07 March 2011

baby steps and the big goal

I ran into a hurdle again...my usual hurdle. A pretty big hurdle. The type of hurdle which caused me to sit staring at my screen for over an hour contemplating where in the world I wanted to go with my story. It seemed as though I had it all mapped out and I knew where I was and what what I wanted to have happen next...yet I couldn't get where I wanted to go.

So I did what most people do. I talked about it. And the person I just so happened to talk to about it with was my brother, Gabe. And it turns out that the conversation really helped. Rather than looking at the book chapter by chapter, or even part by part or act by act (or what have you), it's best to think of it scene by scene. I have the book mapped out to the point where I know where I am and I know where I want to go. What I don't have mapped out it the actual map. I've been getting hung up on the journey from 'A' to 'B', from 'B' to 'C' and so on.

So...I've changed my way of thinking. Per the advice I was given, I plan out my next scene (or whatever scene I wish to work on) and I think about that scene all day. In detail. Then when I sit down to write, I can write and I know where I want to go. No blockage, no getting hung up.

Also, I've set a new goal. Two scenes a week. Forget word count and forget chapter breaks. They'll come naturally in a well laid out story and I can inflate or deflate my story of it's too short or too long. That's the point of revising and rewriting.

That being said...my story, from what I can tell, has nineteen to twenty scenes. I have two completely done and others either started or majorly brainstormed. So looking at giving myself a deadline (knowing that I tend to thrive under pressure), I am setting a deadline for having a completed rough draft. That date is April 30th.

Hold me to that.      

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