Monday 2nd November 2020

Today was one of those days where you wake up late and then find yourself chasing your tail for the rest of the day.

And guess what was at the bottom of the list?  Yep, writing this novel.

It’s not that the start to this novel is bad, it’s just it’s the wrong type of start for this sort of novel.  Had I had longer to plan, this would have been changed.  But it’s the start I have and as such I have to write it… even when I’m feeling pretty meh!  About it.

But this is where my outline has saved me.

Chapter 2 introduces the protagonist’s family life.  His relationship with his partner is good and there are reasons I don’t want to destroy that… so it’s potentially a scene without conflict.

When I did my original corkboard outline in Scrivener, I asked myself the question on what was the conflict and whether it got resolved (Yes, Yes but, No and).  I also had the important story beats.

So it was pretty easy to take this outline and create a chapter plan.

In it, I just do a more detailed breakdown.  What happens?  What are the stages or beats this chapter has to go through?

And yes, maybe I spent too long on their walk home (subconsciously worried this chapter would be too short) and maybe some of the dialogue can be tidied up, but the point was I always knew what to write.

“On tube, feeling ill” can result in a couple of hundred words as I expand that, when I feel I’ve run out of steam “walk home seems to take forever, each step painful”  gives me another couple of hundred.

It means that, even uninspired and wishing for a different start, I could write quickly and with accuracy.  And more importantly, because I had mapped out the mini conflict in this chapter, I could build to it and milk it without it seeming forced or uninspired.

On a day where I was quite happy to skip writing, I got several thousand words done.  I’m pretty convinced these words will be scrapped for a more action packed opening but even if this is a exercise in understanding character, the words won’t be wasted.

Tomorrow, I have this chapter to finish off and then I can hopefully make it into chapter 3 and an area where I’m happier with the story.

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Past Years: 2019 – The Year of Soldiering Through | 2018 – The Year of Priorities | 2017 – The Year Of The Offensive