OUTLINING: Writing on Your Palm

This is another outlining advice thing in preparation for the World's Strongest Writer Marathon.

i caved.

I'm signing up for the World's Strongest Writer thing at the OWW. I'll post more as it becomes relevant, but it gives me a small deadline to meet to go with the larger one since I'm doing a summer wrimo too.

TLGM Update: Veni, Vidi, Vici..

I have completed the three sentence plot summary for Pahil. By its nature such a summary gives away very little of the plot.

Thinking about Veni, Vidi, Vici... That's one of the most basic of plot summaries: I came, I saw, I conquered. The first sentence is the most basic summary of the plot, the second the beginning, the third, the resolution.

If we applied that to, say, Harry Potter, it would probably read Harry Potter came to Hogwarts, met Lord Voldemort, and killed him. You know, since one is not supposed to live while the other lives and that one of them must die for the other to, you know... That basic summary doesn't really give away the plot either, does it? Not the major plot, anyway.

I still have at least seven more index cards to do with the three sentences. I mean, I have written outlines before, but this is outlining at its most basic level. It's something I really should do at this point though, another step in taming the Beast.

In some ways, it's worse than all the planning that I have done for Swain's World (I put that project aside in order to work on this story first). At least that spans three generations, even if it's a planned quintet of trilogies, remainder two at this point.In case you're wondering, Swain's World was also the name of my flash which appeared in the first issue of The Cosmic Unicorn. Taking the time out for this project fist before tackling that (even though I have well over 100k written on SW it's in no coherent sequence) because I have spent too much time on it and I needed a break.

Veni, Vidi, Vici.. That about summarizes my views on them. I'm in the middle of the vidi stage. Someday, hopefully soon, I'll draw up the last page and can say vici to the story.

Hey. You never know.

Re: [Liz's Looming Lunacy] No-Frills Synopsis, Outline, Plot Summary Notes

The first, I can manage on index cards. It's only three sentences. I can work on that after lunch (hey, so I'm hungry, so sue me - oh, wait, I can't afford the litigation lol). I'm just going to take a bit of time and think about it over coffee before I do so: eight books, eight different subjects.

On 6/26/05, Liz <elizabethanneensley@yahoo.com> wrote:

The Three Sentence Outline Synopsis
1. One sentence: what is your book about?
2. One sentence: How does it begin?
3. One sentence: How does it end?

The One Page Synopsis
Using those three sentences as your base, build a one-page summary of your plot.

No-Frills Synopsis, Outline, Plot Summary Notes

Writing the Tight (Bare Bones) Synopsis
By Beth Anderson © 2001
Workshop Presentation at Autumn Authors' Affair XIV
________________________________________________

The gist of this presentation:

The Three Sentence Outline Synopsis
1. One sentence: what is your book about?
2. One sentence: How does it begin?
3. One sentence: How does it end?

The One Page Synopsis
Using those three sentences as your base, build a one-page summary of your plot.

You can expand it further: the article mentions this patterning of pages (separate files) ranging from

* Three sentence.
* One page.
* Three pages.
* Six pages.
* Eight pages.
* Ten pages.
* Twelve pages (maximum).
--
This did seem helpful and concise: I decided to post my summary to serve as a reminder - and maybe to help someone out in a pinch who just appens to be reading this posting.

Re: [Liz's Looming Lunacy] NaNoWriMo's Pledge May Still Apply

I think I had better amend that to eight scenes per day lol - one for each book.

I should go and write the outlines now..... lol.

On 6/24/05, Liz <elizabethanneensley@yahoo.com> wrote:

My NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) Pledge: To Write A Minimum of five scenes or 2500 words per day during the month of November.

Considering how slow a start I got off to for the summer wrimo, I think it would do me much good to remember this pledge because I can reapply it for the summer wrimo.


--
Posted by Liz to Liz's Looming Lunacy at 6/24/2005 02:28:13 PM

--


--
Regards,
Elizabeth Anne Ensley
http://www.livejournal.com/users/snapes_angel/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/liz_ensley/
http://www.tiedtothetracks.com/storytelling/archives/000098.htm

Fwd: This week in ElizabethAnneEnsley

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: MSN Groups <notifications@groups.msn.com>
Date: Jun 26, 2005 7:22 AM
Subject: This week in ElizabethAnneEnsley

	Weekly Report of ElizabethAnneEnsley Group Activity

New Messages

[The Last Great Mage] Notes		[ElizabethAnneEnsley] Revenge of the Pumpkins
[ElizabethAnneEnsley] A Dragon Ate My Homework		[ElizabethAnneEnsley] Levels of Horror
Fowl Play

New Photos
There are 4 new photos in this group.
Go to your group to view all the new photos .

