1) Meeting people in your area. I think that’s a great idea, and this seems like a good way to do it. You can go to the events and meet up with people and find out about them without committing yourself to talking to them forever if it turns out you don’t mesh. Even if you don’t actually plan on finishing.

2) Trying out a new creative approach to writing. I think it sounds like a great idea. But, maybe one of the problems you’re having is trying to work on a project that you really want to spend time on as a rush job? Would it make more sense to try out something that you aren’t as attached to? Or would that mean that you wouldn’t be as motivated to write it?

So, what it looks like to me is that you might want to think about which project you want to use this technique for. Instead of trying to write something specifically to sell, write something that you want to be experimental with? Dunno.

Otherwise, it turns out to be something known as “she did it because my synopsis says so”

I think the funny science and/or research errors don’t bug me because I’m not looking for realism in fiction. But plot logic is something else

That’s my version of NaNoWriMo.

Right, what will they do if I go to their Mayorga Mondays and work on something else? Kick me out of a public coffee shop?

We’re sort of step-cps. *waves*

As the slowest and most inconsistent contributing member of the Naughty Writers Fund, I can very much relate to your process, and have to admit, I had this eureka moment reading your post. Slower, with much angst and staring, works for me. I can question myself though in the midst of such power writers as M & J. *if case you’re reading this – YOU GUYS ROCK!!* *g*

Here’s how I do NaNoWriMo and survive. I bend the rules like nothing. You being a Secret Society Girl and all, I feel I can say this in the greatest confidence.

I join. I post page counts. BUT I do work ahead, reams of chapters even, if I want. I make goals, but will step back and *gasp* edit or plot. WHO CARES??? Are they going to like come gunning for me? These people are so bleary-eyed and hopped up on caffeine that they don’t have time to worry about whether I’m following all the rules. I exploit the forum for the camaraderie, so sue me. Honestly, if you start and it’s not fun, then scarp it and do something else. But if you like participating on some level, then don’t feel guilty about it. You’ve already proven you can write a novel. That’s not the point any more.

Make it work for you.

Okay, that’s my two cents.
Char

PS I’ve written 7 books, and still wonder if I’m a “one-book” wonder. *g* I mean, what if #7 was the LAST??? LOL

This is why I never did like Harry Potter #2. But I think that all depends on how it’s handled. Like The Hobbit. The whole point of Lord of the Rings is that it’s a complete accident that Bilbo stumbles on the ring, and that he’s probably the last person in the world who could put it to any use. So yeah, I think you can do a “great things come by accident” thing (like, um, velcro, post its, and powerful evil world-ending Rings) but then you need to spend some time in the plot actually figuring out what the darn thing does or how it works or covering how this accident is in fact the thing that sets the plot in motion. IMO.

Regarding the “if she just did this easy thing” I think that’s something that you’ve got to motivate it in order to avoid. Like maybe the easy thing would be just call the police (I spend a lot of time yelling that at all these romantic suspense/amateur detectives books) but for some reason that doesn’t work. So you give it a reason: her phone line has been cut. The policeman they send is in cahoots with the bad guys. The police don’t believe her. She lives in an anarchist state and there are no police. Whatever. Because yeah, that one bugs me a lot.

Also the “if they just had this one conversation…” plot. The problem isn’t keeping secrets, the problem is keeping secrets that can be fixed with a conversation. If the simple act of telling the secret doesn’t solve the problem, then it’s a good secret. Like in Chinatown. Nothing was made better when Jack Nicholson knew what was going on. Clearer maybe, but not better. It only complicated matters further. Now there’s when a secret works in a plot.

I think wacky science is like wacky history. Not everyone knows and even if you do, you can suspend some disbelief depending on how much you like the story. Even with JP, once I got past the creation scene and into the scene where the T-Rex is making holes in the Land Cruiser, I kind of forgot about the science.

So maybe the problem isn’t what they do so much as why they do it? Maybe she plugs two names into the machine, and then there’s a power outtage. Or maybe she plugs two names in and the server is overloaded and slow, so she hands it to a blockhead assistant and says, “finish this search” and the asst. is a moron who can’t spell. I think you can probably make just about any plot element work if you think of a good reason for it long enough. What do you think?

I find those things bug me the most. Not the funny science, or Paris is the capital of Germany kind of oops