Pantzer or Plotter?

I'm a pantzer. Meaning I write by the seat of my pants, making it up as I go along. This is directly opposed to a plotter. There's pros and cons to both methods and I actually think it would be easier to write a novel as a plotter, but I've spent months and months trying to be one, and it has never worked. The more I plot, the more I analyze. The more I analyze, the more I doubt and rethink and second-guess until I am hopelessly snarled and not even sure what I'm doing any more or if I even want to write. A bloggy friend of mine, Thomas Kingsley Troupe , author of Patrick's Super Socks and other fabulous pieces of fiction that haven't been discovered yet, gave me some advice not too long ago that, for me, cut through all the millions of other pieces of advice floating around out there. He said write the story quick before you get tired of it. I usually get stuck half way through because by that time, I'm so tired of the story, I lose all interest. I'm trying to take his advice though. I don't have much time to write, but I get an hour in the morning before school, and if I'm not too tired (although I usually am) I get 1-1 1/2 hours in the evenings. Ever since Christmas break, I've just been writing and writing. I never know what's going to happen next, so I write to find out. The problem is that I kinda forget stuff I wrote 50 pages ago (actually I forget stuff less than 10 pages ago). That's one time it would help to be a plotter. Sigh. But I'm at a juicy part now. One of the characters just decided to kiss another one. Here I was, writing along with no thought of that, and this guy just decides he likes this girl and he's going to show her...NOW. Without even asking me, the writer. Like he was a real person or something. Oh wait.

Fonts

What's up with the debate over fonts? If you submit your work to publishers, editors, or contests, the buzz is that they all like and/or expect your work to be in one of two fonts: either Courier or Times New Roman. If you write in Word like I do and keep a running total of word or page count, you will see there is a big difference between the two. Not in word count, obviously, but Courier uses up a lot more pages than Times New Roman. So a MS (manuscript) or WIP (work in progress) could have, say, 85 pages in Courier but only 69 in Times New Roman (that's a guess). When writing for yourself it doesn't matter, but the two contests I entered called for a synopsis and the first 15 pages. Well, there is a big difference over how much writing 15 pages includes depending on the font I use. I prefer Times New Roman, because I think Courier is an ugly font. Of course, when you are writing for yourself, you can highlight the whole passage and change the font into anything you wish...it is just as easy to change back when you need to. And when you submit something, it's amazing how you can manipulate it in Word so that it pretty much fits into the parameters you need. The exception is when you are working with word counts, not page counts...word counts are pretty black and white. But that's another entry.

I'm finally finished judging the writing contest. I've judged seven contests now and I always forget how time-consuming it is, especially the entries that need a lot of work. And then there's the delicate balance between being helpful and being discouraging. I finally decided to highlight things in different colors that need attention (with a key to explain what the colors mean), then put a list of positives and negatives at the end. Then there the tons of judge's ratings and comments. It takes a long time. Have I said that? But I enjoy it because it keeps my writing muscles active while I don't have the time to devote to writing that I'd like.

Here's a few tips I pass along to new writers sometimes. They are all things I've learned from other writers and tons of critiques of my own work.

1. YOU DON’T NEED DIALOG TAGS UNLESS IT IS NECESSARY TO IMPART SOME INFORMATION OR THE SPEAKER IS UNCLEAR WITHOUT A TAG.
2. KEEP THE DIALOG REAL. DON'T HAVE PEOPLE WHO KNOW EACH OTHER WELL SAY THINGS TO EACH OTHER THEY WOULD ALREADY KNOW JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT THE READER TO LEARN SOMETHING. THAT IS CALLED INFO-DUMP AND IT MAKES THE DIALOG STIFF AND UNREALISTIC. LISTEN TO HOW PEOPLE REALLY TALK AND TRY TO EMULATE THAT.
3. DID YOU KNOW THAT THE WORD "THAT" IS ALMOST ALWAYS UNNECESSARY? BE CAREFUL USING IT AND ONLY RARELY USE -LY (ADVERBS) AND –ING (GERUNDS).
4. CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE STRUCTURE OF EACH SENTENCE. AVOID UNNECESSARY PHRASES AND WORDINESS (WHERE POSSIBLE, USE THREE WORDS INSTEAD OF SIX). AVOID PASSIVE SENTENCE STRUCTURE, WHICH IS DISTANCING. PASSIVE STRUCTURE MEANS THE SUBJECT IS BEING ACTED UPON. IE, THE BALL WAS THROWN BY THE BOY. ACTIVE STRUCTURE MEANS THE SUBJECT IS DOING THE ACTION. IE, THE BOY THREW THE BALL. WAS, WERE, HAD, ETC CAN BE INDICATORS OF THE PASSIVE VOICE, BUT NOT ALWAYS.
5. THE PACE OF THE STORY NEEDS TO KEEP MOVING WITH A GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN DIALOG, NARRATION AND ACTION. TOO MUCH OF ANY OF THOSE ELEMENTS CAN MESS UP THE PACE.
6. THERE’S DIFFERENT THOUGHTS ABOUT POV (POINT OF VIEW OR WHOSE HEAD WE ARE IN), BUT GENERALLY YOU SHOULD STAY IN ONE POV FOR AT LEAST HALF THE SCENE, AND USUALLY YOU SHOULD ONLY USE THE POV OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS. ASK YOURSELF WHO HAS MORE TO LOSE WHEN TRYING TO DECIDE WHAT POV TO USE. SOME AUTHORS “HEAD HOP” MORE OFTEN, AND THAT CAN BE ACCEPTABLE IF DONE SKILLFULLY, BUT FOR A NEW AUTHOR, IT CAN BE A RED FLAG TO AGENTS/EDITORS. REGARDLESS, JUMPING FROM ONE POV INTO ANOTHER FROM SENTENCE TO SENTENCE OR EVEN WITHIN THE SAME SENTENCE IS POOR WRITING AND SHOULD BE CAREFULLY AVOIDED.
7. USE EXCLAMATION POINTS RARELY, IF AT ALL, ESPECIALLY IF YOU USE THE PHRASE HE/SHE EXCLAIMED, WHICH MEANS THE SAME THING.

So there's my little opinions, written with confidence as if I am an expert. Sigh. Writing is like a puzzle, only it's a different design for everyone. Why can't there be black and white rules? I guess because then it would be math and not art! :-)