Backward Progress

Is it possible to move forward by going backward?

If so that's what I've done this last week.

I was feeling pretty excited last week when I hit 10,000 words on the novel.  I felt like,  even though it was only about 1/8 of the expected length of the book it was a really good start.  I felt like I was on my way.

Then a funny thing happened.  I was doing some research last weekend on writing styles, techniques etc when I came across this site.   This technique for outlining a book seemed tailor made for the way I think.  In just a couple of hours of reading I started thinking about the breakdown of my story and quickly came up with several great ideas.  I decided to give the outline a try and by the end of last week I realized I needed a complete rewrite of pretty much everything I'd written.  Everything I've put together will probably still be used but its all going to move around quite a bit, some parts will stay put, some will show up later, some will ultimately get cut.

The bottom line though is I knew I had a better story to tell than the one I had started.  So, 10,000 words down the tube but I know this book is in a better place today with essentially 0 words written than it was nine days ago with 10,0000.

I'll be working on this outline for the next couple of weeks which will lead to a scene map where I will lay out the overall path for the story.  I'm hoping to have it all laid out by Oct, 31 so I can sit down and bang out my first draft for NaNoWriMo in November.  If all goes well I should have a killer first draft, ready for Beta reading and editing.

I know this is going to push back my schedule but I really want this to be a great book when I'm finished, not just something that I finished only to say I did.  After laying out the changes that have come up so far I'm more excited today about it than when I first sat down at it this summer.

Anyway, wish me luck.  I'll keep updates coming regularly.  The short stories will be on hiatus for a couple of months too.  I'll kick them back up in December when I have a bit more time to devote to them.

Till next time!

Dwight