Friday 2 March 2007

Randy

No, I'm not. But I've always liked the name. What sort of parents call their child Randy? It's like having the surname Bates. Very unfortunate if you are a small boy in the UK "and how is young Master Bates to-day?"

Anyway, I came across a chap called Randy Ingermanson who is a published writer. He advocates the 'Snowflake method' of novel writing, which seems rather sensible. He also posits the question 'Want to get your novel published?' Duh!

I've discovered I'm a 'Pantser', not a 'plotter'. Oddly it's my namesake who tells me this. Two Camys? I ask you. I know which one I like best. :)

So now I know I need to snowflake, all I need is the perseverance, determination and energy: all of which I seem to be lacking in abundance today ... and probably tomorrow as well.

I've discovered a flaw in my character. If I can't be arsed to finish writing a story/chapter/song/whatever, I simply put it to one side and start something new. Consequently I have a lot of unfinished 'bits' waiting for completion. Seraph is causing me so much trouble I'm tempted to be very silly with it. After all, Gabriel is the name of an angel. When, or if, I finish Seraph, I am going to renounce pantsing forever, and will try to become a snowflaker ... then again.

2 comments:

Kitty said...

*throws snowball at Camy*

Kapitano said...

Pantsing - the ancient art of making stuff up as you go along. Also known as invention, lack of forward planning, creativity, spontenaity, being disoraganised and being inspired. Use whichever connotation you prefer.

I have a different problem - I'm a "one session" writer. If I write half a story in one three hour burst of sustained writing, it's very difficult to get together the will to write the second half. To complete something, I usually have to do it all in one go. That goes for songwriting, composing, writing fiction, writing essays and everything else.

I studied the 'snowflake' metaphor in a past life as computer programmer. So far as I could tell, it meant exactly the same thing as the old "top down' approach, but with a prettier graphic.

And I've often admired men called Randi.