Hello…hello…hellooo… Where are you…are you…yooou… Echoes resounded from the void in my timeline. I’d been so focused on tightly winding the action that I’d overlooked the leap from Sunday morning to Monday morning. Sunday afternoon and evening didn’t exist.
Once I’d stumbled across the hole, I saw that it should have been painfully obvious. Having that much time missing – out of a story that takes place in less than a week – was similar to viewing a vividly rendered canvas where the artist had left a large blank spot.
I carved a few hours out of my real world last Friday and Saturday for marathon ‘fix-it’ sessions. I had to unwind the action and create the rest of my fictional world’s Sunday. At first, I was at a loss. The protagonists worked together like components of a well oiled engine; propelling it purposefully toward the climax and resolution of the action plot.
Hmmm… Resolution… Hmmm… That means conflict…
Understanding dawned. There was time for at least one more disruption before the climax. Time to prevent the protagonists from being quite so chummy.
Determined to avoid creating a flareup that didn’t fit the story line, I combed through the outline, storyboard and existing manuscript; looking for something that I hadn’t fully developed. Then I saw it. The hero and heroine had had their romantic differences, but her analytical acumen had never gone head to head with his strategical shrewdness. Exploiting such an encounter made for a game changing showdown – and on the eve of battle.
Perfect! Okay I admit it… I’d planned the confrontation all along.
Not! But it had better read that way.
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#ROW80 update, 03/06/2011:
- Goal 1: Completed the storyboard for 194 of 211 scenes. The end is in sight. Trying to figure out how to transistion from setting up for revision to actually writing.
- Goal 2: About 2 hours a day this week instead of 3. Starting to get pieces of story in my brain and am taking the time to write them down.
- Goal 3 – Haven’t missed a post!
Hope things are going well for you!
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sounds like you’re doing well – daunting having to re-jig – well done
Yowza…you completed a lot of the storyboard! Nice work! I find if I try to do that much in advance, my brain freezes up & I panic. I’ve found what I hope is an acceptable mix of plotter & panster and I’m going with it. LOL
Thanks, Alberta. There were times when I thought I wouldn’t make it. Glad to see the end.
Sharon, I agree! I have no idea if I could go through this process for a first draft. It’s against a revision after an extremely thorough critique. Glad you’ve found what works for you. I’m still figuring it out. 😉
Ah, the joy *sarcastic cough* of having to fix plot holes. Still, if it presents you with the opportunity to add more layers to the story, it can only be a good thing. Keep up the good work 🙂