New photos have been added to:

Pictures

My Picture

Me, roughly six years ago.

Ensley_Family

THe Four Plus One

New Or Updated Lists
Links

New Members
Liz

Regards,
Elizabeth Anne Ensley
http://www.livejournal.com/users/snapes_angel/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/liz_ensley/
http://www.tiedtothetracks.com/storytelling/archives/000098.htm

NaNoWriMo's Pledge May Still Apply

My NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) Pledge: To Write A Minimum of five scenes or 2500 words per day during the month of November.

Considering how slow a start I got off to for the summer wrimo, I think it would do me much good to remember this pledge because I can reapply it for the summer wrimo.

Groggy Update

I'm dedicating myself today to do Tarot layouts for the stories, mainly the story arc. I also have some papers to fill out. I might get some writing done, but this story arc prewriting thing, I need to do for myself. I have general ideas but this should help me clarify them.

I'm going to try it. With eight separate viewpoints, eight separate characters and eight separate novels that I'm working on all at the same time, eight individual stories that are part on one whole story-well... *yawn* I'm insane, that must be the only reason I'm trying it.  At least when they're all done I can pick and choose exactly what I want to do, including taking whole parts and adapting them to author omniscient.

Even if I do have to take some scenes verbatim from one vp and adapt them to another's. *sigh*

I am not awake.....

--
Regards,
Elizabeth Anne Ensley
http://www.livejournal.com/users/snapes_angel/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/liz_ensley/
http://www.tiedtothetracks.com/storytelling/archives/000098.htm

Yay!

I managed to write somewhat yesterday. I can post a revised word count later or tomorrow, but it's over 500 words. Slowly but surely...

--


--
Regards,
Elizabeth Anne Ensley
http://www.livejournal.com/users/snapes_angel/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/liz_ensley/
http://www.tiedtothetracks.com/storytelling/archives/000098.htm

Update 06-14-2005

[TLGM] Hara
191 / 50,000
(0.4%)

[TLGM] Melvin
151 / 50,000
(0.3%)

[TLGM] Pahil
28,066 / 50,000
(56.1%)

[TLGM] Lee
5,506 / 50,000
(11.0%)

[TLGM] Luk
3,276 / 50,000
(6.6%)

[TLGM] Rowan
799 / 50,000
(1.6%)

[TLGM] Penn
2,122 / 50,000


[TLGM] Arcadia
1,567 / 50,000
(3.1%)

[TLGM] Total Word Count

42,152 / 400,000 (0.0%)

Weekly Writing Prompt

[FWS] Weekly Writing Prompt

Reply

Reply to Sender    Recommend Message 55 in Discussion

From: Chaos Smythe As usuaI, have been very bad at posting a prompt: but we'll see,,, Marshmallow plant About.....Marshmallow</.a> Marshmallow Poops official site. Marshmallow Shooter Marshmallow Fluff School to pay $2 million in marshmallow choking death Make a solar powered marshmallow roaster How do they make marshmallows? MARSHMALLOW ALBUM RELEASED IN AUSTRALIA! National Marshmallow Toasting Day I don't need to tell you, right? The writing prompt ofr this week is marshmallows. GirlMonsters They came from the dark corners of your lollipop wrapper... Here to creep you out with marshmallow horror. Marshmallow Horror Films

Pet Peeves Dept.

          ... It drives me nuts when people refer to human beings, homo sapiens, as the only intelligent species in the universe.
          Sorry, had to get that out of my system lol.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Clue?

          She thinks i'm jsut reading the Harry Potter series for my own enjoyment. Well, that's part of it; I also enjoy reading Tamora Pierce's series. See, I finally decided that's what I want to writ/am writing, trying to target the same audience. My reading and studying those books are an investment and investigation for me. Granted, parts of Ms. Pierce's books seem a bit too risquè for me to write similar for my characters, but on the whole they are put together rather well.
          I have laso seen the British cover for the HP book 6 and from some cues I see, I suspect that alchemy plays quite a role in it. You see, Albus Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel were partners for awhile. Nicholas Flamel came up with the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) stone in the HP books, the elixer of which can prolong life (imbibed indefinitely, it can lead to a sort of immortality where you depend upon the liquid excreted from it for continued survival). It can also produce gold.
           There does sem to be a lot of the water element and a few gold tones in it, that British cover. there als oseems to be a partnership thing going on with the two hands, and maybe even a shattered covenant or something (note the emblem on the ring).
          I wondered if, perhaps, Professor Dumbledore and Harry Potter are going to work together to try and create another Philosopher's Stone, if only for bait to lure Voldemort out of his hidey-hole.
          just wondering...
--
Regards,
Elizabeth Anne Ensley
http://www.livejournal.com/users/snapes_angel/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/liz_ensley/
http://www.tiedtothetracks.com/storytelling/archives/000098.htm

