Snowflake Thoughts

I did it. I finished my plotting and outlining. Step 7 seems like such a long time ago. I am going to have so much fun working the "facts" about my characters into this story. I already know how some of them are going to make their appearance. It probably won't be as funny to anyone other than myself, but the detail will make my characters even better. Step Eight was really difficult. I probably made it worse as I just through out every line that might be a scene as I read through the various synopsis steps. I waited until the end to organize them all, including the ones that I thought of as I went and hadn't planned on incurring. Matching every step and coordinating the details was accomplished in Step Nine. I needed it more than I thought I was going to. Finding the contradictory details out about my characters was really fun though. It make me think of what they were really like, rather than my own perferences. For instance, my main character had an a Mini Cooper in one place and a Mitsubishi Spyder in another. So I had to find out if she was a fun Mini Cooper type or a sexy Spyder type. Both of which are cars I adore. As it turns out, she prefers the Spyder. Step Ten involves actually writing the first draft. I plan to do this in long hand for a couple of reasons.

1. It forces me to slow down and think since I don't write 65+ words a minute as I do when typing
2. I love the feeling of the right pen moving across paper
3. 100% Portability for when my kids want to be upstairs, outside or at the YMCA
4. Editing while typing

I probably could go on for quite some time, but really, isn't that enough? My writing has improved so much since I found Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method. I am so excited about this book. I'm willing to tell people I'm working on a chick lit novel. Being willing to share something as personal as writing is really scary for me. Almost as scary as handing you my journal and demanding that you read it. Mr. Ingermanson's example from Premonition and my reading of the novel gave me the confidence that I really could do this. Others say that it limited their creativity, but I found the opposite to be true. It focuses my attention on what was meaningful to the plot and where to go next. Now I just need to break out my paper and pen, find a quiet spot and start writing.