Last week, I made a minor breakthrough toward finishing my sci-fi trilogy. The following day, I continued that trend. Then two, three days went by—busy days—with no progress.
On Sunday, I made a promise to myself. Just for this week, I will set my timer for 15 minutes and I will write. I began that day.
Then, as often happens, my Monday efforts seemed lackluster. 15 minutes is not very long, but it feels like an eternity if you can’t find the words, or don’t even know what you want to say.
Small Steps Lead to Bigger Solutions
But—the thought came that I really, really needed to write out an outline for the remainder of the book. I’m what’s called a pantser, (one who writes by the seat of their pants). However, after two books, I have a lot of strings to pull together. Plus, I have a number of scenes, and happenings, that aren’t yet pinned down in time, or in sequence.
I have to figure out when they happen, and how they fit into the whole. Then I’ll know what new scenes are necessary—and they will serve as a focus for my daily 15 minutes.
So on Monday, I also began working out a detailed outline. On Tuesday, I continued working on the outline. Tuesday’s 15 minutes didn’t happen until bedtime, but they did happen.
Show Stoppers
I’ll admit, I’ve been fighting the midpoint of this book because—spoiler alert—someone dies unexpectedly. (Well, someone also died unexpectedly in the second book, but though there was shock, there was no strong attachment leading to deep grief.)
Have I mentioned that writers have to mine their emotions when writing?
In this case, I was fighting the need to go back twenty years to my shock on learning that my youngest brother might be dying. Was dying—but it took time to accept that possibility. I’m taking that shocked grief and moving it to an entirely different event.
Garden News
I picked a bit of spinach last week—young, tender leaves.
Yesterday, I discovered a new crop of mushrooms pushing through, and showed them to a friend. But, wow! How that spinach had grown! We’re having spinach and mushrooms for supper.
No! Not these mushrooms! I still don’t know what they are. We’ll be eating button mushrooms from the grocery store.
You all have a great week! Happy May Day.
Kate Harrington 