Typical

Well, I did write  a bit, so far. I really need to pick up the pace for NaNo summer camp. *sigh*

Did you ever have one of those weekends where things just went strange? I was editing some older shorts last night with an eye towards sending them out; but since we had company I had to turn off the computer (which is now in the living room and Rachel slept on the couch. Still, while they both slept this morning I spent time in my bedroom doing a Tarot reading and then outlining the events and things for the first scene. I decided to start earlier in the story so the beginning is always so slow, when you already have a whole bunch of stuff written that you decided would be later in the story instead. My goal is the equivalent of eight 50k books, all one story, eight different viewpoints, and then it will be pruned, pared and reedited into one coherent whole. That's a total of 400k I'm aiming for.

Terror has a mattress under her bed for company but it never gets used. *sigh* Except when both Nep and Zeth were here last month, he slept on the couch and Nep got Terror's bed and Terror took the spare).

I decided on eight separate viewpoints because it's the best way to organize the action and then figure out which two viewpoints are the best. It can't be told from just one since the story happens in two separate and distinct locations to two different characters. I'm not going to say anything more than that because while the characters are separate and unique, while they are in two separate geographical locations, they're closer than they want to be and the story of one impacts upon the other in a major way.

"It don't get much better than this..."

Rethinking

I've been thinking that maybe 400k might be a bit much for me to wrap my brain around, this early in the century; so instead of working on the story from two different locations I'll do one location at a time. I think it's going to start from the antagonist's kingdom, since that's where Luk, Rowan and Penn are - and eventually Pahil. Come to think of it, that's mostly where Pahil is, although Luk's story changes over to Thorne's Holde eventually. I think I'll just concentrate on the beginning and work it out as I go: this is part of what's held  my writing still, thinking about all this.

I managed to finish a part for one rr I'm in, a HP/Gremlins crossover (don't knock fanfic, it can be a good exercise in creativity - and I try to inject at least some plot into parts I write, even where none seems to be wanted per se LOL).

I need coffee now, and maybe even a nap. *sigh*

Oh, the pain, the pain...

I managed to add a few hundred words but I had to go out and do more shopping. Grr. This is after I had to balance a few things and juggle them around so Terror could get a rabbit pinata for her school project. Granted, it's not the one she wanted, but instead it's a rabbit popping out of a hat - but any rabbit in a swarm, right?

I am In A Great Deal Of Pain Right Now, Thank You Very Much. It's no wonder I'll go to bed after finishing this update. I want to get some writing done tomorrow but I have to go yet again because there are still a couple more things to buy plus photocopies to make.

Tomorrow, I'm bringning the cheap little shopping cart with me. Xp Maybe I won't hurt quite so much when I get home.

Good night.

Word Meter

[TLGM] Hara

191 / 50,000 (0.4%)

[TLGM] Melvin

151 / 50,000 (0.3%)

[TLGM] Pahil

27,540 / 50,000 (55.1%)

[TLGM] Lee

5,506 / 50,000 (11.0%)

[TLGM] Luk

3,276 / 50,000 (6.6%)

[TLGM] Rowan

799 / 50,000 (1.6%)

[TLGM] Penn

2,122 / 50,000 (4.2%)

[TLGM] Arcadia

1,567 / 50,000 (3.1%)

[TLGM] Total Word Count

41,152 / 400,000 (8.2%)

Current Word Counts

00,191 / 50,000 [TLGM] Hara
00,151 / 50,000 [TLGM] Melvin
27,540 / 50,000 [TLGM] Pahil
05,506 / 50,000 [TLGM] Lee
03,276 / 50,000 [TLGM] Luk
00,799 / 50,000 [TLGM] Rowan
02,122 / 50,000 [TLGM] Penn
01,567 / 50,000 [TLGM] Arcadia
_____________
41,152 / 50,000 Total Word Count

Worm Virus Warning

          There is a dangerous virus being passed electronically, orally and by hand. This virus is called Worm-Overload- Recreational-Killer (WORK). If you receive WORK from any of your colleagues, your boss or anyone else via any means DO NOT TOUCH IT!

