That’s the score as of last night. I got the index cards all laid out on the living room floor, filled in scenes I’d forgotten to add cards for, and added new cards for things I had in mind. 24 left actually isn’t many. I have a slight worry that if I get too carried away, I won’t have room for everything. But I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. It also doesn’t have to be 60 scenes exactly. It could be 50, or 64. But I’m aiming for 60.
Two things that have been nudging me along:
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Shower crayons—-yes these have helped a lot, surprise, surprise. But I’ll talk more about that in an update post once I have enough of the shower walls covered to take a neat photo of it.
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Reading lots of fiction. In the past I’ve gotten absorbed in books on writing as I work on my story. This time, I’m buried in fiction. This is hard to explain but reading other peoples’ work while I get in gear on my story gives me confidence. Why? Because even best-selling authors aren’t perfect. I find myself noticing plot, logic, story, or writing flaws. And then I tell myself, “But millions of people enjoyed this book so it doesn’t matter.” Something about letting the critic be beat down while reading a successful, less-than-perfect work allows me to loosen up a bit as I work, and not be such a perfectionist worrysome self-nag.
24 more… let’s hope I can knock these out in the next couple weeks and get started on the writing again. If I get the scenes in place I could go nuts writing and be done by September to start outlining Story # 2 for the 2006 NaNoWriMo.
Gotta love that anxious energy. Go, go, go!
Ooo, shower crayons. Why didn’t I think of that? (head smack). That’s ingenious! Who DOESN’T do their best thinking in the shower?
I’ve never used index cards. I have a note book or loose leaf paper (I prefer the paper) where ideas and how they can link and lead/move the story on are written all over in. There’s no pattern to it if you look at it, but I always seem to work my stories out that way. The index card way might be a good exercise for me. Might help me fill in the blanks I usually have. Normally I don’t fret over blanks cause by the time I get to the ‘blank’ a solution/idea has come to me. Still I might just give the index cards a try.
[...] We second Stephen King’s and John Irving’s plea to JK Rowling . . . . the Alphabet Girls share 10 lessons they learned at the massive RWA conference this weekend . . . . acquiring editor Jason Pinter wonders why agents still haven’t learned he switched publishing houses five months ago, and a shudder rocks through every writer who reads his rant . . . . I don’t know if I could do this (ht Slushpile) . . . . Conversations with Famous Writers interviews Sarah Mlynowski . . . . How Not to Piss off an Editor (ht Paperback Writer) . . . . Eric’s come up with a genius idea (I don’t trot out the genius adjective lightly, either): shower crayons. [...]
Sweet :)