Day 143

Spoiler Alert! May contain planning-stage plot/character details or other spoilers!

21 Jan 2017

Went analog today to try to solve the character and plot issues.

A photo posted by KAIE (@kaie.space_author) on

I’m working in five and ten minute bites, brainstorming, ideating, whatever. It’s back to the beginning, come full circle or spiral maybe, hopefully I’m getting somewhere with all this flailing. Back to the start, and maybe the process is just what has to happen, the mess is what is and what needs to be.

I’ve been trying to swap out variables, put my big girl pants on and make the changes to solve the problems to make it all work. So much for that. I’m back to who Cole is and was at the beginning of all this; someone who doesn’t know how to want. But, maybe, I’m better able to articulate who she is and how she progresses, and if nothing else I’ve got more plot elements to play with on the table now… There are dozens of stories I could tell (hundreds!) and the having of ideas is not the problem. Nor is finding good ideas an issue; pretty much any of them could take the novel in a plausible manner from start to finish. Some might even do better, commercially.

But that’s not the story I set out to (find out I needed to) tell. It’s not who Cole is. It’s not what that world was created for.

What does that leave me with? A mess. A flipchart sheet half-full of fevered scribbles, an ugly-ass self-portrait sketch and another day mostly gone. But I now know what I want to do with the mess (I think. I hope. I must.) and can move forward from there. I’ve learned more about story structure, character arcs and weaving goals and needs and internal and external developments. I’ve figured out how to tell the story without multiple POV. I’ve ruled out a half dozens decisions and ways I could tell the story at least. Call it progress.

The Anatomy of Curiosity is incredible. I need to find writing partners (spoiler; not gonna for this draft, that’s for sure!) Also, my IG marketing is looking healthier these days. Score!

Saturday

Start Time: 2 pm

Location: Abbotsford; home; table

Post Index