The Pantster Resignes

Traditionally, I am a pantster. I take some peeks into character development, but my plot usually has a mind of it's own. I'm looking today to try some plot development now.

First, the characters. I've come up with 3 that I like right now:

1. The Paranoid Grandmother: Elisa
2. The ADHD afflicted preteen: Aaron
3. The young (college aged) male nurse: Joe

In these three characters I see some of my most beloved story characteristics come to life. I love cranky/quirky old people. I love unpredictable friends. I also love changing perspectives in a book which is how I will write.

So... As I began this outline I got 2 words in and got stuck. But instead of giving up and pantsing it as I have done in the past, I Googled my problem! Isn't it wonderful that we can actually use a tool like that. In any case I found this awesome forum here: Nanowrimo.org that showed a very loose version of an outline. I'm using that to build mine!

Title: I Thought I Saw

1. Intro Normal Life - Who are the Main Characters, set setting:

• Elisa's Perspective
• Introduce neighbor Aaron and Nurse Joe
• Set setting in Elisa's home

2. I know what I want - What do they want in life, goal, dream.

• Aaron's perspective
• looking for a friend
• looking for happiness

3.  I'm getting what I want - What's their plan, how's it happening right now?

• Joe's perspective
• looking for purpose in life
• looking for friends and happiness
• sad and lonely - not achieving goal

4. Inciting Incident - Their plan is ruined by something outside of their control

• Elisa's Perspective
• Introduce paranoia - the media is sabotaging her
• Aaron is in danger because of technology
• Elisa destroy (cell phone/ lap top/ or tv?)

5. I'm not getting what I want - They take in what's happened, reacting emotionally.

• Aaron's perspective
• feelings of pity and betrayal
• alone and empty again. 

6. Why did this happen? - They examine their process and consider how to get back up.

• Joe's perspective
• Why is Elisa paranoid
• Are her worries founded?

7. Enter Exotic World - Because of whatever happened in 4, they are thrown into an exotic world.

• Elisa's perspective
• Gained enthusiasm because of Joe and Aaron
• Her paranoid claims are true!

8. I wanna go home - They are in shock, wanting or trying to get back to the old world.

• Aaron's perspective
• She wants to go back to the ignorance
• She doubts Elisa again.

9. I can't go home - They come to the conclusion that they can't go back, and look around.

• Joe's perspective
• Joe tries to escape Elisa's paranoia
• Can't escape because he knows it is true.

10. Woah - Wait - They become distracted by the new surroundings, then remember their goal.

• Elisa's perspective
• Elisa becomes distracted by the paranoia
• Loses Joe and Aaron's trust. 
• In the loneliness, she remembers her true desire to have a friend. 

11. Enemy Enter - They discover the new antagonist, that will keep them from their goal here.

• Aaron's perspective
• Distrustful of Elisa
• Meets the evil of Elisa's paranoia

12. What now - Depressed about enemy, personal goal, but wondering what to do.

• Joe's perspective
• conflicted about Elisa's paranoia and Aaron's need for friendship
• Attacked by enemy, he sides to protect the girls

13. This May Work - They explore, make friends, maybe unwillingly. Consider options for goal.

• Elisa's perspective
• Align to defeat the evil of her paranoia

14. This isn't so bad - They've accepted the new world.

• Aaron's perspective
• resigned to oversee Elisa's paranoia and befriend her.

15. Enemy Strikes - The enemy threatens their new world.

• Joe's perspective
• The reason for Elisa's paranoia attacks Elisa

16. Main Character Fights - The recovery and Main Character decides they won't stand for this.

• Elisa's perspective
• Kidnapped by her paranoia, Elisa finds hope in the thought of her friends.
• Decides she will not stand for this.

17. Who's With Me - Main and supporting characters, band together to take a stand.

• Aaron's perspective
• Pleads Joe to save Elisa

18. Gear up - They plan and prepare, for journey/battle/some stand, considering what they know.

• Joe's perspective
• Deciphers where Elisa is and who has caused her paranoia 

19. On the Road - They push through, band together, solve problems, put aside differences.

• Elisa's perspective
• Joe and Aaron find Elisa.
• All are reunited
• All are captured by the villian

20. Enemy Plays - The enemy plays at their weak points, threatening their bond and stand.

• Aaron's perspective
• Memory foggy
• Returned home

21. We can do this - They come through, feeling beaten, but band together and agree to push.

• Joe's perspective
• Regains memory and determination

22. Push - They push themselves to the best they can be and continue on toward the final.

• Elisa's perspective
• Reunited for the purpose of taking down the villian

23. The enemy's lair - They arrive at the enemy's front yard, planning, training, observing.

• Aaron's perspective
• They develop a plan

24. Crisis - They move their plans to action and things don't go as planned. Their lowest point.

• Joe's perspective
• Plan fails when they realize that Elisa played a part in uniting with the villian

