Time to Get Rolling!
The picture you see is the physical representation of all the information I have on my computer about my novel. All my research and notes, so far, are bound in a 3 inch binder that is nearly full. Pretty crazy. (And that notebook sitting next to it? That's me trying to sketch out exactly how a separate 3 dimensional space (world) would attach to our current one in a 6 dimensional universe. Yeah, I gave up.)
On April 6th, I said all I have to do is work out my fourth subplot, and I'll be ready to write the story. I was so optimistic, that I hoped to have it done by that weekend. Then I looked back over my notes and noticed something. Each of my subplots are hundreds of years apart. Between the first and second, and the second and third subplots, I wrote down a brief note or two about what my main character did during that period to bring him to the next setting, then delved straight into the main storyline. However, between the third and fourth subplots, I traced his journey from one setting to the next in such detail, that I found myself wishing I could incorporate more of it into the main story. That was when I realized the rest of his journey deserved more attention.
As a result, I went back over my plot outline and researched his journey in more detail. This took far more time than I had anticipated. (Although I enjoyed every bit of it. History is fascinating when it suddenly means something to you.) And with certain life events that included, but certainly weren't limited to a change in jobs, it took even longer. But I did eventually fill in the gaps between my earlier subplots and finally worked out the fourth one.
So once again, I sat down in front of the computer thinking I was ready to start my story. My first scene would start with the myth/fantasy portion of the story where the Guardian, whose name is...
As it turns out, I was so caught up in the factual history portion of the story, I genuinely forgot that I had very little information concerning the myth element. I had already looked up some information on Atlantis and the Fountain of Youth. But if I was going to include mythology, religion and folklore from around the world, I had better read up on some of it. My goal is to stitch these together into a larger, all inclusive, mythology that makes up part of the setting for my story. My mythological characters and their pasts have to fit together into this tapestry I am attempting to weave. So, it took several more hours (days) of research to gather this information. I found this as fascinating as history, by the way. And it is much simpler to do than I was expecting. There are so many similarities between mythologies and religions that I am having no trouble interchanging characters, places and events between them almost seamlessly. And where small seams exist, a little creative license always does the trick.
So...I believe I really am ready this time. I'm going to do a few requisite procrastination measures like get a snack, check Facebook... write a blog entry. Then I'm going to start my first real chapter. Go me!