Friday Fricassee

It is six days past Valentine's Day, and I'd just like to point out that I still have THREE PIECES OF CHOCOLATE LEFT in the 24-chocolate box that Mr. A gave me.  Which means that I've eaten 20 pieces and shared one.  (What?  You expected me to share MORE than one?  This is MY CHOCOLATE.)  Considering the fact that it would have been ridiculously easy for me to hork down the whole box in one sitting, I'm feeling rather pleased with myself.

Aside from my carefully controlled chocolate consumption, I've been lamenting the cold and pretty much hibernating (except for venturing out twice to get some work done in a nearby coffee shop, icy parking lots notwithstanding).  Of course, hibernation and writing go well together, yes?  So I've gotten some more words accomplished in my NEVER-ENDING WIP, as well as having gone back to work on creating the outline for already-written chapters.

I hate grunt-work like that, but it's a necessary evil.  (Also?  Scrivener is amazing.)  And doing it helped me to recapture the magic of this story.  Honestly, I've been so slogged in the mire with this NEVER-ENDING WIP that, for a while there, I'd lost the vision completely.  I'm glad to report that I've recaptured the sparkle, and I'm hopeful that this HUGE, UNWIELDY THING will some day be amazing.

I credit author J.M. Frey with setting me back on the right path.  She's going through something similar right now (a never-ending WIP), and she pointed out that we are writing laterally right now instead of writing UP.  And that makes sense to me, because OH, THE SPREAD.  It's blah blah blah and blah blah blah, and BY THE WAY, ARE WE HEADING TOWARD ANY SORT OF CLIMAX YET?  It's exhausting.

Here are her tweets of wisdom:

@AuthoressAnon And you hope something will click and propel you forward,but it doesn't so you end up writing laterally instead of writing up
— J.M. Frey (@scifrey) February 13, 2015

@AuthoressAnon We keep falling into the pattern of writing platforms when we should be writing ladders.
— J.M. Frey (@scifrey) February 13, 2015

So, yes.  There's a place for writing all the STUFF, even though you've already plotted the story ahead of time.  But then you've got to find your ladder.  And that's what I'm trying to do.

Reading back through my earlier chapters in order to create the outline has been so helpful (thanks again to J.M. for the inspiration to do so).  Because amidst all the "Oh my gosh, this scene needs to be vaporized!" and "Why did I just reveal something that was already revealed three chapters ago??", there are also, "Wow! I love this scene!" and "Oh, cool! I'd forgotten about this!"

So much work ahead.  But I'm up for the challenge.

Thanks for your thoughtful-as-always comments on Tuesday's YA: ALL THE SEXY post.  If you're a YA writer and you sometimes have KISSES in your stories, PROBABLY YOU SHOULD READ THE BLOG POST.

And now I'm off and running with whatever this Friday brings.  (It definitely won't be warm air.  That seems to be a thing of the distant past.)

Have a joyful weekend!