HeidiAugust 25, 2011 at 5:48 AM

    Great links! I love your blog--I'm a new follower.

    I like your blog so much--I even posted despite the email request.

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  17. lindaAugust 25, 2011 at 6:01 PM

    Haha, thanks Heidi! I'm flattered. :) I love hearing from readers!

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  18. terekirklandAugust 26, 2011 at 10:50 PM

    Wonderful links, Linda! I'll have to check them out while I'm busy procrastinating instead of writing this weekend. ;) Nudged over here from A Nudge in the Right Direction.

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  19. Carrie ButlerAugust 28, 2011 at 12:21 AM

    Psst... there's something for you on my blog today. ;)

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  20. lindaAugust 30, 2011 at 6:49 AM

    Welcome, Tere! Thanks for stopping by! :)

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  21. lindaAugust 30, 2011 at 7:20 AM

    I hope it's not another meme involving panties. :P Thanks for thinking of me, Carrie! I'll be sure to check it out. :D

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  22. K. D.August 30, 2011 at 11:30 PM

    Great links and cute blog! Nice to meet you <3 Kelley

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  23. lindaAugust 31, 2011 at 12:33 AM

    There is so much great stuff, right? :D (Also, I have no idea how I missed your comment. Oops!) 

    Thanks, and I'm hoping the note card method keeps me organized! Will share more about it once I've done more than tape up the cards and label the acts and turning points... haha.

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  24. lindaAugust 31, 2011 at 12:38 AM

    I think the main lesson I'm learning is that I'm not cut out for NaNo. Ok, that's not true. The writing regularly aspect of it is great, but trying to churn out words when I don't know what I'm doing just kills me. I hate that I'm generating a ton of useless words and I'm always trying to revise or cut stuff, haha. I think it's from my one-draft writing habits. Am I masochistic for wanting to take another stab at it in November when I (hopefully) get my plot down? :P

    And thank YOU for the great posts! I really liked them. :)

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  25. lindaAugust 31, 2011 at 12:39 AM

    Thanks, Kelley! Nice to meet you too. :)

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