"Get Your Book Finished" Preface (Brainstorming)
Posted by

     I'm the biggest procrastinator ever! And I'm not proud of it! I've been on this one particular project for ten years. I'm not joking. It's really been a decade... I've never finished a manuscript in my life and I'm fed up! No more! So, to combat my inherent naughtiness, I've decided to start a project called, "Get Your Book Finished". It'll run from March 1st to June 30th. That gives us all four months to get our rough drafts done! 

     I have a few ideas but I want to know what you all think will be helpful or fun to do for our endeavor. Please comment and I'll post the final discussion board on Feb. 29th!

MY IDEAS

A few things we should have ready:

1) A chosen project (YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy), 2) a gripping synopsis of your project, & 3) a chapter synopsis OR a 2-page synopsis of what happens in your book.

***I don't know if you want me to randomly choose who will trade their projects or if you'd prefer to have everyone post their synopsis and you can choose which project sounds the most interesting to you. We could also just pass our work to the person "on our left" and have a circle system. Let me know what you think.

***I also thought utilizing Skype for the critiquing process might be helpful. (I personally absorb information better when I can see the person speaking).

0
Replies
  • Thats fantastic - thank you, yes. Im looking for a sounding board more than anything else - what I am writing is a fantasy/time-travel/romance/adventure type novel - I am not necessarily aiming it for a young adult audience, but Im not looking to go into full "adult" material either. Basically just focusing on telling the story right now. But I keep hitting upon some major issues for the set up of my story, and would love to voice them to someone who can tell me if Im crazy to do it that way or not.  Chatting here or on Gmail Chat would be fine with me - let me know!

    And I would be happy to reciprocate for you as well!

  • Uww...I actually love doing that but every writer says you shouldn't because it fractures your attention too much. I say, "Baby, I'm ADD; my attention will be split regardless." Do whatever you feel is best!

  • Exactly, and speaking of dreams, WORK WORK WORK!!! (Cracks a whip) I'm too easily distracted too....internet...no! No more! Focusing! Working! Focusing!!!!!!!!!

  • LOL Oh, Joy! You tickle me! I was discouraged for a moment but then I thought, "Hey, I have Joy!" I posted my synopsis on my blog page. Maybe only having the two of us is what we need; complete focus on ourselves and one other person. I have to admit, I was concerned I'd be a little to frazzled and divided to finish my OWN work. So, at least we have each other!

  • Joy, even if you weren't writing a YA novel, we still love you as our member! Don't get too hung up on whether your work is YA, Adult, Fantasy, or Sci-Fi; our works do take on a life of their own and not everything will fit into this group's original category but that's okay. Just write YOUR story and I'm sure we'll love it!

  • Yeah, I don't think idea stealing will be a problem but I know it was one of Joy's concerns. We're all adults; we know stealing is wrong, etc. And I like the ground rule idea. I like the "asking permission" rule and the "if you don't want someone to use your critique idea, don't say it" rule. Thanks for your suggestions. Uw, aliens! Yes! Well, I don't know the other women's projects but I'll figure out division on the 1st. Also (a moment of shameless self-promotion) I just posted some more videos on Character, Emotion, & POV on my page. You should check them out!

  • I honestly don't think that idea stealing will be an issue, especially since all the parties involved are so aware of it as a result of this discussion. Maybe we could all agree to some ground rules before we start that will avoid ambiguous situations. For example, if someone suggests something or you hear something in a discussion that you'd like to use, you have to ask the person who said it before using it. Also, in other critique groups I've been in, people have known that if they are giving comments on someone else's work they understand the recipient might actually use what they say, so they shouldn't say anything they don't want the other person to use literally. These things often rise and fall on the virtue of interpersonal chemistry though.

    Also, the draft I'm working on is a fantasy mystery story about teenage aliens if that helps in the dividing.

    :)