Although I’ve been writing creatively for decades, I don’t really know what kind of writer I am. It’s not a genre thing, although that’s up for debate with each project I attempt. Yes, I said ‘attempt.’
(c)Disney
I had been a perpetual starter until I tried to focus on finishing. I take that back. I used to love following new ideas whenever they assaulted my brain until I started substantive editing other people’s work on a regular basis a few years ago. Then, as if I were some sort of literary Fix-it Felix, Jr. my mind became consumed with trying to make sense of the jumble of words presented to me. I mean, that’s what they’re paying me for, but editing, regrettably, had left me creatively exhausted. My own projects languished in arrested development for years and may remain there in perpetuity. I don’t know. But I’m not worried. Not one little bit.
Like I said in an earlier post, I don’t do resolutions, but I’ve got goals. And in 2017, I’m gonna finish a few projects. The thing is…where do I start? How do I start to finish?
Well, several weeks ago a writers’ group I belong to shared a link to a contest, and after giving it a breath of thought, I decided I’d write something to submit. What did I have to lose? I actually have everything to gain: starting and finishing a project, proving to myself that I am good enough, sucking and surviving, fulfilling a lifelong dream…I could go on.
That day, while we folded clothes, my daughter and I developed the rough framework for a book that we love. Even the Mister and the sons got in on pulling the idea from my head and onto paper over the next several days, but still. I sat on the idea for a few weeks, not writing a single word, not even to take our notes and forming them into an outline. There were some extenuating circumstances, but I could have done something.
As the days to my self-imposed deadline grew closer, the fretting over how to get a fully formed idea from my head onto the page increased. Then I remembered that I had tools. “I can fix it!”
One Stop for Writers keeps expanding their arsenal of resources, so a couple of days ago I created a new timeline in my Workspace for this new project.
I populated each point with key phrases, even getting that backstory bug out of my system in the process. For me, the backstory often wears me out because I know so much about my characters that there’s little left for me to discover, and I’ve learned that I’m kind of an explorer, but I need a map. When I write, I’ve often been struck by a clear scene that takes place just before the climax and have to work my way backward. When I know the end from the beginning, it’s kind of hard for me to stay hype about the project after weeks (*cough* years) of drafting and not really getting anywhere.
I feel like I’m not making sense…but that’s how drafting has been for me. Nonsensical.
Good storytelling is about maintaining momentum. And I have a short attention span. Once I’ve written the scenes that initially got me hype, I don’t want to go back, but I don’t see much ahead. So what do I do? I stop.
This time, though, with the help of my timeline courtesy of One Stop for Writers, I’m able to draft and outline almost simultaneously. So far, there’s this excitement about the process of writing because there are things I’m discovering, for a change. With the timeline, I don’t have the space to dig deep even though I see all. I have OSFW open in one window and my doc open in another. As I create my scene list/timeline, I jump into my doc and draft. I’ve started! And it’s pretty friggin thrilling.
That manic need to crack my skull open to let my story pour out is back. I’ve missed it. This time, though, I’m just as excited about finishing as I had been about starting.
Blessings y’all.
Daphne Marie 