October Novel Prep Challenge

Not much to rant about today, really. This kind of thing is something I do to prepare for writing anything: poems, short stories, novels, lyrics, whatever. It helps me give my ideas form and substance.

It also closes doors.

When a story is just in my head, it could go anywhere. There's effectively limitless potential, like a building site in the woods. Once you clear the building site, you've established parameters. Once you start digging the foundation, you're committed - that's the shape your mansion will take. Oh, sure, you can add wings later, but it'll always look like an addition unless you're really good at what you do.

With theme determined, and a better idea of each character, I'm starting to shovel dirt. The outlines of the story are beginning to reveal themselves. With this analogy, this kind of freewrite is like mixing the concrete.

I know something about concrete (for one thing, it's not "cement;" that's just one ingredient in the mix). If you don't plan it right, or mix it right, it'll be fragile and crumbly once it sets; or, with not enough water, it'll be hard to work. Too much water and it won't be strong enough to support the weight it needs to. Fortunately, foundational concrete doesn't have to be designed to the same specs as, say, a bridge superstructure. But it does have specs.

None of this is going through my mind when I freewrite. There, I just write about what pops into my head related to the story I'm trying to tell, and sometimes unrelated stuff if it comes up. It's not to be shared, because I don't even put as much thought into it as I put into these rants; it's only there for my benefit.

It's tomorrow that I fear: outlining isn't exactly my thing. But it's gotta be done.