Getting Organized for NaNo

Alright! I admit I hate the thought of having to write an outline. But I know it's part of the craft of writing. So. This week my goal is to outline Walks with the Moon. Even though I've got a fair idea of the storyline, and a substantial word count, there's a huge hole that needs to be filled.

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I've yet to fully develop my Antagonist. Oh. I know he gets shot. And I know who shoots him. Just last night I determined out how he figures in. But when and how he shows up, on the scene, I've not the first clue.

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Maybe it'll come to me during my attempt at an outline. Maybe he won't show up until a cold blustery day in November. Why is Mr. No Name the Antagonist? Well, one can't live his entire life being hunted and not be incensed at the hunter. There's a profile moment.

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As regards my Chronicles? This morning I pulled out all the hand-typed and hand-written notes for Book One of my FWCs: Caged Heart ~ The Last Heartbound. I used these files during NaNo2006. But. Somewhere amid those long-past days and nights a nagging concern arose. Something was missing. I knew there should be more files; with additional ideas for the storyline. Interviews and research. I took time, more than once, to scour through my file cabinets and drawers and found nothing to satisfy the angst.

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Not, at least, until one happy day earlier this year. During a purge of the studio closet [what am I never going to get to or use and can go out to the garage for a future garage sale], I pulled out a box that hadn't been opened in-- well, I don't know how many years. And right now I'm not even interested in being shocked by doing the Math. There were finger prints in the dust from this last move into the town home. And I know it hasn't been opened from the move before that.

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The problem is I thought I knew what I'd stored inside. I did not. When I found the files of the WIP I thought were in there [well after NaNo], the mystery deepened. But at some point I quite simply forgot about: The Box. In the meantime, I retrieved those newly-found files from their own years of darkness and worked on, Destiny's Heir, during WEB's J-WAT 2008. A few thousand words into the July word-a-thon, I determined this could indeed be a book worth further development. Well into the old hand-written notes, I found I had a very good plot line. I've since tried to get everything better sorted, labeled, and keyed into Word.

NOTE: Oh, how small my print was back then! I literally had to pull out my 3.75 mag. reading glasses to read fine print.

But! Back to: The Box. The day I removed it from the dark corner on the floor of the closet, my faith in the littlest of miracles was confirmed.

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With the girls busied elsewhere, and I at my best, I'd just settled in for a spring-clean molest, when out of the wardrobe dust rose with a flutter, I sprang with my Swiffer to clear up the matter, back to the mystery I returned like a flash, tore open the interlocked seal and threw up the flaps. Parts One, Two, and Three all laid nestled in a row, Oh my gosh! There they are! I cried to the objects below. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but no better RX to alleviate my fear.

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Yes. What was lost is now found. It now boils down to being better armed for NaNo'08; with one less thing to worry on hanging over my head. And for the record-- I look forward to rediscovering what all the fuss was about. .

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But! There's more to getting ready than the mere collecting of one's thoughts. There's laundry to get done and out of the way. Groceries to be bought so I don't waste away. Trash cans to empty and bills to pay. And come Friday there's a costume so as to go out and play.

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Oka-a-ay-- So I'm not truly able. But if I were! Though I gave in and gave up my size 12 jeans [a good year ago], and no corset in the world is going to make me look any less plump, I'd still like to go out representing one of Amy Brown's whimsical and sumptuous depictions of the Fae.

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I found her work a few years back and fell quite in love, hook-line-and-sinker, with her charming dragons. BUT, I digress!

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There is still my workspace that needs to be organized, along with noting what I need to make NaNo'08 as comfortable an experience as possible. In '06 my legs/ankles/feet swelled terribly. I do not want a repeat. While it means not falling off my prescription meds, taking frequent breaks and keeping my legs elevated, it includes a new heat pad for my chair as well. It's also time to pull out my winter socks, a lap throw, and all the accoutrements to keep said girls [my cats] happy throughout the process.

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Though I spent the better part of yesterday, as much as my body would allow, I worked on that How Would You Live, Quill of the Heart post. No. It's not uploaded yet. But, I don't intend on having that hanging over my head, next month either. So, I've a lot to do. That means I'm signing off for now.

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