Campfire Writing

There’s an app for that. We’ve all heard that phrase before, and honestly, it’s a little worn out. A couple of months ago, I was in between projects and trying to figure out what I wanted to write next. When I finally settled on a story idea—a fresh one that had zero development—I decided I wanted to try something new with outlining.

And I. Hate. Outlining.

It’s probably my least favorite part of the writing process because it’s like putting together a puzzle but you have to create the pieces and you don’t even know what the picture is supposed to look like. I wanted to try something similar to the notecard method again, where you write out a plot point on a notecard and can rearrange them any which way until you find a story you like.

Now, I try not to use paper, opting instead for all digital. (Maybe that’s why I can’t read e-books? Because staring at a screen feels like work?) My sister who’s also a writer suggested Campfire, so I thought I’d give it a try.

When I first started using the site, I got really excited because you can set it to different themes according to the genre of your story. I picked sci-fi for this particular project, but I also like the look of fantasy. You can also use Campfire to outline other projects, not just stories.

 

Features

There are more options than what I list below, but I included the ones I used for this particular story.

• Characters. 
• Names. Nicknames. Age. Role. Personality Type. Positive and negative character traits. Description. You name it. There’s lots of options to choose from, and you can pick and choose what you want to fill out. You only get 10 characters in the free version, which is fine because not every story needs to have 100,000 characters, but still. When it comes to named characters, I think my last novel had about 20-something.

• Locations. 
• Like character descriptions but with different attributes. In in the free version, you only get 5. Good thing I wasn’t working on a travel story. Oh, wait… Any extra details I wanted to include if I didn’t have room, I just crammed into the timeline. Mwuahahaha!

• Maps. 
• Not to be confused with locations, though you can link the items together. This particular option allows you to upload a map, which is cool, but I wish they had the option to develop and edit a map. That would be awesome, but I understand why they don’t. To make my own map, I used the Polygon Map Generator by Red Blob Games.

• Timeline. 
• My favorite part of the app, and yes, you can rearrange the events! I only used the description section, but you can link your characters to events. In the free version, you only get 20 events and 2 timelines. I was going to make a secondary timeline but decided to focus on my main timeline and ended up combining a bunch of events. There’s no limit to how much information each item you have access to can hold.

• Encyclopedia. 
• Want to include a list of stuff that doesn’t necessarily fit in anywhere else? Use this option! I particularly enjoyed the statistics table and the description column. In the free version, you can have 5 articles, but I only used 3.

• Species. 
• Lifespan. Sleep cycle. Average height. Average weight. Kingdom. Habitat. Descriptions. I actually used the subtitles here to add made up Latin names. In the free version, you only get up to 5 species. Sure, I only used 3 for this particular story, but I can come up with dozens of others if I was writing a fantasy novel.

• Other: Manuscript, Research, Relationships, Magic, Cultures, and Items. 
• The other options I might consider using for future projects include Magic and Cultures. Normally, I would use them, but I didn’t need them for this project.

 

Pros

• Aesthetics! 
• If you’re like me and you like to collect pretty things, then you might just enjoy this site. Not only does it have genre-based themes, but you can also add your own pictures. It’s almost like having an aesthetic board for your story on Pinterest but not really. The theme option really helps set the mood for creativity.

• Easily accessed organization. 
• Once you figure out how to navigate the site, you can link everything together. Or not. It’s up to you. But it’s really convenient to find exactly the information you want without having to scroll a bunch.

• Plenty of options. 
• Seriously, all the options! I didn’t even use them all, but they helped me a bunch with things like character development, world building, and my timeline.

• Fun to use.
• I actually enjoyed outlining for a change. Maybe that’s because the site is shiny and new to me, but I just might enjoy using it again in the future.

 

Cons

• Limited use with the free version. 
• I maxed out my characters and timeline events. I might have accidentally broken the timeline and ended up with 21/20 events. Don’t know how that happened, but I’m sticking with it.

• Limited availability. 
• I know the site claims it works on mobile devices, but my sister and I couldn’t figure out how to access it on both Android and Apple. So if I want to outline my story or develop my characters, I have to use my computer, and I have to have internet. It’s not difficult, but it’s not always convenient.

• Slow processing. 
• I’m not the fastest typist, but I can get up to 90 words per minutes when I’m on a role, and Campfire doesn’t always process typing that fast. Maybe it’s my computer? Also, the autocorrect suggestions are not as helpful as Microsoft Word.

• Characters are geared towards humans. 
• This one’s a little easier to work with considering you don’t have to include all the character development options. For example, I usually skip over character description, option for the bare minimum such as height.

