Game Plan

I like to follow my muse and see where she leads me - to the statue of not-quite-Nea that I shared with you several moons ago, the article in the paper about the Toronto Power Generating Station, the trip to Clifton Hill and the weevils encased in acrylic - all the places that smite me with inspiration.

Planning things tends to interfere with that process. Or so I always thought. A few months ago, I wrote out a story outline. I broke the book down into four weeks and a list of elements that were going to change over that time period. Then I forgot about it and followed my muse around North America.

Now that summer and an extended work schedule are underway, I need to allot some dedicated writing time. It's too easy to just put that off like I do exercise(although, writing feeds my soul in a way nothing else does)when I'm exhausted.

I dug out the old outline and started to enter it into an Excel spreadsheet. (Thanks, Bryan for guiding me through that process so that I didn't lose another day)What did I discover? My muse and my outline have been working in tandem. The genesis of some things started with the chart, others with the muse but they've been helping me expand on all of it.

The blog has played a role as well. I've mentioned things here that are nowhere else in my documents, notes or charts. I've been able to come back and see what I can develop, what I can lose. Very good tool this blog. And I was worried it would steal valuable writing time.

Armed with all these tools,I'll be able to set reasonable deadlines - and more importantly - make them.

The book isn't done yet, thanks for asking, but it's much closer. I have a game plan.

Here's a photo for you to admire while I write. Alex can see this out his side window.