I’m baa-aack, and it feels great to be here. I finished up a 41-page outline last week, and started over on the GLAMOUR manuscript.
Yes, I threw out 50+ pages of the old manuscript, and chalked it up to a learning experience. I’d done the same thing with FATE (at more than 170 pages into the story), so I consider the throwaway pages for GLAMOUR to be a ‘warming up exercise’, and much more efficient than the wasted pages for FATE. I do not consider it time wasted, and I’ve patted myself on the back that I figured out the problem all by myself and a lot earlier than in the past.
Yes, the new outline set me back 9 days. The old outline covered 22 scenes in 11 pages; the new outline is 29 scenes. I have a point-by-point set of actions, conflicts, emotions, actions, decisions, objectives, and outcomes for each scene. I know what my book is about. I’m hovering around a theme, but I’m flexible enough to allow new ideas and subplots to enter the story. I’d hoped to have more than 100 pages of a first draft by now, and I don’t. I have 20 pages.
But those 20 pages are now carrying their weight. They’ve established the milieu, introduced both the protagonist and antagonist, outfitted them with multiple and conflicting story-worthy problems, locked them together for the duration, raised the stakes a half-dozen times, and started the countdown. I’m in media res, and living and dreaming in the world I’ve created. I’m on the right track and in the groove. It’s a good feeling.
