Plotting

Coming up with a great plot isn't easy. In fact, once you've come into your own voice and started to really write well, plot is one of the main things that can hold a writer back from getting published. My rejection from Silhouette Desire seemed to be mostly about plot. According to the letter, I am a "strong storyteller" but flaws in the plot slowed down the pacing of the novel. Now that I am working on something with less rigid guidelines, holding onto a tight plot is even more difficult.

In my current WIP, I only have about 1/4 of the novel plotted out. Control freak that I am, I really want to know what's going to happen. It's difficult for me to just let the plot flow as I write, because nine times out of ten, I get so far into a plot that isn't working that I end up having to throw away dozens of pages and start over. Maybe as time goes by and I write more, my intuition about these things will get better, but for now, I need to work out the plot in advance.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that I don't ever leave room for changes or spontaneous ideas when I'm writing. I just like to have a basic outline of the plot with a short description of what's going to happen in the scene. When I'm actually writing out that scene, however, there are always new things that come in. If something really comes through and surprises me, I am open to going through the later outlined scenes and making changes to fit the new development. I try to keep an open mind despite my control freak personality.

Today, I am meeting with my noveling group and we are, for the first time, discussing my work. I am so nervous, but also excited to get some feedback. There's a contest I want to enter by Feb. 1st, so some good feedback might help me decide how to go about revising my first 25 pages for the contest. (I'm entering the YA category and the final judge is from Berkley Publishing, which could be a HUGE opportunity!) Hopefully they will help me with some plot issues I'm having and help steer me in the right direction.