Monday Update--Sucess!

Song Playing: Lux Aeterna, aka Requiem for a Dream

Ever notice how no matter what you’re doing, if “Lux Aeterna” is playing in the background, it seems epic? Making the bed, brushing your teeth…all of these mundane tasks can be made way more interesting with a stereo set on “Loud” and that song playing in the background.

But spicing up mundane chores isn’t what I wanted to talk about today. That’s just an added bonus. No, no, you don’t have to thank me, I am here to help.

I wanted to tell you the excellent news.

Remember how I was complaining last week that every time I tried to work on the plot of my current WIP I hit a dead end? No matter which angel or character I looked at my plot from, I still had gaping plot holes large enough to drive a semi truck through.

Some of you kind souls might be wondering why this was such a concern for me. After all, plenty of writers start writing a book with barely more than a wish and a prayer, and they come out the other end just fine.

Not so for me. Not so at all. Every. Single. Time. I sit down to write a book by the seat of my pants, or mostly by the seat of my pants, it fails horribly. You know all those plot holes, holes some writers tell themselves will work out as they are writing? Yeah, they just get bigger for me. I can’t plan everything out because that kills the novel, but I need to have a few landmarks or stepping stones to traverse across the treacherous path of novel writing.

So I stepped back, and started working on my setting. Much of the plot centers on the mistakes of the past exploding into the present, so it’s no wonder I was having issues with the plot. I needed to know more about the mistakes of the past before I could figure out how they affected the characters in the present.

This approach is paying off in spades. I am still working on the setting, but now I am sort of going back and forth between setting and plot. I find novel writing is much like cooking a multiple course meal at the same time. You’re not just working on the setting, and then characters, and then the plot, and voila, you’re done. It’s more like working on the setting here, and some characters there, and then a little bit of the plot, and then back to the setting, and over to the characters, and so on.

So, my progress report for today is one of success. The novel is moving steadily along, and even though I still need to do some major research into the technology aspects of the novel, I am making some definite progress.

How are you guys coming along on your novels? Did you ever have a major roadblock dissolve almost overnight? Pretty cool, huh.