Wednesday 17th March 2021
Here’s the thing about outlining. It doesn’t feel a lot like work.
Sure, there’s the maddening part when you have most of the story but there’s a bit missing, and your brain feels like it might explode. But that’s when you leave it.
I’ve found early mornings really good the past week. I’m waking earlier currently, and because I don’t need to commute, I can give myself a little lie in. And there’s something in that first-thing-in-the-morning state that is productive towards idea creation.
I find myself naturally thinking about two different ideas. I’m not trying to force anything, just mulling things over in my head. And yet, I seem to make some drastic changes without any of the anxiety that would normally plague me.
Early mornings tend to be bad for writing and editing, hence why I tend to do those things later in the day. But for laying around and day dreaming, they seem to be good.
There’s part of me that really wants to have some new outlines done this week, but I think that might be a bit too soon. Both these ideas are relatively new and as such, don’t benefit from having sat and marinaded in my back brain for years.
There are a few other things I’m conscious of.
My strengths are humor and action. I want my stories to include both. They don’t have to be rip-roaring funny, but having something that lightens the mood from time to time, and makes it a fun read is important to me. One idea is fun but needs action. The other is action that needs fun.
I’m also very aware that my projects need voice. That can aid the fun in many cases. I feel this is what suffered in Secret7. I worked so hard on plot that I think it missed some of that fun that novel needs when it comes to rewrite.
I also worry that I worry about it too much… that I’ve got so absorbed in publishing structures and techniques that I forget to please myself first and foremost.
Which is why I like the early morning lay in. My brain switches off all those external influences and just focuses on trying to find the story I want to tell.
Bit by bit, these outlines are taking shape but they’re not something I can really force. I’m just happy that I can juggle a couple in my head at the same time.
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