Cool things I found while cleaning my office

I've been cleaning my office and organizing all of my book notes by title, so that I can box them up for easy access later (should I ever need them). I came across a notebook that I carried everywhere years ago. In the front of the notebook were some post-it notes. Apparentely I had deemed the words of wisdom written on these so valuable that I put them on the inside cover of my notebook. I know that they came from one writing book or another, but since I just wrote down what it said, not where it came from, I can't attribute it. If I knew where it came from, I'd tell you. Here's what's on the post-it notes. Perhaps they'll be helpful to you, too.

Five Basic Plot Elements
1. Sympathetic character
2. Complex conflict
3. Complicate (grow) the conflict
4. Climax
5. Resolution

First drafts are for learning what your novel is about. Revisions are for working with that knowledge to enlarge or enhance an idea, or reform it.

First draft = Free and flowing writing.
Second draft = Fill in the holes, clarify things that don't make sense, things you forgot to include, character development, story movement, time, etc.
Third draft = Edit for tone and language.

Conflict that holds our attention for long periods of time is meaningful, immediate, large scale, surprising, not easily resolved and happens to people for whom we feel sympathy.

The best outlines relate the story in miniature, and include scraps of setting detail, characterization and dialogue, which nicely highlight the story's turning points. Outlines are most effective when they are in the present tense.

And I had the following quote clipping from The Writer magazine:

Start with broad strokes
Beginners often feel that they must fully catalogue a character's appearance as soon as he steps into their story. This is a mistake. A more successful method is to borrow the technique of the cartoonist or impressionistic painter and give the reader a swift, bold picutre of the character. Get the character's general outline into the reader's mind and he will fill in from his own experience. Then later, as the story progresses, you can add deft touches to the portrait. In other words, first present your character as a type. That gives the reader something to get his teeth into. Then individualize later.
-- From an article by Thomas W. Duncan in the Octorber 1941 issue of The Writer.

Coming up tomorrow: Photos of my office gutted for cleaning and reorganization before I start writing Bewitched & Betrayed.

And for this week's Saturday Fun Pics, I need your help. I recently had a photo shoot to have new headshots done for my website and promotional stuff. I've picked several photos, but I need your help deciding which one I should put on my home page. Pop in Saturday, take a look, and let me know what you think.

Coming up next week: Doing rewrites; how to push through and complete a novel; why I love "gray" characters; writing my first novel way back when, complete with photos of my first notebook -- a handwritten mess. ; )

Lisa