When Process Evolution Becomes an Obstacle

image courtesy of Alexandr via Pixabay.com

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about how important the outline was to my process. Since I juggle multiple projects at any given time, and don’t have the luxury of working only on one thing, the outline helps me drop down into the world of the project wherever I left off, and pick up again, without (much) hesitation.

I also talked about how, as my process has evolved, for book-length projects, I like to write my way into it for about 3 or 4 chapters to make sure it’s viable, and then outline.

That caused an obstacle with THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH in the Nano cycle that just finished. If you’ve followed the daily chop-wood-carry-water posts over on Ink in My Coffee,  you know how I struggled.

I knew, fairly early on, who the murderer was and why they committed the murder. I figured out a lot of the red herrings and subplots, and arcs I want to set up for the series and shorter arcs for this book. As I wrote the outline, one of the subplots, involving Rita’s son Michael, became more and more important, to both this story, and for the arc of the series.

But I kept running into a wall  when it came to the climactic sequence and resolution. I sort of had an idea for the resolution sequence, but until I knew the climactic sequence, it was vague.

The closer we got to the start of Nano, the more nervous I got about it.

There was a lot of pacing and muttering going on. (I tend to pace and mutter when I try to work out plot points, although solutions often come as I’m cooking dinner or when in the shower). Sometimes the cats join me, walking behind me, or sitting nearby, looking at me as though they’re listening and understanding every word.

Taking a walk outside doesn’t help the way pacing and muttering in my own environment does.

Taking a walk is more likely to give me new inspirations, rather than solving a problem in an already created project.

I finally, FINALLY got the solution, late in the week just before Nano started, when I was writing about my concerns in my personal journal. Suddenly, it all broke out and made sense. I wrote it up. I had to do some research on stoves in the 1950s used in trailer homes (this will make sense when you read the book), and, fortunately, my idea for the climactic sequence, where Rita finally confronts the murderer, worked. I was also able to fold something in that supports Michael’s arc, both in this book, and moving forward.

BUT, it meant going back and rewriting some of the outline, because I now had to layer in actual clues and red herrings to build properly to the climactic sequence. This is a mystery; it needs to build structurally so that it fits the logic of its world AND be intellectually and emotionally satisfying.

I also had to create two new supporting characters, because the backstories of my ensemble to date didn’t fit what I needed. Fortunately, there’s room for them. I also realized, as I wrote the outline, and tied those characters in to the murderer’s arc and to the arc of Rita’s other son, Doug (who is a suspect in the murder at one point), that I needed to change the age of one of these new characters, making her younger (which then meant she was visiting the other character, her sister, for an extended visit, not living in the park).

The Writer’s Rough outline was 11 pages, long for an outline, and read more like a treatment for a script than a traditional outline, but hey, it’s just for me and no one else.

I also realized, after I wrote it, that part of the reason I struggled was that I tried to write the full outline before I’d “written my way in” to the book with the first few chapters.

Normally, I’d get the idea, jot down some notes, write a few chapters, then do the outline. That’s not only become a process, but a habit.

But, since I do traditional Nano, which means starting to write on Day 1, I didn’t do that.

I also knew I didn’t have time during Nano to stop, after three or four days, to write an outline. Not with all the other demands on my time in November. I needed the completed outline BEFORE I started on November 1.

My process, which evolved into a habit, which works for the rest of the year, created an obstacle for Nano.

So why didn’t I just write my way in for a few chapters ahead of November 1? Who’s going to know, right?

I would.

The reason I do Traditional Nano rather than just write whatever I’m working on at the time is that I want to use it to shake up my process, so I don’t get stuck, and so the process doesn’t become a rut or a limitation.

It’s not my business how anyone else does Nano. It’s about finding something that works, and learning how to show up at the page every day. Everyone needs to experience and experiment for themselves.

But it IS my business to live up to the promises I make to myself.

Hitting the obstacle, overcoming it, and learning why it happened in the first place helped me during Nano, and will help beyond.

Side note: If you’ve never read  choreographer Twyla Tharp’s THE CREATIVE HABIT, I highly recommend it. Get it from the library, and then, if it resonates, buy a copy. I re-read it once every year or so. It has techniques that resonate, no matter what the  discipline in which you work

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