I’m about a month into my new novel, but I’m not making the progress I had hoped. The story is strong, I think, and there is a solid structure in place. But, I’m only on chapter three. My word count has me at almost 7,000 words. To meet the goal, I have to get another 50,000+ words done by the end of August. I’m also tracking two short stories through the submission, rejection, submission process.
I’ll keep plugging away, but in the meantime, I have a trip to Boise next week, SpoCon this weekend, a wedding the next weekend, and some other activities. Summer is just too full of things to do, including play time with grandkids and quality time with family and friends.
I try to sit down for a bit in the morning, check what I did the day before, then add more story. I’m about to hit the story’s first crisis point. I need to look at my outline of Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero’s Journey.” This is a useful tool in establishing the story arc, though you do not have to stick to it lock-step. Since I’m writing a young adult novel, Christian-based, there are parts of the story arc I’ll do … differently.
Still, it helps to have that outline, graphic or whatever you would use to define the “monomyth” handy. It helps you answer the repeating question: “What happens next?”
Keep writing.
