Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Work in Progress Wednesday - The Basics Update

Well, it's Wednesday . . . just in case you were wondering.

I'm at 49,000 words! Woo-hoo!

I'm currently nearing the end of the fallen action section of the book and then there's the denouement. Are you confused? Have you not been paying attention to my blog? Okay, go check this out and then come back. Ha.

I finished the climax Monday evening . . . despite the awesome display of lightning and thunder put on by a menopausal Mother Nature. Trust me, she's going through menopause. It was bound to happen. Global Warming? Bah! Hot Flashes from a Menopausal Mother Nature! HA! Oh, did I mention a whiny dog because of the storm? My Jesse doesn't like thunderstorms.

So, in the midst of the climax chapter I have to stop writing and go cuddle with my baby dog. The other dog? Well, James could care less and was gnawing the heck out of his favorite toy. Go, James.

Yesterday, I began the falling action (what happens next) part of the project. This section will encompass a few chapters, and then I'm on to the denouement. I should, hopefully, have the rough draft done by Friday. Woo-hoo.

So, that's it for my progress update. What's going on with you?

S

4 comments:

Davin Malasarn said...

I suck so much at writing after the climax that I tend to avoid it or trick myself into doing it on accident.

In my own story, I'm currently trying to write a pivotal scene that leads up to the climax. I've been stuck on it for weeks. In my last attempt, when the love was supposed to be start, the two men ended up going to a Laker game instead. When I wrote about them blushing after their knees touched, I decided I needed to delete and start over.

Scott said...

Davin – you just stated why I sometimes do chapters out of sequence. I wrote the ‘climax’ scene three days before I finished the chapters leading up to the ‘climax’ scene. This works for me, not everybody.

It’s hard, for me at least, to write the endearing love kind of things. In this story, there’s a great deal of sexual tension between two characters. Instead of delving into great depth, I inserted brief moments that showed the tension and the growing attraction between the two. For this story, the brief moments work better. In this instance, at least for me, less is definitely more.

For the parts after the ‘climax’ I did a brief outline. I listed each character and what should happen to them after the ‘climax’. For example, the fill in character that took on a life of her own has a shop she runs. The shop is in a decrepit looking building, at least from the outside. Her home, however, is picture perfect on the outside. There’s a reason for this which I explain throughout the course of the book. After the ‘climax’, she has realized the reason and decides to change things so I have her fixing up the outside of her shop. It’s a really small thing, but to the character, it’s important.

Good luck on getting that pivotal moment to work out. I always find if I’m having trouble with a chapter/scene, that stepping away and working on something else helps me sort everything out.

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Good luck! I can't believe how quickly you're moving through this project!!!

Scott said...

Michelle - I finished the rough draft last night @ a little over 53K words. Woo-hoo!

Every now and then, a story pushes me so hard it's all I can think about or do. This was one of those stories. I don't know why. Heck, who am I to question 'why' when I can hit 53K words in less than 2 weeks.

Well, onwards and upwards, the next phase of the project awaits me . . . in about a week or so. I need some distance first.

S