I’m an unconscious ... I mean subconscious writer [grin]. Hearing Cathy Spangler’s workshop made me aware of why I take parts of my writing with me everywhere -- including the movie theater. [One of the reasons I have a lot of edited pages each month.]

     First let me define what type of writer I am:

    *Subconscious Pantzer: usually I have a vague idea of who the characters are, a solid situational beginning, 4 major turning points [if I’m lucky], and a rough ending. I never know the true internal GMC of my characters until after chapter 3 and only with a lot of discussion and analyzing.

    *I write linear [can rarely make a scene that I’ve written out of order actually ever work] and I layer: dialogue, then movement/direction, then description, then emotion.

    *After a chapter is written: I tweak, send for critiques, talk about it, tweak, edit corrections, tweak some more, talk some more, then have a final read and tweak again.

    *Most important: I write in some form every day. Whether it’s at my computer or waiting in the car line -- I write, edit, revise, critique, or discuss my plot every day.

    Like Cathy, I categorize my life. While I’m writing it’s easy to let everything but essentials go. It’s much easier to handle life if I make a list of reminders of what I need to do. I do things in order of deadline priority. [In other words, whatever I need to do for what’s happening that day -- or the next -- goes to the top of the list.]  But while I’m running errands or chauffeuring, luckily my subconscious is at work, getting prepared for that few minutes between things-to-do when I can sit at the computer or take out my journal.  

TAKING IT WITH ME...

    At the 2000 RWA conference, I began taking notes in a small journal [one that would fit in my purse]. I now use a journal for writing and another for volunteering. Like Cathy, I would take notes put them in a safe place and never look at them again. Now, when my journals fill up, I place them on the shelf [at least I know where they are :-) ]. I began a journal for each manuscript. Notes, dialogue, characteristics, actual scenes...I don’t misplace notes if they’re in my journal. And when my subconscious talks to me at a red light or through my dreams, I can make a note. Sometimes I can apply the inspiration to my manuscript, sometimes not.

    One of my favorite places to make notes is the movie theater. In that 30 to 45 minutes before a movie starts [we arrive early for good seats], I’ve “trained” my hubby [who I happen to LIKE to plot with] to discuss my work while we’re waiting for the previews. Again, a small journal is ideal for making notes. You’ll be amused at the conversations you’ll overhear around you. Sometimes they spur story ideas or dialogue.

     One of the weirdest places [for others] but one place I love to write at is Six Flags Amusement Park. We take a backpack and my smallest journal always makes it inside. There are a couple of rides I refuse to entertain myself with [bumper cars for one] so I sit on a bench and wait. I make notes about people, describe sounds, or work on my book of the moment. Since applying critiques is mainly correcting and not “thinking” work... Once when my agent asked for the manuscript, but my daughter begged me to take her and friends to Six Flags, I took three chapters to apply critiques while standing in line. [Yes, I was a topic of conversation, but not as weird as the red and white leggings and pointed hat three people in front of me.]

     And of course when I’m stuck, just getting away from the computer helps. Taking my journal to the pool, on a walk, or the park is easy. I use a writing exercise to jump-start my subconscious. I describe the five senses: what I hear, smell, see, feel and taste. Many of these exercises turn into non-romance short stories or end up as descriptions in my manuscript.

     I’m always amazed at how writing about nothing at all can free up my muse to connect all the dots and bring me back to my story.

Having just finished one manuscript and tweaked a second, Angi was dog-tired of an elusive scene in her next book...so elusive she quit writing on this particular manuscript last September. Writing TAKING IT WITH YOU was an exercise to free up her muse. At the time of this article, Angi is represented by an agent and has two manuscripts under consideration at Silhouette. This article first appeared in North Texas RWA’s Heart to Heart, 2004.

Copyright 2004 Angi Platt -- all rights reserved, please obtain written permission before use.