After last month’s WIP update, I spent some time working in the notebook with ideas that I wanted to see in Chapter 2. It became more about a shift in perspective, rather than changing any of the plot beats of the chapter. To zoom in even closer, it became about one line for me. That one line painted me into a corner that I didn’t want to be in.
So the chapter got a coat of Kilz and I started over.
After that misstep though, doubt started to creep in. I’m still more successful at ignoring it than I have been for the last ten years. I wrote several pages in my notebook, which is where I play with ideas. For whatever reason, my brain has decided that the notebook is where I experiment with ideas and structure, the computer is for writing The Story.
So when I took those notebook pages and transcribed them to the computer, I didn’t have the whole chapter, but I had a great start. What came next kept me writing even though I was on vacation in Florida, staying with friends.
I focused on breaking the page every day.
I think it was Ernest Hemingway that advised, “Stop writing for the day when you know what comes next.” So that inspired the practice of breaking the page, getting to the end of the paragraph, then closing up shop for the day. It kept me engaged with the story even during a vacation.
It also helped me break from my writing habits that can sometimes be more of hindrance than anything. The first day, I was writing outside on the lenigh (kind of like a screened in porch, but more of like a deck with a pool; they were pretty common where we were in Florida), and there was construction going on next door. So there was banging and power drills and apparently that’s actually white noise that I can deal with, because writing was no problem.
On another note, it helped that I pitched the story idea to my friends while we were down there. I’d gotten out of the practice of talking about my stories and writing as topics of casual conversation, so as I’ve started writing again this last year or so, I haven’t been pitching my ideas to friends and family recently. But I did for Codename: Fairyland and they were stoked about the idea and very supportive. That kind of reception helps fan the flames for me.
So, chapter 2 is going well. I don’t think I’m done with it. I say it that way because the other night, I finished up a plot beat and it felt like it could be the end of the chapter. I’ll be finishing up the chapter this week, probably and then deciding if I want to break it up into two chapters or keep it as one. Because, while the story is pretty solid in my mind and coming clearer every day, the structure of the book is still fluid and in progress. So I might get to a point soon when I am lettering the chapters, rather than numbering them. It’s a little different from the way I usually write and I’m just going with it, rather than wasting time and energy trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole.
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Have you ever held a gator before? I love critters and was joyful at the chance to hold what I called a “swamp puppy.”
The Chimerical Dark 