Post-it Notes & False Victories

Midpoints, writing guilt, and why my notebook looks like a conspiracy board

From the Forge…

After my last post, I decided to start plotting or outlining or sticking post-its on the wall, anything to help find my way through the 2nd Act. For the most part, it’s been pretty successful. I think I’ve arrived at the true mid-point of the story and given my protagonist the perfect “false victory” before things take a turn. I don’t wanna plan too much further ahead ‘cause my notebook will just evolve into scratches and more post-its, triggering my neuroses. A while ago, probably around my first draft, I tried Scrivner for a while and Plottr less so and genuinely enjoyed their features.

Scrivner was great for organizing content and has a ton of places to keep notes/research. You can sketch characters and upload pictures, then move them all around to organize how you see fit. AND…it low-key reminds me of WordPerfect.

Plottr has some of that functionality as well, but I used it mostly for structure. I write all genre fiction and without any formal education in creative writing, I underestimated the importance of structure.

So, I’ve gone over what I’ve written and retroactively outlined each chapter. Noted important plot points and the “B-story” thread woven throughout as well. Grouped each section by beat. But I’ve decided to stick with my Muji notebooks, instead of the software. They may be messy, but things don’t exist until they’re written down. I’ve never been more organized!

Unfortunately, actual writing had to be sacrificed in the process. Well—it didn’t have to be, but sometimes work sucks and doesn’t understand that it only exists so I can pay bills. As much as I’d love to be one of those people who write every day no matter what ‘cause writing is about perseverance, routine, etc.—I haven’t got there yet. If I wake up and get hit in the face with stress and anxiety, it takes some time to recover and I often don’t “write my way out of it”. In the meantime, I had a convo with my stepson about the importance of writing every day even when you don’t feel like it, even when everything sounds like trash. After that bit of hypocrisy, it’s probably time I learn to multi-task instead of waiting to be “moved” creatively.

Every $1 Allows Me to Mainline a Nespresso Pod

What I Wish I Wrote…

Never read The Martian. Haven’t seen the movie. But my work book club picked this as our summer read and damn, it was good. As I try to “read as a writer”, I’m learning to pay attention to story beats, character development, and tense since those are things I struggle with most. The amount of research Weir must do to make his books scientifically accurate (I assume The Martian is the same and the science is correct) made me wonder if he was an astrophysicist turned author, but after a cursory Google search—he’s a smart guy who does A LOT of research. That alone would’ve made this a fun read, but the slow burn that is our introduction to protagonist Ryland Grace made me say “shit…I only create one-dimensional characters”. Also, I was here for the relationship between Ryland and Rocky—invested. For half the book, I was either nervous about tragic ways this friendship could end or imagined crazy scenarios where they could be best friends forever. If Weir didn’t spend the first half of the book creating a character I cared about/felt sorry for, then I wouldn’t have spent the second half worrying. Sometimes I read a book and I’m all “Imma just quit ‘cause that premise is amazing or that dialogue is crisp”, but this time it was more “I gotta give my protagonist a hobby or a quirk or a better backstory or a pair of cowboy boots.” Whatever it takes to add some dimension.

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