Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Sick Kids = Brain Fog (and thank you, Nathan Bransford!)

Sunday night I was reading Nathan Bransford's blog, as I frequently do.  I ventured into some of his FAQ entries and read this post on plot.  Oh my golly.  It saved my book.  For real.

Listen, I hadn't read those basic entries because my book is "finished".  I am now cutting words, cleaning up dialogue, making my fight scenes more exciting, etc.  But I was struggling because I felt like something still wasn't working.  I knew the pieces weren't quite fitting the way they should be, but I couldn't figure out WHY.  And as I read Nathan's post, I had an epiphany.  I think a lightbulb *really* appeared over my head.  I know exactly how to stitch the climax to the struggle throughout the book.  And it was there all along; I just needed to make the connection more clear.

So last night I was super excited to get started!  I'd been making notes on scraps of paper all day.  Hubby went off to bed, I grabbed my laptop, and... stared at the screen blankly until I ended up looking at kitchen carts on the Ikea website instead.  See, we've had sick kids (and sick hubby) all weekend.  They are clingy and whiny and needy and not sleeping.  And I just couldn't write anything worth saving.

Is the universe out to get me?  I doubt it.  I assume the universe has more important things to do.  The moral of the story is that I have to accept that my life is not usually in my control.  And that's okay.

5 comments:

  1. You are wrong. . . the universe IS out to get you. Lucky for you it has things out of control all of the time so it will get to you when it can.

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  2. GREAT! I knew it! Hopefully I'm towards the bottom of the list.

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  3. Just keep plunking along. Your time will be here soon. Or all your monkeys will be in school and you really won't have any time to your self, unless its in the car, in between car pools.

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  4. Hey - at least you have a plot! And fight scenes? I seriously can't wait to read this!! I've always wanted to write children's book, but...that's as far as I've gotten. Maybe someday I'll come up with a plot :)

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  5. Okay fight scenes might be a little melodramatic. One big fight scene, several smaller "altercations". And yes, Lisa, in a few years I'll definitely be writing in the mini van or at soccer practice, and I'll be glad I have that laptop!

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