I'm thrilled to introduce Andrew Grey today. I've known Andrew for a few years and I've met no one in the writing world who can keep pace with his writing speed. Can you imagine writing 100,000 words in a month? Andrew can and does. He attributes his speed to good plotting. Today he shares one of his techniques.
The Team in My Corner
A few years ago I joined two ladies from my local RWA
chapter and we formed a plotting group.
We call it Plotbusters and the goal was to help us improve the story
portions of our romances. We all
realized that we could write a good romance, but the plotting portion of our
stories needed some help. What started
out as a simple exercise to review our work had developed into deep
friendships and writing partners. We
don’t co-write, but I have two partners in my work who will come to my help any
time.
Writing is a very solitary activity and with Geri and Heidi,
I feel as though I have a small cheerleading section. Not only that, but when we get together we
find plot holes and motivational issues before they get on the page and help head off some rework and rewrites. Each
time we meet, we talk though our current stories and that exercise alone helps
solidify the story for me.
There are times for every writer when they find a story
meandering and directionless, at least in our minds if not on paper. Plotbusting helps bring the story back into
focus and their ideas, regardless if they actually get used, almost always
start the creative process flowing again and help get the story back on
track.
The end result has been incredible. Within the time we’ve met, all three of us
have been able to take some part of our career to another level. Heidi got her first books published and now
has regular contracts and proposals in progress. Geri is in the process of moving from
category to single title, and I have been able to add paranormal and suspense
stories to my writing.
We have a few rules that we follow.
1 1 Everyone
gets a turn to review their story and get the help they need.
2 2 There are no egos. Ideas get thrown out and no one is obligated
to use them.
3 3 We cheer the good news and are there when the
bad happens offering encouragement.
You never know what will come out of a plotting
session. There have been times when the
plot and characterization for an entire story has come out of a single
session. I cherish the time with my
Plotbusters. They are an important and
valuable team that I’m grateful to have in my corner.
Andrew Grey is a bestselling author of contemporary gay romance. You can find him at:
Have you ever considered being part of a plotting group? Can you imagine writing at Andrew's pace of near one million or more words per year? What do you do if you feel your plot has faltered or started to meander off course?
