Alright then – it’s been about four months since I first announced
my next attempt at writing a novel. Time to come clean and evaluate how far four
months has gotten me.
Between the end of January and now, I have written twenty
blog posts. I have updated, revised, and submitted a short story for
publication. I have edited two full-length, young adult novels. I have attended
a wedding and in a couple of weeks will be attending a funeral. I spent two
months of the four working seven days a week. I have helped conceptualize,
draft, and begin the research and compilation of material for an entirely new
musical group. I adopted a cat.
In and amongst all of this nonsense, I have created a
working document that is over forty pages long, only eight of which are part of
the actual draft. The rest consists of notes, world building (which is not
really a fair term to use, because technically I’m juggling eleven worlds),
character development, a timeline, backstory doodles, a working soundtrack, an
alien alphabet and number system, the vector image of one character’s personal
crest, pre-planned formatting, and a half-finished story outline.
The planning stage of writing has always been both my strongest
skill and the one area where I inevitably stumble. I love thinking up and putting
together all the fine details of the setting, the characters, the history of
the world that I have created and all of the inner implications that have to be
dealt with. I adore closing my eyes and watching it bloom across my mind. It
takes time, of course, but it’s all fun work, and I can complete it at a fairly
casual pace. No pressure, right? After all, this is my domain.
Unfortunately, once I have these vivid people and places set
up, I often struggle to decide what to do
with them.
Plot. That’s the point that really tends to crunch me. You
noticed that my previous list ended on the fact that my story outline is only half-finished. To be fair, the reason I
am stuck right now has to do with an unclarified objective. The main antagonist
is attempting to accomplish a massive and somewhat vague task, and I’m having
trouble deciding what would be the most believable way to do it.
Until I can come up with what the hero will be fighting
against (or for? ho-ho-ho!), I am for the moment stuck.
But we’re practicing being gracious to ourselves, remember.
I am pulling these details out of the ether after all. While my subconscious
chews on the problem, waiting for the right inspiration to come along and
kickstart the creative juices, I am more than content to nibble away at all of the
other bits that can still be worked on. The first chapter is about a third of the
way done. But I hesitate to continue too quickly with the actual writing until
I have all my ducks in a row. After all, how the antagonist chooses to fulfill
its dastardly plans is a pretty crucial portion of anyone’s story.
So work is slow. But not dead. I feel I am very, very close
to the point where the only excuse I will have for not writing is sheer
laziness. I am saved at the moment by that empty half of my outline.
In the meantime, I have plenty of work to keep me occupied,
in both the writing world and out. I continue to make little character
connections, little revelations that strengthen my hold on the world that I am
preparing to reveal. I can ward away discouragement when I sit down and really
think how far I have come since this idea first burst into my mind at the beginning
of the year.
I’m really hoping that I’ll think of a title soon too, other
than the name of the main character. Character named stories have never really
sat well with me for my own projects. All my favorite titles would easily
double as Prague Rock albums.
So where are you in your current project? Comment below and
let us know! Minion and I are all ears.
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