Back in the Saddle Again
After a certain amount of farfelling about and whining and clutching my brow (and writing a new and (I hope) improved) Chapter One, I sat down yesterday (with a large mug of Yorkshire Gold) and restructured the first half of the book.
At one point, surrounded by notes and little bits of paper and pieces of many chapters, I realized that what I needed was a calendar. So I printed out September and October 2008, and I figured out when everything happened, and wrote out the events in Many Colors according to the plot threads and whether they happen off-stage or on. And lo! Everything fell into place. Not neatly, but comprehensively. And I'm left with two very attractive calendar pages and a timeline/outline kind of thing, and the first half of the book divided into chapters with a piece of paper wrapped around them with summaries and notes on what I need to add. In red.
I feel as if I've accomplished something.
The book is still Dreadful, but I think I can see my way to making it better. Which is a huge relief.
At one point, surrounded by notes and little bits of paper and pieces of many chapters, I realized that what I needed was a calendar. So I printed out September and October 2008, and I figured out when everything happened, and wrote out the events in Many Colors according to the plot threads and whether they happen off-stage or on. And lo! Everything fell into place. Not neatly, but comprehensively. And I'm left with two very attractive calendar pages and a timeline/outline kind of thing, and the first half of the book divided into chapters with a piece of paper wrapped around them with summaries and notes on what I need to add. In red.
I feel as if I've accomplished something.
The book is still Dreadful, but I think I can see my way to making it better. Which is a huge relief.