What? I can only choose one?
But there are so many great
ones such as:
Running into a plot hole the size of the Grand Canyon. Did I
mention clichés?
Or how about when an author sets things into motion, building
tension, everything heading toward a certain logical conclusion and then BAM! POW! Holy
Hockey sticks, Batman...it’s a badly executed plot twist.
And then there is its close cousin...silly and frequent
misunderstandings between the hero and heroine for the sake of tension.
Or weak characters that just allow things to happen to them.
Oh, wait! There’s another huge one I almost
forgot--->>A strong female character suddenly loses her mind and starts
acting in ways that make her Too-Stupid-To-Live. However, I’m totally okay if
the protagonist makes a choice to save her loved ones, even if doing so
jeopardizes her life. I believe the heroine has as much right to be a ‘hero’ as
the hero.
The list goes on. And I’ve run into all of them at one time
or another while reading. (And editing my own work. ::gasp!:: But isn’t writing
about learning to better one’s craft? You bet.)
But my biggest pet peeve is not being able to get a novel
written in a reasonable amount of time. This one ranks highest partly because I
like to keep goals, but also because I’m disappointing readers. (No one was
more surprised than me when I started getting blog comments, emails and
facebook friends asking when the next book will be out.)
Myself, when I’m reading a series, if I have to wait too
long for the next installment, especially if it’s written as a continuing story,
I tend to get cranky and turn into this---->
Sure, stuff
happens—life, the day job, family commitments, and let us not forget book
promotion. It all eats into writing time. But every author has those problems,
and what works for one person doesn’t always work for another.
What works best for me?
Writing it out by hand. Yes, really. A couple months back, I
decided to write a novel out by hand, and to my great surprise the planning,
drafting, and writing just came so much easier. For whatever reason, when I
write it out by hand, it just comes out as a cleaner draft, the characters and
plot just ‘work’ that much better. It wasn’t until I stopped to wonder about
this that it became clear why.
There was no internet.
No facebook. No Twitter, email, pinterest, or blog posts.
Yes, yes, yes...you still need to take part in all that. But
if you’re scatterbrained like me, you need to dedicate an allotted time to each
of those tasks without letting it eat up all your writing time. My brain just
works better if I can allow it to focus fully on one goal at a time. This might
not work for everyone, but if you’re having trouble meeting deadlines, give it
a try.
Thanks for stopping by and happy writing!
Lisa Blackwood is the author of Betrayal’s Price (a romantic
epic fantasy)
12 comments:
great post, Lisa. You've had us run the gamut here. I'm with you on the last one. Must go back to hand written plots, that has worked for me before. Thanks.
Gosh, Lisa, it's quite a thought that people might one day ask when the next book's coming along. They do now, but it's social chit-chat, Anne's a writer ask about writing sort of ask.
I have sometimes started up again after a holiday or crisis break by writing manually. There's something about that act of creating letters on paper. Lovely post - how do I get the red highlights, please? Anne Stenhouse
Hi Wendy,
There's only one downside of writing it out by hand, I have to type it all in later. LOL.
Hi Anne,
There is something about putting pen to paper. We do it so little now days--at least, I do, that I almost had to relearn how to write by hand. Just about everything in done on computers, and the little I do by hand (like lists, memo, note etc) is very short and usually a mix of printing and writing. No idea why. LOL.
As for changing font color in the post, I just underlined and then highlighted the whole thing and changed the font color--works the same on blogger and email as it does on Word.
I'm guilty of the time sucker activities, but write by long hand no way. I'd never be able to read it. I have terrible handwriting!
I like to write poems with pen and paper. The pen seems to link to my heart and the emotions and thoughts flow through it to the paper. But to write an entire novel by hand? I haven't done that since seventh grade!
This winter my 12 year old grandson and I have been writing letters to each other via snail mail. It's a rewarding task when his letter arrives in the mail box addressed to Grandpa and Grandma. Very special this handwriting business.
Thanks for sharing your pet peeves and I'd say you have a few!!!
I'd have to be able to read my writing. That could be tricky.
Hi Lisa,
Loved your post. What a great idea to write out in longhand! Just off to switch off my laptop and get out a pad and pen. No more distractions!
Clever post, Lisa. But I'm with Victoria, above. I can hardly write out a grocery list with a pencil on paper anymore. My brain runs faster than I can get words down, then I forget what I was going to write. LOL Even though I'd written short stories and plays as a young person, I'd never have completed 6 novels with the first one getting published this summer without the computer. Thank heavens for cut and paste. :)
A friend of mine and I share your dislike for the brainless heroine. Makes you wonder what some folks are thinking.
P.S. Thanks for posting the reminder on the MIU Author loop about the blog.
Yah,
You do have to be able to read your own handwriting. LOL. I'm fast at writing by hand, which helps. Though, typing everything out is a bit of a downside, but I'm fast, so it doesn't take too long.
Wonderful post, Lisa. I like to keep small notebooks here and there so I can jot down ideas. I can't always be near the old keyboard, and writing by hand does change the flow of thoughts, at least for me. Happy writing to you, however you do it!
Post a Comment