Friday, February 10, 2012

What's Their Name Again?

Currently I'm reading Renni Browne and Dave King's Self-Editing For Fiction Writers. I'm only twenty pages in and I can already tell this book is going to help me a great deal. Throughout the book there are comics and I just came across one that had me laughing. Of course I can't find it anywhere on the internet so I'm going to try and describe it. Here goes.

A writer is at his desk, a pipe in his mouth, a look of determination on his face, hunched over a type writer, typing away. There are stacks of paper all around him and for some reason his dog looks angry. I'm guessing because he needs to go out and the writer is too consumed with his WIP. The caption says, "The dwarf! The dwarf! The damn dwarf hiding in the foot locker! A hundred pages, or so ago! What was his name?..."

Ha! I can't even tell you how many times this happens to me. Now I have a system. I have index cards and not just any index cards. White is boring so I have hot pink, green, yellow and orange index cards. I write the characters name on top and then on the lines provided, I keep track of their personality traits and how they look.

Do you have a system so you aren't the crazy writer with the dog who has to pee really bad?
My system. 
Sometimes I plot on post it's. So I have my characters on one side and the plotting on the other. I bought another corkboard so I can keep them separate.

6 comments:

  1. I have a giant six foot bulletin board in my writing room on which I've posted maps and calendars and pictures and post its and whatever else I need to help me keep things straight.

    And I'm still the crazy writer with the dogs who need to pee...

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    1. Ha! That's great.

      And I am so jealous! A six foot bulletin board!!! I want one :)

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  2. I have no system and make notes as I write. I'm a total panster. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers is a great book.

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    1. I'm a panster too, but once I discovered the index card system I fell in love. lol.

      I can't wait to finish the book. I've already learned so much in 20 pages.

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  3. Ummm...I keep a word document of names and how they relate to the MC(s). That's pretty much all I do.

    I like all the pretty colors!!

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    Replies
    1. I do that too :) but I like being able to just look over at the cards without having to click onto another document. Or it could just be that I like the pretty colors more :) Yeah, I think that's it.

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