Back in the fall of 2012, several of my author friends were announcing multi-book contracts. I was thrilled for them, but inside, my inner voice mocked. "You'll never get one of those. You can't plot."
Sure, I'd managed to crank out five romances, but they'd all been written in advance, and individually contracted and published with Pelican Book Group. For me, that meant writing a story, submitting it, and then waiting, praying and hoping for a contract. I dreamed of snagging a contract for a series that I hadn't written yet...to know that the story I was laboring over would have a home when I finished. But, in order for that to happen, I needed to force myself to learn how to plot, so that I could submit a proposal based on a synopsis or summary for three stories that hadn't been written yet.
In the early stages of my writing career, I'd tried plotting. Oy! My neighbors could probably hear my ranting and thrashing about my office, banging my head against my desk and threatening to toss my laptop out the window.
Change...it never gets easier, does it?
But that fall, this confirmed pantser finally determined to become a plotter. You can read my tips on how I made the transition here and how I organized myself here. Trust me when I say there was plenty of weeping and pulling hair involved, especially when I plunged into simultaneously plotting out five books, two independents and three for a series.
I'm nearing the end of my timeline, and I'm thrilled to report that this week I completed my fifth plotted book in just a short~ or long, depending on how you look at it~ eighteen months.
Change is never easy...but it's possible. I like routine, and change hurls me out of my comfort zone, leaving me unsettled and anxious. But with a little faith and a good bit of persistence, I'm always amazed at the outcome.
“If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.” ― Anthony Robbins
Do you embrace change or despise it?
What's the most difficult change you've experienced lately?
Labels: #amwriting, #writetips, Anthony Robbins, change, change isn't easy, Dora Hiers, Goodreads, Pantser, Pelican Book Group, Plotter, quote, romance, transition from pantser to plotter, writing styles, Writing Tips
