Well, I did it. On time? No. But I did it!
Last Monday was the day to complete Phase 1 — I finished Wednesday. My hallway is now lined on both sides with 11 sheets of paper documenting the entire novel. Was this helpful in any way? Immensely! I highlighted the main/side character’s names each in a different color and left the characters only making an appearance or two without colors. This let me see the cameo parts better in the flow of the main/side character’s lives. This process also showed me who can be left out as they don’t help or progress the story, and which character’s stories were started but not finished.
While I should be starting Phase 2 of this revision, it’s becoming clear to me I will not be able to pass through each section from start to finish in a nice and easy flow as I’d initially expected. From here, my revision feels messy.
Yesterday, I spent my writing time moving the character information from the sheets of paper into Plottr on a timeline. Now, I have a timeline visual of each character and, of course, they are color coded. Today, I am reviewing each character within the scene and adding the location. Next, I’ll add what happens in the scenes. The previous paper exercise also pointed out the beginning and end of the book are not the problem. It’s the messy middle.
Hoping with the next update I can say I have actually revised areas of the draft. I still have 20 days to go. Plenty of time, right?
Wendy Crafton Writes 