Buried in Books
GPS-ing Our Plots
Last weekend I went to the beach with my kids. I’d never been there, but I looked it up on-line, plus I got an address to enter into my handy, dandy GPS.
Fortunately I had google-mapped it, because the GPS wanted me to go straight through DC (which EVERYONE knows you avoid if you can). I went around.
But on the way home, I was in no rush. The kids had a movie going, so I thought, why not? Let’s see where the GPS takes me.
Wow.
A path I NEVER would have taken in a million years. Still, it got me home and it only took 15 extra minutes.
When I started my now-complete novel, I had a plan. The basic chapters laid out. It was to be a short, funny jaunt through fairydom. Apparently my internal GPS had a different idea. All kinds of elements and subplots snuck in there, and the book went a different direction than I had planned.
Was that a bad thing? I don’t think so. Was my first plot-line terrible? I don’t think so either.
That’s what’s so great about writing. Our books can go so many different directions, and it’s all up to us.
How do you decide where to go with a book?
Speak up:
15 comments| TAGS:
beach, Buried in Books, GPS, plotHousekeeping
Yes, this is a lot of what I have been doing today (housekeeping), as I’ve neglected it for the better part of a week. I swear laundry increases exponentially when you ignore it for a day or five.
Not to break my stride, I’ll keep up with the housekeeping here.
First, I wanted to let you know that while I don’t normally blog on Saturday, I have joined in on Elle Strauss‘s First Page Blogfest. I couldn’t resist. The darn thing keeps changing, so I thought I’d appreciate hearing others’ reactions. (Especially from those of you who have read a previous version!). So I’d love it if you would weigh in . . . any comments to help me make it better would be greatly appreciated!
Second, I won a couple of awards a while ago, and I’ve been meaning to publicly thank them for a while now.
Heather at Buried in Books gave me the Versatile Blogger Award.
And Amy at The Green Bathtub gave me The Creative Blogger Award
While I don’t post pictures of awards I’ve received, I’m always so flattered when people think of me and my little blog when bestowing them. It brightens my day to know that I was being thought of in such a nice way. So THANK YOU!
I know the rules require tidbits about myself and bestowing it to others. Since I don’t have the particulars, I’ll just pretend that 5 is a good number on both counts. However, this is getting long, and I have a rule against long blogs, so you’ll have to wait until Monday. Cruel, I know. 😉
Have a great weekend!