Finished my first draft of my YA novel outline and e-mailed it off to my agent. On different days i love/like/hate or loathe my new story. I was reading about plots this morning and became convinced I didn't have a plot. The writer (Nathan Bransford again at http://www.nathanbransford.blogspot.com/ ) talked about theme, hook and plot as individual yet essential elements that need to be in place before you beging writing. All the commenters on his blog waxed lyrical about how clear he'd explained it all but i just felt confused. Another of my favourite bloggers, Justine Larbalesteir, had only recently explained how she is an idiot savant writer who works without recourse to the acknowledged conventions of novel writing. Her stories just happen to come out like a bought one because her subconscious automatically follows the rules. I guess if you read a lot of books you can absorb the rules contained therein without even realising it. I like to think thats kind of how I work too. If i think too much about the rules the wheels fall off and i can't move forward. I wish Nathan Bransford hadn't said anything about plot.
On a cheerier note it looks like there will be another book by me out next year. Yay!! I guess it was kind of obvious it was going to happen, but any hint of doubt is a hint too much as far as i'm concerned. People say you need to come out with a book each year to stay current and keep your audience. That may not apply directly to me because i write for different age levels. I probably need to have at least one picture book and one novel a year. I'd better get cracking.
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