          This virus will wipe out your private life completely. If you should come into contact with WORK, put your jacket on and take two good friends to the nearest pub. Purchase the antidote known as Work-Isolator-Neutralizer-Extractor (WINE).

          The quickest acting WINE type is called Swift-Hitting-Infiltrator-Remover-All-Zones (SHIRAZ) but this is only available for those who can afford it. The next best equivalent is Cheapest-Available-System-Killer ( CASK). Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system.

          Forward this warning to 5 friends. If you do not have five friends you have already been infected and WORK is controlling your life. This virus is DEADLY (Destroys-Every-Available-Decent-Living-Youngster).

UPDATE 29-05-05:

          After extensive testing it has been concluded that Best-Equivalent-Extractor-Remedy (BEER) may be substituted for WINE but may require a more generous application.

Swinburne University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code: 00111D

Addendum to Potty Parody Report

I heard more details about it this morning. Apparently it's for bars and similar establishments. They're supposed to double the amount of toilets. Nothing about public facilities whatsoever. Too bad, they really need some decent public toilets.

Growl, snarl, grr.

08:06 pm - Growl, snarl, grr.

          My left hand and arm have been in a great deal of pain all day.

          I have also been very foolish, killed myself moving my computer system to the living room (where it should have gone in the first place, thank you Rose and everyone who moved me into the flat last year!) and I managed ot get t least the power supply and the monitor hooked up correctly. Not so the mouse, prolly the keyboard, msot definitely the printer. Hey, at least it was all on wheels. The monitor base, however, isn't stable. It's a cheap plastic thing which fell apart and it defies all attempts to put it back together. The monitor proper is precariously balanced between the edge of the desk proper (a recessed shelf usually holds the monitor) and the original cheap stand.

          I write better with the television on. I am A Very Strange Person. There is no television in the bedroom. Thre is a television in the living room.
          Sore, tired, hungry. Food, TV, W.I.T.C.H. (animated program)and then, perhaps, bed. I will try to readjust my computer tomorrow, in broad daylight.

          And yes, I'm using Terror's to go online. I always use Terror's to go online. Why? Because the wireless network is not working (not that it matters because for all intents and purposes at the moment my computer is not working).

          Darn. Wanted to get some writing done tonight.

          Darn.

'Potty Parity" Bill

Mayor Bloomberg is set to sign a "potty parity" bill - I suppose to
increase the number and availability of public toilets in New York
state.

What this means for New York is that maybe, just maybe, you will be
able to find a public toilet in the city when you really and truly
need one. This of course will negate the need to, say, buy a cup of
coffee in a restaurant or luncheonette just to earn the right to use
the bathroom.

What this means to the rest of the United States in particular and
America at large: Not a Darn thing, unless you're visiting New York
State.

Update

There's not much for me to say right now. I hope that I manage to get done what I need to get done today, including the food shopping.

Let's see if this works...
My grand-niece LOL.

Random Natter

SPAM

The most current piece makes me wonder why they think I need a plain or peanut gift certificate.

Penn's story is over 2k words now. I have 28 on Melvin's as of this morning but that will increase because he's looking for his rotgut recipe. Trust me, you do not want to get between Lord Seadragon and his rotgut recipe. I have to get Hara's started now, of course (that intersects Melvin's and Lee's and - well, we'll go forward a bit from there).

I swear, I have never hod such a bad year as this one with pollen. Maybe it's because I'm older now?

Terror has school till the 24 but she would rather count the actual days rather than the weeks (ten days total) until she's out. Kids, go figure. At least when I was in high school the seniors didn't have classes in June.

I Amused Someone on the NaNo Boards

Someone's amused that I actually have a character named Penn Guinn in the story I'm working for the NaNoWriSum (National Novel Writing Summer).

The whole thing started with the random penguin insertion challenge for National Novel Writing Month in November. The challenge was to insert a random penguin into your story, thereby trying to bring up the word count in order to reach the 50k mark by the end of the month. Considering that my soldiers were nowhere near arctic circles and thus nowhere near a penguin, I created the character of Penn Guinn, a random soldier.

A deeply religious gambler (there are four Aspects and he's in the Gambler's temple), it's not my fault that Penn's taken on a life of his own. He's been too much of a joy to write. =^~,0^=

Testing My Wings

Hi! I am testing the setting which, if I read the instructions correctly, should allow me to post to this log via email. Wish me luck!

The Clueless Wonder Gets A Clue

I finally figured out how to get an email from Blogger. May I feel insufferably pleased wih myself, if only for a short while? ;-)