Writing Update

A section of my book was critiqued on April 23rd, and I wrote consistently for a week after that. However, as it came time to submit, I came across a really busy weekend that threw off my concentration and by the time I revisited my work and saw that it was not polished enough, it was too late and there was no time to brush it up and submit. I am mad at myself for not submitting this time, but it is certainly not a requirement of the group. The only ramification is that I will not be getting feedback this biweek, and I have thought on my own about the improvements my work needs.

Progress HAS been made toward one of my writer's goals that I established at the outset of the year. I now anticipate my story to be told in a trilogy, and I know more or less where each book will start and finish, and where most major characters will be in their lives (all turning points).

I also have been keeping up with my outline. My outline sums up each section (blocks within each section break in the narrative) with two or three sentences about WHAT the section is about and WHY I am writing it. Well, after updating the outline, I decided to do something new: I wrote in whose point of view (POV) it was written in.

The new "POV feature" is very helpful. At this point in the story, I have my major protagonist, Riaone, but also three very important sub-characters with sections in their POVs (Garel, Tsa Sial, Jaim) and another, Amanda, who plays a large role in their current setting but may not continue to be so important. By keeping this feature, I realize when I haven't written in Riaone's POV for too long, etc. I am able to step back and see who needs "a turn speaking."

Secondly, by keeping these section mini-summaries, I realize plot lines I may have let simmer too long. For instance, I realized that a major villain made a very serious threat against Amanda, but now I have gone far too many sections without returning to that tension. Knowing that, I was able to think on the best way to let it reemerge, and now I can go back and slide in that scene before I get so far that major revisions are necessary.

I encourage all writers to keep a similar document. It is difficult to write a large piece of work and still be able to keep track of details and your timeline of events, all in your head; especially when working with multiple points of view.