• Timeline dates are limited to Earth eras, and you can’t get rid of the date option. 
• If you’re like me and you’re writing a sci-fi story that takes place in a new mythical era, or you’re writing fantasy and yours don’t even use Earthen months, this bit can be frustrating.

 

Overall Review of Campfire Write

Overall, I give the site 7/10 stars. To me, the pros outweigh the cons. For the first time in a long while, I actually enjoyed outlining and was ready to start my rough draft within two weeks. Which is great considering it usually takes me two to three months. Thank you, Campfire! I will likely be using the site more in the future.

 

Let’s chat! Have you tried Campfire before? Do you use any sites for your writing process? Which ones?

 

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Similar posts: 5 Reasons to Attend WriteOnCon, 3 Types of Writers You Should Know, and 3 Methods for Outlining Your Novel

How to Balance Multiple Writing Projects

Hey, guys. Sorry, I ghosted on everybody last week. With much reluctance, I had to put down my beloved beardie, Thorin “Pancake.” I wasn’t up for much of anything, especially not writing.

Without further ado, on to this week’s post.

 

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Plot bunnies. Plot bunnies everywhere! A writer’s worst nightmare, right? Maybe not. Sometimes it’s an ideal when we just can’t get the ideas to come. Whatever the case, writers are often encouraged to pick one project and stick with it. After all, that’s the only way to actually finish the thing. Or is it?

Writing, I’ve found, is not so simple. Many concepts we often call “writing rules” are more like guidelines. Take the stick with one project rule. I apply it sometimes, but more often than not, I bend it. Look at my past projects. I took on two stories for NaNoWriMo last November!

Here are just some of the ways I balance working on multiple projects.

 

Don’t Chase Every Plot Bunny

Stick with you selected project(s) instead. I know it’s tempting to chase new ideas. It really is. Especially when I’m in trudging through the middle of a book and I come up with another interesting story idea, and I just want to quit what I’m working on and chase after it.

That’s not to say that you can never work on that project. Just that it’s better to finish whatever stage you’ve started, whether its outlining or the rough draft or editing draft 5. I do allow myself to write down the idea, so it doesn’t fully get away. Then, once I’ve finished my current stage, I may chase that plot bunny.

 

Have a Plan of Action

When it comes to finishing multiple projects, it helps to have a plan. For example, if I’m working on two projects, I’ll decide when I’m going to work on one, for how long, and when I’ll switch back to the other project. This way, when I finish the rough draft of one story, I can immediately start editing another. Besides, then I can put some distance between one story so when I come back to it, I have a more objective view.

It would be really cool if I could get into a rhythm of outlining one project, then jump into writing another, then jump into editing a third. Who knows? It could happen!

Ideally, I’d like a writing plan to look something like this:

 

January-February

• Write rough draft of WIP 2
• Schedule blog posts a week in advance
• Write some poetry

March-April

• Rewrite draft of WIP 1
• Schedule blog posts a week in advance
• More poems!

 

In reality, though, my plan ends up more like this:

 

January

• Stuck on that one scene of WIP 2
• Last minute blog post edits
• Lots of poems

February

• Slowly plodding through the rough draft of WIP 2
• Forgot to write a blog post!
• No poetry whatsoever

March

• Finished the rough draft of WIP 2 in three days
• Blog posts are scheduled for the next month and a half
• That one week where I couldn’t write a thing

April

• Two weeks of writer’s block
• SCREAMING!!!
• Back to WIP 1
• I’m okay now

 

Whatever the case, there are some general timelines I apply to different writing stages. The following are estimates based on my past projects:

 

• Outlining and research: 1-3 months
• Rough draft: 1-4 months
• Let it sit: 3 months*
• Rewriting: 1-3 months
• More research: 1 month
• Editing: 1-3 months
• Querying: 1-1.5 years

 

*This is the one I’m not flexible with. Ignoring a project so I can come back with an objective perspective is easy.

 

Shelve Projects

This step can be rather tricky. After all, how do you know when it’s time to set a project aside and call it quits? Honestly, it depends. By project, I mean a story I’ve completely drafted, not a partial. I’ll shelve projects for three main reasons:

 

1. The rough draft was so bad I never want the story to see the light of day. Seriously, some of my stories are just plain terrible. However, writing itself is never a waste. We learn from experience. About half of my rough drafts get shelved.
2. I’ve lost excitement with the story. That’s not to say that I will always be excited about every story at every moment, especially when it comes to editing the same paragraph over and over and over again. But if I no longer care about the story, it’s going to be far too difficult to make my readers care. I only remember shelving one such novel, but it was a while ago.
3. I’ve reached at least 100 rejections from agents. Only two of my novels have made it to the querying stage, but both have been shelved.

