Cat Pollock Writes

This is the fourth in a series of blogs about getting organized so I can finish two projects I have completed first drafts for (one a novella, one a full-length novel). Wondering about the origins of this series? Read this blog: Getting Organized . Other Parts: Tracking Characters , Plot Monster One & Two , Settings This Week: Character Bios When I first started writing my novella (and my novel), I had a general sense of who my characters were. At the time, I wrote them for submissions to a short story website (which is now gone, conveniently enough for me). Amongst other things, one of the features of this website was a character database, where bios could be stored and linked to your story as you thought to include the characters. Yes, the website was a Left Behind fan site. No, my novella and novel weren't fan fiction. And please, don't judge. As far as these bios go, I printed them out years ago as I was doing the same with the first drafts I posted to th

This is the fourth in a series of blogs about getting organized so I can finish two projects I have completed first drafts for (one a novella, one a full-length novel). Wondering about the origins of this series? Read this blog: Getting Organized . Other Parts: Tracking Characters , Plot Monster  One & Two This week: Settings I know that my set-up last week for settings was pretty awful, but getting my settings organized was pretty painless - which was a HUGE blessing because this week has involved a lot of poking, prodding, and general discomfort for me personally. This week's process also took a huge step away from sticky notes and notebook paper, and into the realm of index cards. Here's What I Did...

This is the third in a series of blogs about getting organized so I can finish two projects I have completed first drafts for (one a novella, one a full-length novel), and the second half about organizing plot lines. Wondering about the origins of this series? Read this blog: Getting Organized . Part One: Tracking Characters and Part Two: Plot Monster, Part 1 List of characters - Novel (left) vs. Novella (right), You tell me which one has more characters. The first half of the Plot Monster revolved around creating an outline for each part of the novel and novella (the process of which was finished this week). This Plot Monster installment involves those outlines, but to a lesser degree. Here's What I Did... I used the outlines to determine the main plot and the sub-plots surrounding it for the novel and novella. For the novella, this was simpler to do, as it is shorter, and - if the outlines are anything to go by - has fewer characters and settings than my novel.

This is the second in a series of blogs about getting organized so I can finish two projects I have completed first drafts for (one a novella, one a full-length novel). Wondering about the origins of this series? Read this blog: Getting Organized . And here's the first part: Tracking Characters I wasn't joking last week when I used the term "Plot Monster" - just in case you thought I was. Plot points have turned out to be so monstrous in my novel as to split this discussion into two parts (I'll update this blog to link to the second part when it goes up). What I've discovered about plots in writing a novel is that primary plots can be tricky, and they're not helped when a writer starts throwing secondary plots into the mix with them. Seconday plots can, and do, greatly enhance the journey the primary plot takes a reader on, but if the writer throws them in because they can... Well, it drags the entire story down. When I first started thinking ab

I've recently fallen in love with candles. Since coming home from the World Race , I've bought at least one a month. My favorite candles are the ones that come in glass jars - because when they burn out, I can clean the remaining wax out and put the jars to other uses. Right now,  that means they get cleaned out and packed away in anticipation of my move to Flagstaff. But as I was lighting one tonight (vanilla spice... Thanksgiving smells? Yes, please!), I saw a metaphor for writing flickering away in the flame licking at the wick and melting the wax. I suppose it could be a metaphor for life in general, but since the theme of this blog is writing... Well, you do the math.