It has become clear recently that I like revising my already written work WAY more than writing it in the first place. I've been thinking a lot about this the past few days and I have narrowed it down to the fact that I am a hard-core plotter. Like “Stop the presses until I figure this shiz out!” kind of plotter. Everything has to fit nice and neat into a little package before I flesh it out into a full story.
I have tried every which way to plot out this novel and then write the damn thing but as I'm writing I want to change something, and instead of writing notes on what has to be changed to already written material, I have the NEED to go back to the beginning and revise all the way down and then start writing again.
My current battle has been putting a big axe to the love tangle sub plot. I have decided after reading several peoples opinion on the triangle that I didn't want it in my story. The love triangle has been done in every form and I don’t want to feel the need to add a “Team this guy” or “Team that guy” to give readers something to fight about. If I do my job right they will find something to root for as well as a character to gush over. I was focusing way to much on the sub plot that it became the main plot. The romance was a front runner and I don’t want this story to be a romance. So I am attempting to plot yet again. It has taken 3 days so far and I've not gotten far. Because while I have to plot to write, plotting frustrates me to no end. The first quarter of this book has been written three times and now I have the urge to go back and nix the triangle.
I am refraining from going back over already written material at least until the plot is set. Good ole’ fashioned pen and paper is my method of this plotting spree. It was going great at first, I had written 10 pages before I knew it, but then I had a life to live and when I eventually got back to plotting the spark was gone and the tension builds in my chest with frustration at my lack of wanting to plot this story yet again. I know part of it stems from the fact that I still don’t have a clear vision on how I want this baby to end and without an ending in mind the plot is just craziness.
Overall, I think maybe I have been working on this project for too long, (almost 2 years) and that I need to sit it down for a bit and forget about it for a while. Maybe, I’ll come back refreshed and ready to tackle it with full force. But there isn't a day that goes by where I don’t think about my characters or the situations I want to put them in. So, I think I’ll just research aliens for a few days and get some inspiration.
Are you a plotter? What kind of method do you use to plot? I'm willing to try anything!
