It reminded me of a time before status updates and tweets. Of pinning, tumblng, “liking”, and blogging.

It reminded me of old friends, crazy shenanigans, downtown adventures, dancing all night, summer festivals, late-night 7-11 runs and road trips (to both planned destinations or nowhere-in-particular).

There was a lot of grunge, goth, Lollapalooza, Kurt Cobain, NIN, Bowie, Bauhaus, JAMC, and The Cure. Concert reviews, pop culture, silly poetry and a glimpse into local nightlife.

I “graduated” to journaling after that (though I’ve been journaling off and on since high school), but I think I’m going to get back into it. It was kind of nice to go back and remember so many good times when connection, community and commeraderie were face-to-face.

Not that I haven’t made online friendships and don’t value the connections I’ve made. But I think it’s time to rekindle real-life relationships and build more memories to cherish…with paper and glue, colored pens and glitter, photos, clippings and scribbling in the margins.

I was actually doing well in the planning process. After some dizzying brainstorming, too many what ifs, and a few instances of running my plot head-long into a brick wall, I managed to untangle the mess and come up with a storyline that I had confidence in.

Until the ending.

It fell flat. Keep in mind, this was only in the planning stages. Imagine if I had already written 50,000 or 60,000 words already.

So here I sit with only 4 days left to fix the plot holes and what am I doing? Writing a short story But who am I to stifle inspiration when it hits?

This little story idea I had 10 days ago really took off (with a little help from my brainstorming buddy CK1), and I know better than to ignore creativity. With the deadline also on June 1, I’ve had to try and juggle both writing & outlining without much success, but at least I am nearing the end of editing the short and hope to do a few marathon plotting sessions over the next few days so I have something to actually write about come Saturday.

Having said that…this short story? Man, it was fun to write. And like any good (masochistic, easily-distracted, daydreaming) writer, I can’t help but wonder if expanding on the idea would make a good novel…

Alright, so maybe hate is a strong word. It’s not like I want to set fire to it or anything (maybe if it was a hard copy and not a file on my computer).

I still like my main character, but everyone else bores me. The sister? A wimp! The stepfather? Bo-ring! There isn’t even a sassy sidekick! What was I thinking?!

Time to brainstorm!

Do I need more interesting characters? Do I change POV characters? Or change her role so the stakes are more personal to her? Who is the real antagonist? Where is the conflict?

Very important questions I thought I had planned out already but they just don’t seem to be working. These may sound like painful changes to make but nothing is worse than being bored by what you are writing and feeling like you are failing the cool idea you had. So, it looks like I’ve got some retooling ahead of me.

On another note, I’ve been outlining the short-story-turned-novella-or-possibly-novel and things are going fairly well. Not to say that there haven’t been bumps in the road. There are always those moments when I am in the middle of plotting what I thought was a great idea but then I get lost, or tangled in plot threads and feel like it is the worst idea I’ve ever had. Luckily those feelings are (mostly) fleeting.

I have the basic story milestones in place, but the middle and ending feel a bit sparse still. Either way, I’ve moved on to plotting out the scenes now, filling out the beats of each one. Hopefully working through each one will help me figure out how to beef up the lagging parts. After I get most of that lined up, I’ll get into slightly more detailed notes for the scenes (character motivation, wants/needs, gains/losses etc.). Full-fledged, card-carrying Plotter in the house!

Having said that, I may start writing the first Chapter before I finish outlining. I’m feeling the itch…

I also hope to knock out a new horror short or two and plan to get back to editing one of my other novels next month. It’ll be kind of interesting to see how things pan out. This book is near-future sci-fi-esque. The other is a paranormal mystery set in Victorian England. Yes, my writing life is multifaceted.

Here’s my progress so far:

Words Written: 104,115
Stories Started: 7
Mediums: Short Stories, Serial Fiction, Novel/Novella
Actual Days Spent Writing: 69 (about 58% of those I planned to write)

Some of the themes/topics I’ve been writing about include Mummies, the Day of the Dead, ghosts, the Plague, death, sin, secrets, greed, sickness, sleep paralysis, asylums, vampires.

Cheerful topics, those

Anyway, if you’re interested in a little more info on what goes on in my writing nook, check out my post over at the Million Word Challenge blog.

What’s On Tap
Never short on ideas, I have a bunch of stuff I’m working on or will be working on in the coming months.

• 2 short stories need finishing so I can sub them (not to mention the 5 or so others in various stages of completion)
• I’m outlining a novel right now (remember that Little Story Idea?) and hope to get started on it next month (I’d love to just jump in but the Plotter in me has a mind of her own)
• I’m working on some story offshoots of my tale The Lockwood Collection that I’m thinking of gathering into a collection (very excited about that!). Think prequel and stories about other members of the Lockwood family
• I still want to write a short story sampler (3 tales to start)

I also still have books to edit! A serial to finish. Another NaNo to think about (it’s never too early).

Does it seem overwhelming to any of you? It is – but in a good way. LOVING IT!

Photo: Steven Correa

Now, we don’t all smash through bathroom doors with axes (although we may snap at our significant others if they try to interrupt our writing time), but things can get a little messy all up in here *tapping my temple*.

The brainstorm point-form for this next novella/novel I’m working on was getting a little unruly. Truth be told, it’s about 6 pages of handwritten “what ifs”, probably a novella’s-worth of typed-up ideas and so much research right now (and I’m still working things out).

So, I decided I needed to get things a little more orderly before I start mumbling to myself (wait, I already do that…) and I’m dragged away in a straight jacket.

After a few days of typing, listening to Radiohead, staring out the window, and typing some more, this is what I’ve come up with.

This, dear readers (sidenote: I just typed ‘dead’ readers. Wouldn’t that be interesting!), is what it looks like inside my head right now. Or at least what the plot looks like so far.

Tangents, a spiderweb of ideas, plots and subplots, connections – writing is complicated! But as one of my fave writerly dudes said earlier today, “Remember, writers: your story only works if you work on that story. #obvious #butalsotrue #ArtHarder”.

It can get a little overwhelming – all this plotting, hiding shit so the reader doesn’t find it right away, coming up with a kick-ass story that both makes sense and entertains at the same time.

And even though I sometimes feel like I’m banging my head against the wall for plotting myself into a corner and having to ferret my way out, damn if I don’t love that rush when I figure out that one tidbit that makes it all work.