Finding the story. It took me several drafts to figure out what my book is actually about. It included a vomit draft, a draft that was more like an origin story, and then the draft that discovered how to tell the story with conflict and tension. Since this is my first book, I was essentially teaching myself how to write. I was developing a system that worked for me, and yielded the type of product I wanted to create.

When I finished revision 1.2 back in June of 2020, I took that week of reading the latest version to start working on the next book. This next book is more plot-heavy and less a meditation. I wanted to write a fun, action thriller. During that week, I wrote the treatment which provided a good foundation for the outline. Instead of a word document, I used a spreadsheet to create a table of scenes for the outline. The beginning cell on the left-hand side set up the problem for the character to solve. I used ten cells in each row that lead to a major plot point. Those cells constituted different scenes that involved the obstacles for the characters to overcome. The end of each act provided a resolution, but created a graver issue to solve as the story progressed. This visual overview of the entire story helped me better identify plot holes, character oversights, and opportunities to maximize reader engagement, without having to write numerous drafts. I arrived at story discovery much more effectively and quickly. What took me a few years for my current book now took me a mere week for this one. Next, I took those little blurbs in the spreadsheet and imported them to a word doc. Each plot point was given a more thorough summary. I discovered more about the story and then made adjustments to satisfy those new additions. Now, after I finish my first book, I can immediately jump into book two and really move on creating a solid, first draft.

This first book has taken me 10 years so far to realize. I’m on the latest, most determined draft that will be given to trusted readers. It’s been through multiple versions and I’ve tried so many different writing systems. While it’s been an odyssey, I did discover my own process. For book two, I want to take only a year to get it into the hands of readers versus a whole decade. My goal is to turn over these creative projects so they’re not languishing away with constant rewrites.

Finding the story requires an intentional effort to mine out the best bits. I do think it’s important to also allow yourself to deviate from the plan at any point in process when you discover something about the story that’ll make it better, but not different.