25. What went wrong - Main Character considers their fault, discovering it was their first problem.

• Elisa's perspective
• Despaired about her previous misgivings

26. Can't give up - They make their plan for their final ditch-effort to take down the enemy.

• Aaron's perspective
• Forgives Elisa, pushes for a final attack on villian

27. Climax - They put this final plan into action, it seems to be going well.

• Joe's perspective
• Set attack and begin to reveal the villian

28. We can do this - They in almost shock at their success continue pushing through in a daze.

• Elisa's perspective
• Hope at winning and defeating her paranoia

29. Victory - They defeat, save, and/or reach their final goal, being victorious. Notable lesson.

• Aaron's perspective
• Success. 
• Achieved goal of friendship
• Achieved goal of helping Elisa

30. Resolution - Wrap up the lose ends - go home/ review lesson learned/ reconcile relationships.

• Third person perspective
• Elisa, Aaron & Joe stay friends as they go through further life changes. 

To Avoid the Worst

Now, an important thing to avoid when writing a novel would be the aspects of novels that you tend to hate and despise. The novels that you hold in your home with the hopes of reading them but never do. I'm talking about the books that you picked up but have not managed to force yourself to read. For me, there are few and far between. I'm not picky about my content and I tend to enjoy most of what I read, however, there are a few. Do not judge or hate me for the things I hate most about the following novels:

Divergent Series
- The bad ending... VERY UNNECESSARY

The Hobbit
- So much traveling
- Each chapter holds a climax and resolution in itself

General List
- Trilogy that becomes a Saga...
- Book only about love
- Any time the bad guy wins
- Series that become never ending

There will be more...

As Good as our Books

I believe it was someone important who said, "A writer is only as good as the books he has read." In other words, we are the product of our experiences and every single beloved story we have read is a part of the writer we are to become.




That said, in preparation for my upcoming month of dedicated writing, I am listing each of my favorite books throughout my lifetime and my favorite parts about each of those books.
*Note: These books are not in order of preference. This is also not an exhaustive list. These are simply the most influential books I can remember at this moment.

Cornelia Funke's The Thief Lord:
- Amazing character development
- Band of loyal friends with similarities and unique qualities.
- Surprising twist that changes your outlook of a character.

James Patterson's Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas
- Reader's expectations and predictions are frequently thrown off or disproved.
- Surprising heart-wrenching twist that changes your outlook of a character.

Janet Evanovich's One For the Money
- Quirky characters (especially the elderly)
- Setting becomes a character in the story.

Kate DiCamillo's The Tale of Desperaux
- Unlikely friends

C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia
- Ongoing tales with similar setting.
- Setting is a big part of the story.
- Illustrates multiple perspectives from a band of characters.

Rachel Cohn & David Levithan's Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
- Moments of brilliant philosophy
- Adventurous and quirky

Ann Rinaldi's The Girl in Blue
- Relateable character
- Various steps in a journey

Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games
- Descriptive and thrilling action scenes
- Hated villain

Veronica Roth's Divergent 
- Unknown aspects revealed slowly through series
- Foreshadowing present

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter
- Band of loyal characters.
- Characters grow together.
- Well... too much to classify.

In General
- Books where perspective swaps characters

Online Graphic Organizers

There are some amazing graphic organizer websites available theses days. SpicyNodes.org has become by favorite! Check out my character map:

It allows you to visually form information as well as add extra pieces including images, videos, and connections to other points within the graphic organizer. It's really a great online resource to try.

For more cool websites that offer online graphic organizers check out Cool Tools for Schools

Preparation for the Non-Prepared

In life, there is a scale of preparation...

To the extreme RIGHT: Those who are prepared... for everything! These people are currently drawing and connecting characters to the plot with added interest in sub plots and possibilities. There are a lot of notes and pictures and fun stuff before April even rolls around.

To the extreme LEFT: Those who are under-prepared. These people sign up for Camp NanoWriMo, probably on March 30. They need nothing but a writing medium and themselves. Words spew out at various rates but the words do come.


Today, I have some tips for both extremes and for the majority of you who fall somewhere between the two.

For specific Non-Preparation;

Well, first of all, if you are reading this blog for the purpose of doing Camp NaNoWriMo, then I would consider this a preparation. IF, however, you are reading just for the heck of it, and you haven't even signed up for camp, then fear not, you have not prepared.

My point ---> Make writing comfortable. Find a place or a time to make writing a daily habit. It can be hard when life gets in the way but you can't let it. If I were to take a poll on how many people shower on a daily basis, I would expect the percentage to be quite high. You find time to shower because you find it necessary. FIND TIME TO WRITE! It can be relaxing and fun! I've started writing this blog. I have NO idea if anyone reads it. I have NO idea if anyone finds my writing useful or interesting... but I write it because I like to write. I've got something to say and I'll say it. Blogger just happens to always be listening, readers or not. Make writing comfortable by finding a comfortable space or a particular time. Nanowrimo is all about challenging yourself to make writing an important part of you life... GOOD LUCK!

