Writing Update
Scenes Arranged: 6
Total Scenes: 39
I’m officially in the Inciting Incident, 3/4 of the way through it, in fact. I’ve got what happened and the reaction to it. Now I just need my distant second storyline to have its moment and I’ll be into the second Eighth (more on that on Friday). It feels good getting a little more done each day.
Reading Update
Vengeful: 43%
This book just keeps getting better. I wish I carved out more time to dig into it. The fact that I’m reading some each day is definitely a victory, I just want more.
Personal Update
I forgot to mention this sooner, but I finally saw Les Miserables over the weekend. Yes, for the first time. Yes, I KNOW!
I saw the 2012 version shown above and it was remarkable. Granted, it is a long movie/play, but if you allow yourself to be swept away in it, it is moving on a fundamental level. So much happens to so many in it that it approximates real life, if a series of miserable ones. Yes, this play lived up to its name.
And the fact that the ENTIRE play was song save a few spoken lines here and there reminds me of another play coming to a performing arts center near me in just eight more days…
Discussion Topic
Goal Setting
I’m not certain why, but this image of Katharina Molitor, a German javelin thrower and volleyballer, heaving back for a javelin throw is what I think of when I think about goal setting. I’m a dreamer and a planner so when it comes to goal setting, I like to think big and then plot backward to figure out how to get there from here.
I do much the same in my writing. I know where my characters are (especially now that I’m starting from the end of the last novel) and so, to me, the first question I have to ask is “Where are they going to end up?” Once I know that, I can take a step forward from the beginning in that general direction, then a step back from the ending, and continue that oscillation until I have a plot.
Here’s how it worked for Book 2 (yes, I’m deliberately keeping my working title for it under my hat for now). I had the beginning from the end of Book 1 and then figured out the ending. Then I figured out some big moments throughout that I knew off the top of my head. These become some of the bones of the plot. Then I establish the remaining bones necessary to connect the beginning to the ending. These bones are my Eighths (again, Friday).
Once all the bones are in place, I determine the scenes, the sinew (scene-new? sorry, bad dad joke) to connect one bone to another. Then I actually WRITE the narrative text for each scene, the muscle on top of the sinew and bone. After that, its revision, refinement, and style, the skin, clothing, and makeup of my book.
I treat goals the same way. I launch my javelin to where I want to end up, then I determine the big turns I need to take to get there, and then figure out the smaller steps in between the turns. I try to account for obstacles, but you know how life is.
I’m working on a new way of approaching goals at work that is much the same way (I call them Initiatives there). What’s the big goal? What are the big parts of that goal i.e. milestones, deliverables, achievements? What are the tasks necessary to get to those milestones? How long do I need to get each task done? Boom! Plan.
I say all this as an encouragement to everyone reading this. Big pie-in-the-sky goals can seem terrifying, but they’re also exciting. We all want to pull off the kind of grand plans we see in the movies. Those are always revealed to be made up of tiny steps along the way. So set yourself a goal and make your plan to get there. I’ll be cheering you on from the cheap seats.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG