incorporating new ideas

Okay, at least this post is NOT SPAM. I dunno whether those bozos
think they're going to become gazillionaires by posting ads for crap
in every location they can find, or if they're in the throes of some
dread compulsion, but they're definitely a PITA.

I've read my latest chunk of prose a couple times, and the next bit is
busily setting up into writable goo. While it sets up, I've been
cat-vacuuming by clicking the "get new posts" button and gagging on
spam. So I figured hey, I can post something writing related and
hopefully help pull the day's useful content ratio up off the zero
peg. Maybe.

There's a process that I've used for a long time in developing
software, and it seems portable to writing fiction.

First I ponder the problem and figure out which bits are inescapable.
Then those pieces are made general purpose and tested and set aside.
The next most essential pieces are then figured out and added to the
"good pile". Eventually I reach the "done" place. It's pretty simple
and it seems to work.

Since I'm on my first real attempt at a novel, I'm working from what I
know. I managed to come up with an introductory chapter, and put it
in the "good pile". In this case that means adding it to my fiction
blog. Since then I've been coming up with the next most essential
pieces and adding those to the pile. (Double-entendres from
smartarses welcome, as long as they aren't spam.)

So far it seems to be working okay. The advantage, to me, is that
once I've plopped a chunk into the "good pile" it's basically locked
into place. It's done, I'm committed to it. That means that I have
to work from there forward. I'm not tempted to throw the entire thing
in the trash and start over from ground zero because that would be a
huge pita. So I'm just keeping on keeping on and it's developing mass
as I go.

The disadvantage, if that's what it is, is that as I move forward the
part that exists limits the places I can take it from there. It's an
interesting challenge actually, and kind of fun. The protag has
worked himself into this situation, what does he do next?

For me it makes it easier. It limits the number of choices I have to
work from. Cuts it down to a few million instead of leaving it
somewhere around infinity.

Sound familiar to anyone?

(Oh and listen, I have a used PortaPotty for sale cheap if anybody's
interested in buying it, if I sell enough crap I too can be a
gazillionaire, wouldn't that be swell.)

--
http://fictionfromnobody.blogspot.com
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