I am officially back on track with my story! My writing sessions still aren’t quite as long as I’d like, but they’re perfectly reasonable, and the words are flowing nicely again.
And it’s not a minute too soon—I’ve reached the point where everything is falling apart (in the best possible way), and I’m feeling really good going into this last stretch. It’s a fun story to write.
Mostly. I’ve still got to learn how to really write an action scene, because there are a lot of them coming up. They don’t have to be perfect for this draft, but I’d like to be able to write these scenes without getting too caught up in fight choreography or logistics. I’ve got some studying to do over the next few days.
Still, I should be able to finish this draft by the end of the month.
Plus I think I’ve figured out how to fix the story I wrote for NaNoWriMo in 2016! I’ve always loved the premise, and I know there’s a solid story there, but the draft I wrote initially… isn’t it. It’s got too many characters and points of view, my evil organization is vague and unfocussed, and I hand-waved my way through too many of the details. I’ve known (almost from the minute I finished writing) that the next draft would need a complete rewrite, but the idea has been daunting, and I haven’t really known where to start.
But I’ve stripped the idea down to the most bare-bones concept, tried to remember what exactly I wanted to accomplish with the story, and spent a bit of time brainstorming… and I think it’s paid off. I’m throwing away or reinventing half of my characters, dropping one timeline, the core plot is entirely different, and one huge plot thread is still missing, but… I think this is the story that it’s supposed to be.
I’ve got some character work to do, and then I think I’ll be able to start outlining the new version. If everything goes well, I should be able to start work a few days after I finish the current project.
Reghan Skerry 