Good morning everyone, we have made it to Task #40. I know some of you may still be doing a bit of research or character development, but this is the final planning day scheduled in the Writing Challenge. On Monday we begin the block of tasks slated for writing on the novel we just planned out. Have no fear if you aren’t quite ready to write this novel there will be a writing exercise posted each morning during the writing tasks.
(as an aside I blocked out the number of tasks based on how long I thought it might take me to come up with a draft based on my writing schedule so that may not match anyone else’s writing plan as our schedules are all individual but post writing we will go into various editing based tasks)
You can use the exercises posted to help you flush out the characters and world of the novel you are working on or for something completely different.
But That starts next week. For now, we have Task #40 before us. It is a three parter but for some of you much of this may already be done. So…
Task #40: Part 1:Double check that all your notes are in an order where you can find them easily as you are working and have a final run through to see if there is anything you might what to update or change.
Occasionally I will find that I jotted down a note at the beginning as a thought struck me but then got so immersed in the nuts and bolts that I forgot to add it in when I broke out my chapters. Sometimes it is a festival name or a character trait. But it is worth one more pass through your notes before you begin.
Task #40 Part 2:Have your tools ready.
I tend to work with a notepad and pen next to me. I occasionally find thoughts for later sections coming up as I work and I find it easier to jot down the information and a line about where it should go on a note pad. Later I will add it to the appropriate section but such things almost always occur when I am knee deep in something and don’t want to find the appropriate page. So if using a note pad, or scrap paper have it handy. If you need pens, make sure they have ink. I always go through my pen jar before I get writing and get rid of anything that doesn’t write easily and well. If they have ink but sometimes skip a bit, they get moved to a secondary pen jar in the kitchen rather than stay on my desk. I also keep a squishy alien stress ball on my desk as I tend to squeeze him when I am trying to think.
Whatever tools you need while writing, check them over and make sure they are in place.
And finally…
Task #40 Part 3: Write your opening sentence.
I know some of you are thinking, ‘I thought we weren’t writing until Monday?’ This is true, but I find it is sometimes easier to start once the first sentence is there. Facing that blank page is hard. If you have that first sentence already in place then it is significantly easier. Think about the morning writing prompts. Each morning those exercises start with a sentence and then we just go for fifteen minutes to see what comes out.
It is the same process except that we already know where we want to go due to our planning. Whether or not you use a timer is up to you. But by figuring out that first sentence today we have it in place for Monday, making things easier.
Plus, we not only have all day today to obsess about it but all weekend as well. The sentence we write today may not seem quite as clever on Monday so when we start writing we simply adjust it at the start of our writing time and keep going.
It also bares mentioning that you are about to begin a first draft. A lot of people will tell you that the first sentence is your hook. They will go on at length about how important that sentence is and they are right. The first sentence in a book does draw the reader in or can put them off. But this isn’t a book. It’s a first draft and you just need a kick off point to get your novel started.
So get it down on the page today, obsess over it if you want and adjust it again when you start your first scheduled writing time but know that at this moment, its purpose is to get you moving. It can always be changed when you go to edit.
So there you have it. Our Task #40, and the last of our planning tasks. I’ll see you back here Monday with the first of the writing tasks as well as a writing exercise. Have a great weekend and don’t go too crazy with the first sentence obsession.
Ten til Midnight 