Timing is Everything

Don't you just love syncronicity?

Those of you who read yesterday's post know that I'm struggling with the "planning" part of my professional life. My issue relates to writing (and, truth be known, carrying out) a business plan, but in my post, I queried you novel writers about the kind of outlining you use when you write your books. This morning, when this article appeared in my inbox, I laughed out loud. So as I get ready for my appointment later, I'll leave you with: How to Make Your Novel a Page Turner, by Elizabeth Sims, that appears in Writer'sDigest.com today.

Here's a little snippet to wet your whistle:

"You’ve got a good idea for a story, you’ve got a few characters in your head, you’ve got some stuff that happens.

Now what?

At this point many people just start writing, hoping their book will take shape as they go.

The streets of New York are littered with queries from such authors.

To lift your work from the gum wads and pigeon merde, you need a coherent plot.

Now, you can get pretty complex with plotting. You can try to follow this or that guru’s rules, you can try to emulate this or that bestselling author. But if you do, you’ll likely find that the whole thing gets horribly complicated way too soon.

The following method for forging a compelling plot is as good as any, and simpler than all of them."

Read this. It's a great article filled with good advice...maybe not for business plans, but you know how I feel about those, so who knows where I'll go next.