“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” (Robert Frost)
This is one of the main reasons I’ve always been scared of planning in my writing. I was so sure that any sort of pre-planning would kill any and all hope of potential twists and turns in my story. Plus, I’d read numerous articles, by very famous authors, who proclaimed they did no planning whatsoever. They just sat down at their typewriters or computers and, from start to finish, wrote the story I’d read. So I thought this was how all good writers wrote.
Well, let me tell you, I’ve never had a better grasp of my stories than after I began using Holly Lisle‘s techniques. I get pings of inspiration, potential twists, and new directions all the time, especially during the planning phases, but even after I’m finished planning, which is when I most feared losing my spark. And Holly’s Sentence Lite is the ultimate way to plan while not stifling my muse’s need to create and explore.
I’ve also learned some great ways to cultivate surprises and goosebumps and shivers down the spine–only time will tell if I’ve successfully implemented them though ;P
It sounds as though these techniques have been very helpful. Everyone seems to have their own way of writing and sometimes it takes awhile to find out what works best for us.
I’m not a planner, but I’ve found that hurts me sometimes. It causes too many rewrites. I’ll have to check out Holy’s techniques. Thanks for joinging my blog by the way! I look forward to getting to know you.