Happy Monday! I hope everyone was able to enjoy the extended weekend.
For me, three day weekends are really amazing as they give me the opportunity to focus on myself and my family. I do as much as I can to shut off all the things that I have to do — and focus on the parts that allow me to re-charge and re-energize so I’m ready for the following week. Some of that is watching television + movies (we’ll talk about that on Friday, but I did get a chance to watch Bad Boys 4, Dune Part 2, and started Slow Horses), playing video games (I fired up Starfield for the first time), reading, and doing a bit of writing.
The two stories — which are title less in my mind — are ones that I’ve been workshopping for the past decade. The fantasy story (Manuscript 2) is one that I started outlining probably around 2010 or 2011. I’ve written a full draft of it and am on my second draft of it. It’s a story that I have future ideas for that won’t get covered in the first novel and will explore turning into a series one day.
Each writer is either a plottser or a pantser — meaning you either plot out what you’re going to write or you just write and figure it out as you go. I plot out the big details — the ones that are critical to me while also letting the story itself kind of go where it needs to. I believe the characters, once I start writing them, will start telling me their stories and how they want their story to be told. I know it comes off crazy, but the characters have been living in my mind for a long time before I put them down on paper and thus, they have their own voice, their own personality, their own lives.
I try to capture as much as I can on paper, but there’s always things that never make it there, but are still part of who they are.
The first manuscript — the basketball story — is a more personal story for me and helps me deal with some of the things that I went through growing up. It’s once again a story that I’ve plotted out some of the landmarks along the way, but also give time for detours along the way.
I had no purpose coming into this post, but have kind of revealed my writing style. I’m also more of a move forward kind of writer — worldbuilding has to happen in the flow of the story and I can’t spent time just focused on the worldbuilding without the story building alongside it.
Alright, I’m rambling now. See you tomorrow.