So grizzily I can't bear it

[pjthompson]

Lately I've been taking a page out of the book of kmkibble75. No, I haven't mutilated his ms. I've been outlining and moving around the puzzle pieces for the finale of Night Warrior. I've always known what happened at the end (you'll be glad to know), but it's starting to get complicated as the three timelines come together. In the big push towards the end I wanted to feel as if I really did have a handle on things.

What with the household move, I didn't work on the ms. for about a week and a half, and that's too much time to keep the feel of the narrative alive and coherent inside my mind. It's all there if I pay attention to it every day or almost every day. But if I get seriously sidetracked for a week or more, I have to circle back and reacquaint myself. It's not the plot, exactly, that fades, but the emotional resonance. The method acting; the grip of the characters' innards. It's hard enough to ride my own emotional life without mollycoddling theirs, as well, and my psyche seems ready to abandon them at a moment's notice.

Outlining ahead of time might have saved me outlining now, but as I've said before (ad nauseam, in fact), that process doesn't work for me. I think it's because the narrative tends to be an emotional ride for me rather than a left brain exercise. I have to feel my way along because I have to stay in touch with the feelings of my characters. But I do sometimes have to stop and make "spot outlines" to make sure I still know where I'm going. Because the plot has a tendency to shift on me sometimes as I go along, and when paying attention to the way everyone feels.

Meme of the day:

My Roman Name is Aemilia.
Take The Roman Name Generator today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

I've got a thing for Romans, but only since I started researching them for my characters, Annia Sabina and Caius Cassivellaunus. I never thought Romans were all that cool before. I suppose Steven Saylor went a long way towards coolizing them for me. I loves me some Gordianus the Finder.

Typo of note: Llamrei didn't shy from the grizzily burden

(You can tell I'm a native Westerner, huh?)

Socks of the day: White with little blue-grey flowers.

Comments

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

Oh oh... I didn't indirectly cause your story to be broken, did I?

[pjthompson]

Heavens, no. I do periodic "spot outlines," as I said. It's just that with the three timelines, this is probably the most complicated novel (or story) I've written, so I've had to be a bit more diligent in that regard.