This marks the second day in a row that I have gotten some honest-to-goodness writing done. Yesterday I finished up an article for Task and Purpose, and today I find myself RE-writing a beat sheet/synopsis draft of Steel-Toed Blues.* I’ve realized that I need to do this because I started out panting the novel and at this point I am not sure where to go. So writing out the plot structure will, I hope, give me a clue as to where to go next. My writing group has been quite helpful in showing me what I need to do to start revising the first part, but if I don’t have a second part, all that helpful critique shall be moot. So much for being a pantser.
I’m hoping to finish outlining what I’ve got and then perhaps start writing some new stuff, which will be the acid test here. It’s been a while since I put fresh creative writing on a page, and I’m hoping that I haven’t built up the sort of stress about it that will cause me to stare at a blank screen for an hour and then give up and go back to refreshing Facebook every five minutes.
Luckily, mini-Infamous Scribbler has been quite cooperative about hanging out in this ring sling while I write and do laundry and try not to think about the fact that everyone will once again be getting their Christmas presents late, even though I bought several of them a couple months ago…
In the meantime, I realized that as much progress as I feel like I’m making, I still have a long way to go. While transferring over my files from my backup hard drive (oh boy, is THAT another story, the moral of which is ALWAYS HAVE A BACKUP HARD DRIVE), I was dismayed to realize how many works in progress I have that I need to get to work on. And then I have to go and read last week’s blog post and remind myself to take the long view and do a little bit at a time. Thank you, self, for that good advice. I think I’m going to take it.
Before I sign off, one little bit of self promotion! My novel, Cold Run, will be available on Kindle for only $0.99 from December 26-28. So, if you get an Amazon gift card for Christmas, please check it out. And even if you don’t, check it out! Here is a fun graphic to remind you to … check it out!
*Re-writing because CATASTROPHIC HARD DRIVE MELTDOWN CRASH OF CATASTROPHE!!
