Inspirations vs Priorities

I have moments of clarity; then it seems to fall into a cloud of smoke -usually to my annoyance; as my head tends to be spinning with ideas and I seem to have -on occasion; some difficulty -well, I struggle with getting them to have some coherency -so I battle it out in my head; tossing ideas in one direction then the other; then I come back to my original thought; which then delves into an odd mindset; it evolves; it gets cut; it gets tortured; then revived and finally it takes form in the shape of some mishap ramblings or artistic prose; at times it has its own unique voice and it makes sense; which brings me back to this piece and I sincerely hope, that to some extent this will find its’ way into the land of understanding…

I know, I know; fast thoughts sometimes take too much concentration to understand and digest; the point I really wanted to say was, amidst all these chaotic thought processes I am currently having; I seem to veer towards two main outlets; my novel and my blog.  -Though I am writing this piece on my blog right now; my actual priority these past few days has actually been my novel (I am nearing the 10,000 words mark -woo hoo!  To think I only started a month ago; I’m quietly pleased with my achievement.).  Bearing that in mind I thought I’d update you to where I have gone with my novel and what progress it has taken.

Two Steps Forwards One Step Back and an Unwanted Prologue which forced an Appearance!

Seems to be the direction I am taking; what do I mean?  Well, let me clarify the experience I have had so far with my dabblings’ in novel-writing…  I started off with two dreams; those two dreams evolved into a plausible idea; I thought through how it would work, did some research (yes I know, sometimes research can drag!); then I began to write and came up with an approx. 3000 word outline for the base of the novel -yes that is exactly what I said: Wow!!!  All excited; I started my first chapter (I was told it is very strong.  A vote of confidence pulsed through my veins; I was thinking ‘yay!  I am on the right track!’

I started work on my second chapter; happy and content, I emailed it to my reading buddies and continued with chapter three however; 686 words into Chapter three I came to a halt and there I hit a wall; my very good friend pointed out a couple of flaws in chapter two; it seemed I failed my research!  The Era I picked to start my novel in (Edwardian) clashed with the first sub-plot-point I had; apparently witch hunts were prevalent in the earlier periods of English history -infact, I found out that, witch hunts and trials were stopped by law in the mid-1700s’ hmmm…  I seemed to have shot myself in the foot.  So I stopped and pondered for over a week; my thoughts clouded; I left it and let it fester in the back of my mind…

Yesterday I started a brainstorming session with my sister; we thought about plausible ideas and how I could make this work.  The options were as thus:

1. Set the Era to an earlier time (the easier and no hassle option -no doubt however; something in the pit of my stomach said no!).
2. Come up with an idea that will make sense for the current Era (The far most more difficult and brain wearing out exercise ever).

So what do I choose?  Yes you guessed it -rarely do I ever make things easier for myself -I chose option 2!  So we (my sister and I) bounced off ideas back and forth; which resulted in me writing a prologue I didn’t want to write; but it made sense to do so; it actually does bring the story together and gives it a stronger sense of reason -result!  In addition, this prologue has set the way for me to write a chapter before my chapter one -like a prologue of a prologue -but in reality it is a chapter; I confused you again?  No worries, I am just as confused!!!!  I just know this:  I have slaughtered my novel; but am I mad?  Oh no!  In actual fact I am glad; as now it is much stronger; all I need to do is tweak certain bits in the newly named chapter two, three and four then continue to the misty realms of the unknown….

So the current word counts are held as thus:

Prologue: 1116

Chapter One: 642 (WIP)

Chapter Two: 2080 (Needs Adjustment)

Chapter Three: 5332 (Needs Adjustment)

Chapter Four: 686 (WIP)

Total so far: 9856 -I’m jumping up for joy right now -you can’t see?  Oh well that’s a shame!!!!

There you have it; my trials and struggles of getting it right.

Inspiration is a great thing; I love it; however sometimes you just need to focus and set your priorities so you don’t get clouded in those wonderful bouts of creative ideas…  You have to learn to use the ideas to your advantage and not be afraid of change; change is good and having the gut to alter your creation is much much better so just be brave and see where your trails take you and if you like, keep me in the know…   As always, I welcome you to join in with the banter…  For now I best go…

*heads back to work on her novel whilst skipping to ensure there is no delay*

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About the author: Creative from the word go, an artist at heart – writer, poet, photographer, blogger... I am currently working on my first novel Becoming – Mystical Realisations and I have also started some research for my novella (currently does not have a title). Read more from this author

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