I’ll be honest, I’m in a bit of a pickle with my plot. I keep trying to work out how it can possibly work and come together and I’m still none the wiser. I think that’s why it’s not progressing any faster, I’m backing away from the bits I don’t understand yet. I have got past the next milestone though so, yay!!
I do seem to have spent much of my week managing Giveaway stuff. That’s probably not even close to the truth, it just feels like it. I am delighted with the entry level though and I shall just drop this casual reminder in here that it finishes next Friday the 21st September 2018, so if you’ve been meaning to enter but haven’t managed it yet, this is where you go:
Parallel Lies has also made it through to the third (and I think final?) round of the ALLAuthor Cover Competition. It is also dropping down the rankings so could really use your vote…
Therefore, if you like this cover:
Would you be a star and go and give it your vote please?
Click Here!
Thank you x 🙂
I’ve decided that in order for me to get on with this next book I need to keep all the notes and paperwork out for it all the time. I need the constant reminders and for it to always be on my mind. That feels like quite a challenge at the moment but how else am I going to solve these plot issues? So my desk is a mess and I may have to involve the pin board again to vaguely organise it all. A job for tomorrow methinks! Anyway, I’m very late finishing this so I am heading off to bed and I wish you all a very peaceful Sunday.
Project B – Hill of Beans – previously 5532 words – still 5532 words.
Project C – Parallel Lies sequel – previously 27,046 words – now 30,128 words.
Have a great week everyone xx
Re this novel of yours … hope this helps:
I find that the way to work through plot issues is to be WITH it all the time, as you say; you know it’s working when you feel resentful about the time you can’t spend on it, and eschew other activities in order to write. My experience is that this doesn’t happen straight away – I find some novels take longer than others to start gripping me. Or it could be that it’s not the novel you want to write at the moment – I’ve faced that one in the past – it’s hard, when you’ve already put in a lot of time!! But if it IS, try these:
1. Every night, when you’re going to sleep, focus your mind on the bit you’re going to write next. Tell yourself the story, like a bedtime story!
2. If you come to a bit of plot that’s not working, go for a walk (not with the dogs, you need to be able to focus!) and think it through.
3. When you stop writing for the day, write in note form the bit that comes next.
4. If you can’t get a bit of plot to work, talk it through with someone; they might have some ideas. I do this with my husband.
5. If you know, deep down, that the idea you’ve thought of might not be feasible, definitely talk it through with someone. They might be able to suggest tweaks that will make it so.
6. You have a pin board, I have pieces of A4 stuck to the wall – I need them for dates and continuity. Having the timeline up there really helps you remember what month such and such happened, or what year so and so was born in.
The more time you spend on it, the more the ideas will come to you – I’ve got used to this, and now know that the novel I plan out before I start writing isn’t necessarily the one it will eventually become. And don’t forget that piece of paper and pen, to have with you on all times!! Good luck 🙂
Excellent, T, and thank you. I’ve just printed this out and stuck it to my pin board! This is completely what has been missing, I’ve just not immersed myself in it like I did with the others. I really needed this pop talk this morning, another thank you in my long list to you. x