Update on the Novel in Progress

Update on the Novel in Progress

This week, I spent some quality time finalizing the order of events in my haunted amusement park novel. I’ve got 20 chapters planned, many are in their third draft. A few need to be written whole, probably up to about 20k more words to write, then edit.

Knowing my final outline, progression and chapter layout is an important step. With this plan, I know how to evaluate my progress. I also know that I can set an intention for having this draft completed and ready for my first readers by the end of March. As with any other trip, having a map and knowing your final destination is critical to actually getting there. That’s where I am now. And I know, some of you might think, ‘Didn’t you already know where you were going with this story?’ The truth is, no, I didn’t. This started as a heap-ton of words written in November of 2020. During the summer of 2021, I had some huge epiphanies about the character development of my MC – who they are, what they want, what they get as a result of the events that occur during this story. With that information, I went back through my original writing and did a lot of crossing out and highlighting, with copious notes and associated notebook pages.

During fall 2021, before NaNoWriMo 2021, I was kneading all this new stuff in and picking out the stuff I didn’t need. I deleted three chapters, and major chunks of some others, while outlining new chapters. Once my NaNoWriMo 2021 experience ended, I jumped back into the novel, continuing to smooth, mix, remix, and create new scenes and troubles for our characters to navigate. The holidays happened and that slowed things down a bit. Which is why it feels so good to be where I am now.

So onward! Time to get back to work. Which reminds me, I was pondering how to differentiate the time when my work is the writing and when the work I’m doing is the stuff that covers my expenses. This is what I decided – The Work is writing, The Job is that stuff that earns me money. Someday, I hope to be able to combine them. #bigGoals

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