The week has not gone according to plan. I’ll share that story in a different post, once it’s resolved, but suffice it to say I am not yet moved into my office. So I haven’t gotten as much work done as I had hoped. But that’s okay. I am still trying.
Since last week I have read the entirety of what I had already written. It was hard not to make changes as I went, but I did take a few notes on things that will need to be changed or that I didn’t keep consistent. I also took notes on the main plot points. The plan is to write those on note cards and create a loose outline of what has already happened as well as what I expect to have happen in the second half of the book.
I think that’s the part I’m most worried about. The planning out the rest of the story. Because, as a perfectionist, I worry that I will feel the need to have the outline perfect before I actually start writing. However, that is the whole point of being on this journey with others. To keep me pressing on, no matter how scared I get.
I’m breaking the outline up into two sections. One outline is for the story taking place in the “real world” and the other is for the story of the RPG. Once I have both of them somewhat lined up, I can figure out how to weave them together. At least, that’s the plan. But it can’t happen if I don’t get to it.
I keep waiting for the perfect space to work on this, but I know it’s really an excuse. Kind of like when people say they’ll start working out when it’s cooler outside, but then when it is they find something else to be a reason to put it off longer. I know that’s what I’m doing. Heck, I’m probably writing this post just to put off getting any progress done on the outline! But there’s no time like the present! And I need to stop making excuses. There will never be a perfect set of circumstances.
Each week of Book in 90 we are encouraged to set a realistic and measurable goal. In some cases, that’s a word count. Today I will not be setting a word count goal just yet. I want to complete my outline so that I can get back to words in the silent writing session tomorrow. I know I’ve got about two hours before I’ll be pulled away this morning, and I don’t know what the rest of the day will look like. So I need to use my time wisely. I will report back by the end of the day on how it went!
I didn’t actually get a chance to update the day I started this post, or the next day. I’ve been busily unpacking and trying to get settled into my new space. I’ve been so focused on that part that I didn’t get much done on my outline.
I tried. But it just wasn’t working. I started making notecards from the notes I took, but yesterday it finally dawned on me that I was focusing on too many details instead of the broad strokes of the story. So after the coaching session yesterday I set to working on figuring out those broad strokes and really trying to track character arcs. Just as I started getting into a groove, I had to pack up to go start making dinner and take my children to their first behind the wheel lesson at driver’s ed.
But here’s the nice thing. I had all of my note cards laid out on the desk and I could just leave them there to continue in the morning! (But then I realized I hadn’t updated and so I haven’t gotten back to it just yet.) As soon as I hit publish on this post, I’ll get back to work on my note cards. I’m excited to see where this will go!
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