 

If so many projects get shelved, then what is there left? New stories of course! Because I set aside so many projects, it frees to me up to work on something new. To chase that plot bunny. And because of the rest periods between drafts, I always like to have a second project to go back to.

 

So there you have it! Just a few of the ways I balance multiple writing projects.

Let’s chat! How many stories do you usually work on at the same time? Do you have any tips for writing multiple stories? What does your writing schedule look like?

 

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Similar posts: My Process for Writing Poetry, Stages of a Plot Bunny, and Three Methods for Outlining Your Novel

3 Methods for Outlining Your Novel

I was twelve when I wrote my first novel, and let me tell you, it stunk. (See I Can’t Believe I Wrote THAT.) And not because I was twelve. I believe twelve-year-olds can write decent novels or even great ones. Age is not a determiner of quality fiction. Yes, practice helps, but that’s an argument for another day.

Perhaps the biggest quality I was lacking when I wrote my first novel was an outline. When I went to write my second one, I ended up writing and re-writing the beginning seven times because I had no idea where I was going. I probably drove my writing friends crazy when I announced, “Yeah, I re-started my novel. Again.” That’s when I realized I needed to change something. I needed to get serious about my craft. So, I created an outline.

I’m not going to pretend that these are the only three methods for outlining your novel. You also have the synopsis, where you summarize every important plot, and the Hero’s Journey, which follows the twelve stages of a story as explained by Joseph Campbell. (See A Boggus Life for an analysis of the latter.) The following are three methods that I’ve found work best for me:

1) The Plot Arch

One of the most basic forms of outlining, I first encountered the plot arch in my creative writing class in college. It’s simple, to the point, and leaves so much up to the imagination when it comes to writing the rough draft.  

Pros: This quick method is a great place to start. This method can help keep you on track even if you’re a panster (somebody who doesn’t like outlining).

Cons: If you’re very detail-oriented, this method might be too vague. It doesn’t tend to include important details like setting or minor characters.

2) The Chapter-by-Chapter Outline

If you have a general idea of how long your chapters tend to be (or how long you want them to be), this can be a great method for outlining. On average, my chapters tend to be anywhere between 1800-2700 words (or 6-9 pages). So, if I want to write a 60,000-word novel, I’ll plan to have 33 chapters, or 35 to allow for leeway.

Here’s a general chart with word count goals to help you plan for a certain number of chapters. When it comes to calculating, I prefer to go with the minimum words I tend to write. It’s better to overwrite than underwrite, as editing tends to cut large chunks anyway.

Pros: You can regulate how many chapters you want in your novel. Personally, I like 45. It’s a large enough number to sound decent for a novel, and short enough so that I can edit two or three chapters in later drafts. The chapter-by-chapter method is also one of the best to help you reach your word count goal.

Cons: This method can be difficult if you’re not regular with your chapter length. You might want to start a new chapter in a different place during the writing process. Chapter endings and lengths can change in later drafts.

3) The Scene-by-Scene Outline

I like to play out my favorite scenes in my head, and the scene-by-scene method allows me to write them out as they come to me instead of getting bogged down with coming up with fill-in-the blank pieces when I’m feeling particularly inspired.

The easiest way I’ve found to use this method is to write each scene out on a notecard. That way I can include a synopsis of the scene, the setting, the time of day, and the characters present. Then, I organize them by labeling where they go in the story (e.g. Inciting Incident, Turning Point, Climax, etc…).

The original outline for Breaking a Thief. The final product had many, many more scenes.

The outline for Breaking a Thief as organized by plot points (opening, inciting incident, etc...).
Complete with one little card for backstory. 

Pros: It’s flexible! If you don’t know where a certain scene goes in your story, you can still write it out, and fill in the blanks later. You can even rearrange scenes with ease at the outset. And if you’re like me, you don’t have to think in a linear fashion. It’s also great for organizing details.

Cons: This is perhaps the most time consuming of all the methods, as several scenes can fit into one chapter, and you might end up having far more scenes than chapters. It can also be difficult to fill in the blanks should you deviate from the outline while writing, which is almost inevitable. Another downside is keeping track of all the scenes, especially if you write them all out on notecards.

Recently, I’ve gone for a hybrid of some of these methods, using the plot arch to start and writing down a couple of my favorite scenes. The more novels I write, the more I realize that no method is perfect, and some methods work better for some people and even some novels. So give it a try! Stick to them or combine them. But most importantly of all, have fun with it!

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Similar posts: I Can’t Believe I Wrote THAT, Three Methods for Foreshadowing, Writing Book Reviews: Some Tips

Let’s chat! Which of the above method sounds most appealing? If you’ve written a novel before, what’s your favorite method for outlining? Have you tried any of these?