Book in Progress — Part Three: Clock’s ticking, dude.

Hey there! Long time no read!

I had my posting schedule for May all worked out, and then I decided the Adventures of a Nerd needed a makeover. Inside and out. So if you notice that a post or two is missing and a few things are rearranged, that would be why.

I am also working on some content changes, which won’t be too much different for you, it just affects the way I schedule.

In April’s wrap-up I talked about how I was getting restless and just wanted to get back to writing. If you remember part two of ‘book in progress’ I mentioned that I had a problem with one of the characters and I was going to take the project back into the shop to fix a few bugs. I promised to take you through my outlining process, but I can’t do this anymore.

My drafting process is very, very messy. I am a pantser, so I can’t spend a lot of time on the outline. So having to drag myself away from my hardcore fast drafting routine to return to the outline was really hard on me. But it had to be done.

Let me give you the run through of what I did this month.

I thought for a long time about removing that problem character completely. I ended up deciding that he was too involved in the protagonist’s arc. So instead I gave his character a complete makeover. He has a different name and motivation, and now I shouldn’t have any more problems with him… Hopefully.

And while I was there I polished up my main character, and worked one another problematic side character.

For a time I also thought about rearranging some plot points. I have been having a rough time with the midpoint, so I thought about switching the midpoint with the climax of the first act. But the midpoint is supposed to be the breaking point for the main character and I can’t do that right at the beginning. The first climax has very little effect on his arc (unlike the midpoint), so I’m just going to have to put a little more effort into writing the midpoint the right way.

With that plan in mind, and knowing that if I go on like this, this book will never get written, I am getting back into my fast drafting routine.

I find I write better under a deadline (which is funny because I can’t meet a deadline to save my life), so I gave myself until June to finish this first draft.

It’s now May 24, and I still have approximately eight chapters left.

I only have a week to finish my first draft, and I’m beginning to feel nervous.

Since taking time off to reconsider the outline, I’m having a hard time getting back to my old routine, but that could also be because I’m nearing the end which is not as thoroughly thought out.

I’m getting ready to enter into the BIG ending battle, and I realized I have a big problem… There is no way my characters could survive this… And if they do, I run into another problem after the battle, which I’m not going to get into at this point (spoilers).

So now I actually have to use my imagination and think of a way out for these poor people. I think I may be on to something, it’s too early to say if it’ll work or not, but I’m getting excited!

On the bright side, I have finally gotten past the two chapters that I’ve been avoiding.

I finally hit that wall of fearing my book is no good. I am still obsessed with this project, don’t get me wrong. I’m just beginning to worry that all my work won’t be worth it. But I know it’s all in my head, and I’ll never know if it was worth it or not until it’s finished.

Thanks for reading this edition of the book in progress and hopefully next time I will have big news to share with you all!

Thanks a Bunch!

— Nerd

Also, can you guess what movie reference the title of this post is making? “Clock’s ticking, dude.”

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