Happy New Year! Horrifyingly, itās 2017! Not sure how that snuck up on me, but anyways, itās hereā¦ Hope yaāll have a better year than the last one!
Monday was a wash - mostly due to Christmas clean-up - and of course, Iām way behind on where Iād wanted to be in the planning and rewriting process, but if youāve stuck with me for 138 days, you know thatās pretty much par for my course. On a brighter note, I still have ideas on how to move forward (read K.M. Weilandās Character Arc blog series and go back to the flipchart paper to sketch out the plot based on that), my webfiction serials each have a handful of votes and at least one dedicated reader across platforms (thin, I know, but theyāve got their own issues and I donāt have time to polish them), my websiteās working a bit better and more optimized, and my (ignored) Tumblr account is better organized and has more content for the tumblrs to ignore! Small victories, ok? Just let me have thatā¦
I donāt do resolutions, and I donāt much care for goal setting in that I canāt handle the disappointment of failing at my own overly ambitious goals all the time, but I do have some targets for the upcoming months and years. The first one being, meet or get ahead of my editing and publication schedule. The next deadline is the beginning of April for the first round of rewrites, and while I wanted to be done for the end of February so I could get back on the road and maybe convince my editor to shift timelines forward for a June publication, at least I still have a chance of not having to push the entire schedule back (the odds of publishing for next Christmas are frighteningly high).
Iām still trying to get back to the UK, preferably Cornwall, this spring, though Iām flexible on location if thereās nothing there at the right time. In addition to the HelpX route to accommodation, Iāve come across some house-sitting sites, which could be a good alternative. Mostly it involves pet-sitting, and could be prohibitively expensive if I canāt schedule them tightly enough, but having free accommodation in return for much less work and the chance to explore a new town/city/region is pretty optimal. The biggest problem is that I canāt move around too often, in order to have the stability to get work done (freelancing or writing) and make enough money to pay for food, travel/transit expenses and publishing expenses. Still, it could be a promising avenue to pursue! I really need to add another source of projects soon too; the Textmaster work is too unreliable, even though Iāve attained a decently high rate of pay there. But Iām not giving space to any of that until Iāve made more progress and got a plan pinned down for the book.
Key ideas/research: whatās the starting lie? Whatās wrong with the situation or Cole herself at the start that has to change? āObedience is life?ā -reinforce facets of the lie -foreshadow Coleās capacity to change? How does Cole think she can fix this? Why is she wrong?āØHow does Cole realize sheās wrong and try again?Wants vs. Needs. -Wants is wrong, usually physical solution. pursuing a solution without addressing and confronting the lie. -Needs is the answer she has to struggle toward, from looking at the core of the lie. Perspective, understanding, also personified or objectified. -Want must be sacrificed for need, either for a bittersweet end, or harmonized goals. -Cole must act on her new belief, her understanding of what she needs and the lie, in the climax to conclusion. First Plot Point -events force Cole to a decision -her response sets up goal (towards the lie) - Donāt be tricked again? Find the truth to obey? -punished for retreating/fears self-sacrifice is a rewarding climax and final high in a change arc
Part 2
OK, research done; Iām going to try writing through the questions in Weilandās character arc series and see if that results in anything workable. So far, I see potential for linking up the plot with her structure, and I appreciated the detail she goes intoā¦ Still torn between approaches; whatās the ālieā and ātruthā for Cole? Too many directions it could take! Thursday
Start time: 10 am & 2:30 pm
Abbotsford, BC - home/couch
Drinking: black tea