Although I conceived the idea for Bryony in early 1985, I never began work in semi-earnest until the fall of 2007 and serious composing never commenced until January 2009. Being my first novel and my first serious attempt at fiction since junior high school, I was all over the place with it--no direction at all--and having glorious fun!
By the time I got to Visage that summer, I had a good idea of the whole novel writing thing and the process was much smoother. By Staked!, I was feeling like a pro, an amateur pro albeit, but a pro nevertheless. I wrote two-thirds of the book by Christmas, received my first round of editorial notes for Bryony from the publisher, and completed rounds one and two before I returned to Staked!, which I finished on Memorial Day. I couldn't wait to tackle Before the Blood.
And there I stumbled.
For those of you familiar with the BryonySeries, each book is thirty chapters long, not counting its prologue and epilogue. Double that for Before the Blood (well, still just one prologue and epilogue). I found myself once again over my head, and work has limped along since then.
Then I realized I didn't need better discipline. I needed an new writing plan. I now have one, and Before the Blood is finally an official work in progress. I've made some decent headway on it these past few weekends, and I can't wait to return to it.
Here's what I'm doing. I'm expanding the outline I created for Before the Blood several years ago and adding more detail to it on each pass so that I become more and more comfortable with the overall story, its nuances, plot pacing, etc. My goal each weekend is to make one complete read through, but the book is too long for it, even with staunch dedication and focus, but I am making two sweeps twice a month, probably the best I can do right now with work, family life, church life, having a life, and other writing projects in various states of not done.
With each pass, I add to my homework lists: one general, one character, and one research. I'm also compiling a timeline to keep events in order. Because of Before the Blood's complexity, I'm also considering publishing a couple of companion pieces--A Who's Who Guide to Munsonville and a Timeline of Events--which the reader may wish to consult.
On the other hand, photography for Cornell Dyer and the Missing Tombstone and Bertrand and the Lucky Clover got stalled, but we have plans to shoot in earnest this weekend. Here's a rough one from Bertrand:
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