In plots, like jeans, one size does not fit all...

I went jeans shopping this morning. I felt like an epic adventuress, daring the wilds of the mall to hunt down jeans...

Jeans?

Come on! How hard could that be? Basically it's a couple of tubes with a connecting bit on top. Pants: the most basic part of any woman's wardrobe.

Four Hours Later: I found two pairs of jeans that fit right. TWO!!!!

There are two truths to jeans shopping...
1) All jeans are the same
2) Every pair of jeans is different

Every person has a different body type. Every cut of jeans is meant for a different body type. So it's never a matter of just finding the right size, it's a matter of finding the right cut, the right fabric, the right wash...

Shopping for jeans is almost as hard as writing a book by committee.

Remember those Pass-Along stories you used to do in 7th grade? The ones where everyone in the class wrote on paragraph? Remember how that made you cringe? How the terrible writing grated on your soul like nails on the chalkboard?

One it comes to writing (and jeans!) one size does not fit all.

What's lucid and tight on one writer's Voice becomes frumpy and disconnected with another writer's touch.

I'm half way through edits, and about to take some good advice from Stephen King: Lock the door and write!

I'm turning off the computer for a few days. I know what I want when I'm done with edits. I don't need to know what everyone else wants. The plot that fits my crit partner's Voice won't fit mine. This has to be my story, told my way, with my Voice.

It has to fit me, not all the other authors on the block.

So I'm abandoning Twitter. Ignoring FaceBook. The blog will keep running, but I probably won't be answering questions until Friday. I've spent nine weeks reading my very rough first draft, taking notes, and planning changes. Now I'm actually sitting down to map out the new novel.

Photo courtesy of and copyright to Axataita from Deviant Art. Thank you! If I'd been able to track down the artist in time for this post the alternative picture was THIS. That's painted, ladies and gentlemen, not a photograph. Isn't it beautiful? I love seeing talent like this!