Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Well....

...so it's been a month. And it has been such a month. The way this past month as gone is exactly why I am so happy it's finally Fall, which means that first hard frost is just around the corner, which means ragweed's days are numbered!

I have been writing, though. In fact, I now have two projects in the works - one of which is the original first draft that is now going through second draft rewrites - and the synopsis of another one completed. I'll be doing the third one for NANOWRIMO. Since I am working two projects at the same time, I am splitting my time up between them - 2 weeks on one, then 2 weeks on the other. Once NANOWRIMO is here, though, both of those will have to move aside so I can meet the daily word count for the third one.

In fact, I plan to completely outline the third one so that all I have to do in November is write the story. This a new approach for me and I really hope I can stick with it and not let it hamper my creativity.

Normally, I'm writing by the seat of my pants. No outline and sometimes, not even a clue about most of the plot. I just make it up as I go along or I let my characters tell me what they want to do. However, this method does have its issues. While the creativity is allowed to flow freely, it's also allowed to come to a screeching halt in the middle of the book with no hint as to what should be written next. That's usually when I end up starting something new and shelving the stalled project. By the time I get back to it, I've usually forgotten where I was headed with it.

Not this time.

This time, I hope to utilize the outline method while keeping the flow of creativity alive, well, and happy. The outline will only be to remind me the plot direction I had intended. At that point, I can either work my way back on track or outline a new track and go from there. Either way, I think some kind of an outline will really help and since I use Scrivener, that should be easy enough to do.