I've been working on one story for several years now. It's the first one I outlined and plotted, and I'll never do it again. Talk about writer's block.
For me sitting down with an idea and knowing how the story begins and ends is enough, what happens in the middle is as much a surprise to me as it is to the reader. That's fine. It works for me. But I listened to a speaker at our local RWA group say if you never plotted to try it. Silly me did. Just because it worked for her and many other authors isn't a reason to encourage other authors to do it. She made us feel like we were writing wrong. I've since learned that whatever works for you is the right.
Unfortunately I took her advice. What did I have to lose? Maybe it would work for me. It didn't take long to realize it wasn't going to work. My characters didn't appear to like what I had plotted for them. They refused to talk to me. I was blocked. I stayed blocked for a good year. Never wrote another word. I had written myself into a corner. Finally in an email to my writing friend, I discovered a way to pull out of it and the story went along for quite a while. But that darn plot was in the back of my mind and it wasn't long before I hit another block. This has happened several times since then and I've been fortunate to work my way through it. Right now I'm blocked again and have been for several months. Not that I quit writing all together. I work on other works. I have several that I want to rewrite and revise, so I'm not sitting idle, but that story really bothers me. I so want to finish it. I'm sure I will some day. So I guess my secret embarrassing muse is that I listened to someone try to change the way I write. If you're a plotter, great, don't listen to anyone tell you to try writing by the seat of your pants. If you're a panster, don't try to plot your story. Do what works for you.
Check out the other blog hoppers - http://tjbook-list.blogspot.com/2011/08/aug-25-embarrassing-secret-muse-anyone.html
