Writing Update: January 29, 2016

It’s been a rough slog, but I may be nearing the end of my preparations to begin writing my novel! I had intended to finish my pre-writing during my Christmas vacation, but in hindsight I have no idea what I was thinking. Vacations are for doing everything except things that resemble work! And pre-writing, for me, is work.

But January saw a few changes that may prove to make all the difference. For starters, I finally got to planning my characters. I’ve been purposely putting that off until I have more world-building done, as I want my characters to be an outgrowth of my world rather than fitting into preconceived patterns I decided well beforehand. That may have helped. I think I still created the same characters I had been planning, but they do reflect their world a little better this time around, I hope.

I also had some fun with “face selection.” I went through my face file looking for people I felt fit my ideas, and found some interesting faces I hadn’t anticipated. Some of them look even somewhat normal. I chose David Bowie to be the face of my main villain about a week before he died. Chris Martin of Coldplay will be making a significant contribution to my novel. Once I had faces the character profiles fell into place and the character arcs flowed.

And then I bought a cheap laptop to replace the aging thing I’ve been using. It was a hand-me-down, and definitely appreciated, but it was time to let it retire. In copying over my software and files I discovered that the maker of Scrivener has a new “mind mapping” application available, called Scapple. I downloaded a free trial version and decided to use it to create a visual representation of my novel outline. It may not be for everyone, but it’s been a fun, inspiring tool for me. I even wrote a review on it for a writing forum I’m a columnist for. 

I’ve been envisioning this plotline as a trilogy, actually, and I don’t really want to start on book one until I have a basic idea where all three books are going. I may not stick to the plan, but I find I do better when I at least have one to ignore. I finished outlining the second book today, and I actually found myself sighing from the relief of tension–not from the pressure of outlining, but the plotlines I was resolving. I really like how that one came together.

One more book to go, and then I’m going to sit back, read through everything I’ve written so far to ensure it’s all consistent–and add in any new insights or ideas that come from it. Then I’m going to go to Life, The Universe, and Everything writers symposium next month, and when I get back I should be ready to write like the wind!

It’s strange to be so psyched up about this project, considering that a month ago I was nearly ready to give up writing altogether. Strange, but also a big relief. I don’t want to stop writing.