My recent Creative Break is officially over! I'm back at work and have been for a couple of weeks, albeit off and on. Now I'm rolling up my shirt sleeves, baring my knuckles, preparing to dive in and stir up the dust to drive things home! And no, I don't have time to cut down on mixed metaphors!I'm excited, which is a good sign. I needed a break and I don't regret taking it. My head is clear and my sense of purpose is sharp. The iron is hot. Time to strike.
As always, I reflected on how things went this last go-round, in order to avoid whatever pitfalls I encountered and make a better go of it this time. Here's what I decided:
(1) I can burn out on a story if I spend too many months and too much effort on it. It's more important to get through a draft. I'll limit myself to a quick first draft, whatever the result, and trust in my editing capabilities, which I'm quite happy with after seeing how I turned rough stuff into slick stuff over the past several months.
(2) I'm going to work from a detailed scene list rather than just major plot pillars. The details can be basic (POV character, goal, complication, result, time, place, etc.). To help me plan, I'm using the Snowflake Method for brainstorming and general overview, the Marshall Plan for scene and sequence, and to write it I'll use yWriter5 for the first time.
(3) Some other things I won't blog about, including new tricks I've come up with that are helping immensely. You know I've gotten onto some really good stuff if I'm not sharing it.
Once again, I won't say anything about the novel since I want it to sell. I won't even give it a name. It's just my current WIP. Nuff said.
Good to be back in the driver's seat, on the road again, building steam in the engine, etc.
Current goals: finish planning in one to two weeks; start first draft immediately once scene list is complete; finish first draft within three months of starting it. Oh, and do a really good job with it! ;-)
Wishing Wynn a lot of fun in Greece, where she may finally wrap up her novel on Alexander the Great this summer, and wishing everyone else all the enthusiasm they can muster,
Adrian
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1 comment:
Ah the go-rounds! You've devised a good plan; like how you're using different methods too. The ideation/thinking stage is probably the longest and most difficult writing stage. So much squeezing of the brain--definitely leads to momentary burn-out. Love your enthusiasm--it always gives me a kick too. I'm diving back into A Lamentation of Swans--while pretending it's technically on the shelf! Happy writing, d:)
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