Hey there, awesome readers!
If this is your first time here, I’m writing a novel and have decided to take the readers of this blog on the journey with me. Why? Because writing is hard and if I have to suffer, you’re going to suffer with me. I’m kinda thoughtful that way.
So why write the damn book, you ask?
Because I HAVE TO. While I love writing more than anything else in the world (except maybe my kids, my parents, certain friends … oh and wine) the love of writing is also a curse. (More on that in another blog post. I’ll save it for when the story that I’m working on paralyzes me – which I have no doubt will happen at some point because writing is hard.)
This week my challenge was to figure out how the story ends and create an outline. Having started with only a vague idea for a plot, I can say that this was more difficult than I thought it would be. (Possibly even harder than cooking.)
How I THOUGHT writing the outline was going to be
Since I started a full time position this week, fitting in writing time was a challenge of its own so I booked time today to work on the outline. I thought that I would just sit down, brainstorm for about an hour and voila! Story outline.
I was wrong.
What writing the outline was really like
The best analogy I can come up with is giving birth …
It’s time.
You know this because your abdomen is tightening into a ball as though your uterus has just been fist-punched by God and the only way to make the pain go away is by welcoming more pain. You push. You squirm. You scream. But nothing comes out and the pain continues to engulf your life’s purpose. Finally your flesh rips open and out squeezes the pain into the form of a beautiful, mucous-drenched baby. Your baby.
Working on the outline of my story was exactly like that only less body pain and more mental anguish. I started by developing a one-sentence summary of the story – about ten times. This lead to a complete revamp of the original vague idea for a plot because one of the characters (originally a MINOR character) took center stage and decided that she was going to be the main character.
I suppose this is a good thing because it means that she’s coming to life – in my head and on paper. I just hope she doesn’t start waking me up in the middle of the night to tell me her life story.
PS. I’m pretty sure that that’s EXACTLY what’s going to happen. *Sigh*
This week my challenge will be to clean up all of my mucousy thoughts and refine the outline.
Baby steps …
Good luck, girl. IT IS TIME! 🙂
Time, or Karma, it just needs to be done. I know how you feel. I’ve been following a path that, although worthy and successful in its own right, wasn’t my truest passion. On the eve of an impending launch, I liken it to being pregnant as well… except this time, I get a third trimester! I look forward to seeing more of your progress posts.