Day 14: To Snowflake step 8 or not to Snowflake step 8

-
Today is my writing Sabbath, so I didn’t work on my series today.

I realized that I’m doing an awful lot of work laying the groundwork for these books, essentially ten full-length novels, all in advance before even writing them. And I still have a lot to do—Snowflake step 6 (expanded synopses) for nine of those volumes, which includes characters’ spiritual and romantic arcs, then Snowflake step 8 (scene spreadsheets). I can typically start writing at that point, because I write out my blocking descriptions for each scene just before I write it.

I’m trying to decide if I want to complete Snowflake step 8 for all those volumes first before I go back to editing volume 1, or if I can get away with only completing Snowflake step 6 (including spiritual/romantic arcs) for all the volumes. If I only did Snowflake step 6, then I’d do Snowflake step 8 on each volume right before I started writing it (starting with volume 2), rather than on all the volumes at once.

I’m thinking that might be okay, because hopefully all the major plot threads will have been addressed when I do Snowflake step 6. Snowflake step 8 is essentially just scene arrangement.

I suppose I’m anxious to finally start writing this series. What I’m doing is necessary for my writing process, but pretty extreme—plotting an entire series in such detail when I’ve only written the first volume. After all, when I plotted just one book in this much detail, my writing friends ran away screaming.

Well, I don’t need to decide right now. I still have to do Snowflake step 6 on all the other volumes. But if I’m lucky, I’ll finish that by the end of the month, maybe? I hope so!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 783: Evaluation 7

-
It’s been almost seven months since I wrote my last Evaluation 6 , but I finally got around to Evaluation #7! Here’s the gist of what I’ve learned over the past few months about my writing and productivity. New schedule My IBS was slowly been starting to feel better recently. I am still extremely strict with my diet, but I am also starting to experiment with what foods I can and can’t eat. I have also started a new eating and sleeping schedule, which I have dubbed my “chrono-diet” because I’m trying to take advantage of my circadian rhythm, according to the book Change Your Schedule, Change Your Life (I had borrowed a copy from the library but I enjoyed it so much I went ahead and bought it). I have started waking up at 6 am and exercising first thing, then having breakfast after exercise. I do house chores and/or work until noon, which is when I eat lunch. I’m supposed to not eat until dinner around 5:30 or 6, but I haven’t been able to break the habit of snacking in the aftern...
Read more

Day 252: Evaluation 5

-
It’s been a while since I’ve done an evaluation, so I figured I was overdue. In no particular order: Good health = good work I had some really bad health issues lately that kept me from writing entirely. However, I found it strange that I’ve been feeling very creative and motivated yesterday and today, despite getting in a lot of work hours yesterday. I think it’s because I haven’t had any IBS issues for the first time in a couple weeks. Not even a little discomfort. This is kind of duh! in hindsight, but I think I underestimated how much my IBS was affecting my energy levels. I’ve been careful about what I ate, but I was also trying to figure out exactly what I could and couldn’t eat, so it resulted in some bad IBS bouts. So now I know I really need to be strict about what I’m putting in my mouth so that my health doesn’t adversely affect my energy for work! Sprints Another sort of duh! moment in hindsight, but sprints have been helping me with my productivity. At f...
Read more

Day 21: Bullet journal, Surrender statement

-
Today was my writing Sabbath so I didn’t do any writing today, but I spent a lot of time doing writing-related things. I did some blogging, and I also reviewed my writing To Do list. I cleaned it up by checking off what’s been done, deleting what I no longer need to do, and making note of what I need to do this coming week. Before I started bullet journaling (in an electronic journal app, Day One Journal ), I had my To Do lists in a couple different places and I’d usually forget things I needed to do. Now I have them in my bullet journal, which combines journaling with task organizer, and I’m less likely to forget. I still set reminders for myself in my phone, but since I’m using my journal throughout the day every day, I’m more likely to see things I need to do. I found some of my old To Do lists today and incorporated some things in my bullet journal. One of them was my writing Surrender Statement, which is a prayer I pray before starting each day’s work. What’s a Surrender Sta...
Read more