I am so excited!!

I was sitting in my office at work on Friday when the solution to my plot mystery hit me out of the blue!

If you have followed my blog (such as it is), you will know that I have not made any progress on my writing project in a long time. At first, I was busy getting this website in the state you see it. Then I did another website for someone else. Then I was conducting and dealing with band stuff. Then I was taking “The Productive Writer” course (and not actually doing any writing). I’ve been itching to write – honest! – but I didn’t really know where I was going, and I felt that just pantsing it (as I’ve done so far) wasn’t going to help me achieve anything.

So I thought I’d just block out some time to sit down and work on an outline, because I didn’t really know enough to do that first. (Oops). In my defense, this project was going to be short stories, so I didn’t think I needed an outline. But now it’s a novel, and I do. The problem has been: I had no idea where this novel was headed. I knew there would be a cataclysm, but how, why, and especially WHAT, were mysteries.

So, as I sat doing a fairly rote task on Friday, I had a flash (that’s kind of how ideas occur to me – I feel a bright white flash of understanding). I know where this is going, I know why, I know how. I can write an outline now, and that should help me fill in my cast (which is how I think of my characters) as well as their roles and outcomes. That will be an immense help in filling in their stories!

I think I may even have to write the end of the story (i.e. the novella) in order to have an understanding of what the characters do – then I can flesh out their backstories and write who they are… Or, perhaps I just need to do more detailed planning of the novella. Regardless of how I ultimately proceed, it’s an adventure, and I feel my passion and enthusiasm for this project has returned with a vengeance!

And now, I must get back to it!