I would say that I fall into the group that is less prepared, though I take interest in finding ways to write and encourage writing, I primarily prefer to wing it on the first.

Side note: I am EXTREMELY excited about the upcoming cabin assignments tomorrow!

A Niche in the Wrong Plot

A Niche in the Wrong Plot...

So my writing prompts may be a little lacking. I'll need 1,000 words per day to reach my goal. Now, I could really push my characters and plot, but I'm not sure I'll be as successful in writing that full story. I believe I'll be more successful if with smaller goals: 1,000 words a day on anything! Just giving today a warm up.

The Flood

Two by two, I lined them, orderly and precise. Forlornly the gentle hound leads them on, always the loyal and true friend. The feline perches at the peak of the ship, cunning but sweet. The deer are next bedding down in the soft hay, a poised and beautiful dancer. A pair of turkeys are next, fruitful and deserving. The last drags along behind my great vessel, outcast from the rest, he sleeps lazily, the great bear because even man must have a beast to fear.

1. Hound
2. Feline
3. Deer
4. Chicken
5. Bear

Camp NanoWriMo Pre-Write

Here is the first take on Pre-Writing for Camp NanoWriMo.

NaNo username, lilypearl1362 began a wonderful forum at Your novel in a "What if..." question? So, that got me to thinking in terms of how to pick a story to write. I've had so many over the years that I've never committed to. Here goes:

What if a girl suffering from ADHD wrote about how she saw the world and made sense of it?

Now, very quick disclaimer: I DO NOT have ADHD. It has, however, afflicted my sister, my cousins, and over half of the students that I teach. I feel that the disability is very misunderstood and can cause people without an understanding to become very frustrated.

In the days leading up to April 1, our kickoff date, I will do research on ADHD by interviewing friends and family. I would also like to contact experts (doctors, researchers) on the subject.

Here's my basics: The format will be a journal A young girl with ADHD is headed out to camp. Here she'll meet dozens of people and find many amazing new things. However, we will find that her thoughts are very hard to follow, they jump around and there's not much that is grasped to the fullest. The book starts very warbled. As the story goes on the girl makes attempts to focus on specific things in particular but finds it hard to focus. The conflict involves the girl versus her struggle to focus. I hope to create a young adult novel, perfect for struggling readers.

A Letter to MySelf

A letter to myself, shared with anyone who should happen across it.

Dear Self,

I am writing to you to apologize. You've felt overwhelmed with work and relationships, new promises and old habits. You've set goal after goal after goal about how to be a good person, a healthy person, or a successful person. And goal after goal you falter, crushed by the weight of your own pressure, your nearly successful expectations. I am writing to remind you sincerely that you are a good person, you are healthy, and you are successful. You must remember that despite the potential to improve, YOU ARE ENOUGH! You meet the standards that you have ingrained into your values and daily habits. That standard, the basic nature of who you are is a good person, healthy, and successful. While you always maintain the potential to soar far beyond what you've already become, should you remain as you are, you would find no failure, no fault.

Self, I challenge you to challenge yourself, while always remembering that you have nowhere to go but up. Your goals, whether achieved or missed, are accomplishments in themselves if only for attempting them. "Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll land among the stars!" Now, go full force and try your best. Find triumph in even the smallest of accomplishments and find assurance in your failures for even they are successes in themselves.

My birthday is in April so... now, for my goals for my 23rd year:
1. To write daily in blog, journal, or napkin.
       - Begin by joining Camp NanoWriMo and try to write something worthwhile.
2. To exercise 5 times a week including at least 3 cardio workouts per week.
3. Read a book a month.
4. Reduce candy intake to 1 serving (realistically 3 servings) per day.
5. Reduce food intake to a 2,000 cal diet.
6. Take risks, adventures, and find particular joy in life on a weekly basis. (thinking hiking and making new friends).
7. Find strength and success in your failures. Pick yourself  up keep working.

First Post

So, I'm a recent graduate in the field of Education. I used to love writing for whatever purpose I could imagine. So, I've decided to take down some of my own ramblings as a start back into that habit. I'm at a point in my life where there are so many opportunities available, that I'm left floating in the sea of possibilities. I'd love to have a fan base with people who like to listen to what I have to say, but I'm content to post my words into the oblivion of the internet if only to organize and save for my own purposes.

You'll find everything here from fictional writing posts to the latest thing I'm excited about or proud of. I love crafting, all things education, and I have bursts of healthy discoveries or hopeless excitement for the outdoors. I'm hoping to post about twice a week!

Nearly forgot to mention. My title: Becoming Newfangled is supposed to follow the idea that at 20 something, I'm posting my coming of age story. Deep analogies and philosophies on that topic to come.

Thanks for reading! I'd love your comments!