Have you noticed how accomplishing one task brings a high, and then a lull? You actually did something and now what? Take a break or launch yourself into the next task before losing momentum?
If I’m not mindful, I find the transition between tasks is where I get distracted and lose my way.
This week I tackled the List of Missing Scenes (from Book Finish Bootcamp https://www.resilientwriters.com/blog_page). Here’s how it went:
I printed my list of missing scenes, along with some bits and pieces, some backstory and memories culled from my “sandbox”.* I plan to weave these elements into the already existing fabric of the story to strengthen the thematic through-line, which I keep close at hand. Then I jumped in, giving myself permission to just write, however incomplete the scenes might be. My little lizard brain editor sits on my shoulder shaking her head, saying things like, You’ve got nothing… this is crap.
This week I gave her a name, Mygda. And I drew her so I can see her more clearly. I’m making friends with my little lizard brain who is trying to keep me safe and well-fed.
She tells me to go get something to eat when I’m not truly hungry or in need of fuel. You need more, she says, when I’ve had enough… I hear you, I say, and pet her scaly head. I’m used to feeding her whenever she squawks, running at her beck-and-call; she’s become a bit overactive in the snack department, so now I’m trying to retrain her, telling her she can go back to sleep so I can get back to work.
My new list of scenes grounds me and shows me where I was and where I’m headed. I got off track in the middle of the week, but reviewed my goals of finishing by a certain date. That helps me get back on track. In the back of my mind (as Mygda lays dreaming) I wonder if this is all there is to it. Won’t there still be stuff missing?
Of course there will be missing elements (Mygda rouses).
“…what we see never resides in what we say (or write)…” -Michel Foucault, The Order of Things
But until I get it written down where I can look at it, I have nothing to edit, polish and move in the direction of the story I see playing out in my mind.
It’ll never fly… (I hear Mygda quoting some movie in her sleep).
Maybe it will fly higher than we imagine, I whisper back. I want to allow for the possibility–the story is shaping into more than I originally envisioned. This surprise gives me hop eand leads me on toward the finish line.
Having a list helps, but there’s still a matter of figuring out what it means to “list all the scenes that need to be cut,” which is what comes next. Does this mean I need to read through the entire novel again? That could take another week or month, or more, especially if I get mired in trying to figure out what goes and what stays.
These are the challenges. I need to take them one at a time. This is the beauty of the list. I can tackle it line by line. The important thing is to keep going, not get caught in a lull, transitioning between tasks.
Where are you in the process? Have you made a list? And are you following it? I’d love to hear how it’s working for you.
See more posts on Book Finish Bootcamp https://lorilyngreenstone.com/returning-to-intentions-in-revision/
(migrated post from EkphrasticMama, Sept. 10 2022, when I blogged through Book Finish Bootcamp with Rhonda Douglas)
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