Courtney Cantrell shares her work in progress
Last week, I blogged about how writing for Unstressed Syllables has helped me up my WIP wordcount. One of the unfortunate side effects of working more diligently on my WIP is that I haven’t taken some of the WIP time to give you a WIPU. And if you’re already tired of acronyms, please forgive me–because I suspect this might be an ASoP.*
So, without further ADO**, I give you my Work-in-Progress Update. I decided to take the list from my last update and…um…update it. Yeah.
1. I need to fill in the gaps of story in chapters 4, 5, 7 and 14.
I thought I had also finished with Chapter 7. But when I next opened the document and checked back over my work, I discovered that I’d cheated. Shock and dismay! I can’t tell you the details of how I cheated, because that would mean retelling more of the story than I want to get into right now. Suffice it to say that I knew I’d cheated because a section of the chapter progressed from one conflict to another with no transition material. Sometimes, I can make such a leap without throwing the reader off. Sometimes, that can be a good technique for moving from one chapter to the next (as long as the next chapter contains even the briefest explanation of what happened in-between). However, for such a jump to take place in the middle of a chapter isn’t the best idea. It only confuses the reader and obviates my laziness: When I wrote this particular scene, I was eager to move forward and didn’t take the time to let the story flow the way it needed to. Now, I must rectify this.
2. I need to write Chapter 8.
I don’t want to write Chapter 8. It will contain a conversation I don’t want to have to write. The characters aren’t going to like it, which means I don’t like it. But if I don’t write it, I will repeat the error of Chapter 7–only on a grander and less-easily-fixable scale.
In this business we call writing, there is no room for laziness.
3. I need to go through the whole document and delete all the “extras” I didn’t backspace out of existence during National Novel Writing Month.
Done! Woot, I rock, and all that funky stuff.
4. I need to make final decisions regarding the placement of several bits of demonic inter-chapteral monologue.
This won’t happen until all the chapters are complete. That’s why this point on my WIPTDL*** occupies the final position and always will occupy the final position. The points that come before are both mutable and moveable.
I intend to knock out chapter 7 and tackle 8 before Saturday graces us with her presence. Chapter 14 must languish in incompleteness for now. I’ll keep you posted!
*Acronym Sort of Post
**Anxious Dog Owners? Arbitrary Door Opener? Anteaters Don’t Overeat?
***Work-In-Progress To-Do List
P.S. Saturday, 12:10a.m. Okay, so I’m ten minutes late…but I just finished Chapter 7! Huzzah! Huzzah! In the meantime, I’ve realized that two characters in the chapter need to switch places–so I want to make those changes before tackling Chapter 8. Maybe I’m just procrastinating starting on The Dreaded 8…but honestly, I’m okay with that!
Photo credit Julie V. Photography.
