Back At It

Hello all!

I know it's been a long time since I last made a post, and there have been a number of drastic life changes since then. What on earth am I talking about? Well...

In short, I have depression. I've had it since about November of last year, but it went untreated and undiagnosed until March of this year. Life has been incredibly hard, thanks to my constant spiraling out of control and my total lack of motivation. I'll probably talk more about this later. I attend therapy once a week and am on medication daily.
I began a new endeavor, a little something called The Desperation Project. It's a movement aimed at ending the silence about mental illness in our churches and Christian communities. If you check out the blog, you'll find a number of great blog posts from me and some of my dear friends on different issues, such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders, all with a focus on encouraging others and glorifying God.
I am also very close (just over a month away) to graduating high school. I'll be attending a college in town, and I am also in the process of looking for a job.
I've watched several new television series and have fallen into a couple new fandoms, most notably The Flash, The Raven Cycle, and Welcome To Night Vale.

So, my life is changing pretty rapidly and in some pretty scary ways. But I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to talk about writing.

Here's Where I Am

Well, let me go ahead and say that I have done very little work on my story these past few months. Mostly thanks to depression, probably also thanks to my own laziness. However, this is something I am striving hard to amend. If you read this blog, you know how I feel about lists. So, let's make one!

1) I have a completed rough draft from last year's Nanowrimo.

So, I have my draft from November. It's not very good, but no rough draft is. I've kept it in my Google Docs files, and there it has patiently waited for me to take it and make it something worth reading. It's had to wait for a long time, but a few weeks ago I finally got myself in gear and began the long, slow task of revising the maniac's prayer that is my book.

2) I made a skeleton outline.

*jazz music plays in the distance*

What, you might ask, is a skeleton outline? This is a very reasonable question, since (as far as I know) I am the only one to use the term.

You might recall that before Nano began I had an original outline that was thirty scenes long and about ten scenes two short? The end result of my rough draft resembled the original outline so little that I went through and actually read my rough draft.

Yes, dear reader, it was indeed as bad as it sounds.

I went through and read my draft, every scene jotting down 1) the basic point and action of the scene and 2) any notes for improvement. Most of my notes consist of varying numbers of question marks and me complaining about how cheesy my characters' dialogue is.
However, there were times when I was... very nearly impressed? I forgot much of what I wrote during the haze of November, so some of it was new to me. A few scenes I could barely believe I wrote, because they were actually good. It was a new feeling for me.
Of course, the overall draft was good only as fuel for a fire, but there were a few redeeming aspects.



3) Using the skeleton outline, I am working on a new outline for the second draft.

Same, Oliver. Same.

And I thought I was done with outlines.
I thought after the first one that I wouldn't need another, that I was finally free.

It seems that I cannot escape the dreaded outlines. I fear I will never be able to stop outlining things. When will it end? Will it ever end? Is this my fate?

Hysterics aside, the edit I'm doing now is a plot edit. It's taking what was broken from the plot in the rough draft and attempting to fix it. It involves changing many scenes from the first draft, closing up plot holes, and working on the pacing of the book as a whole. It's also involved in giving some of my charaters an arc, because in the first draft they were basically cardboard cutouts of themselves. 

They tell you not to worry too much about your rough draft because pretty much none of it will make it into your final draft, that most of it will end up scrapped somewhere along the way.

They're right.

I'm only in second draft stage and most of my first draft has already been rendered useless. I can't imagine what else I might cut as I carry on writing.

Currently I'm in the middle of writing the outline for Draft Two, which is going rather slowly. I'm worried about the length of my book and the scenes I probably need to add, but I'm doing my best to push through.

4) Next step: draft two

I'm actually excited for this next step. I've never reached second draft stage in a book before, and I feel like if I get there I'll have an easier time with all the drafts to come. I'm pretty optimistic about it, which is rather rare. 

So, there we are! This should about catch everyone up on where I am and what I'm working toward. Maybe soon I'll be able to give all of you a look into what this book is actually about. Maybe before too long, you'll be able to read it for yourself. 

At least, that's the goal.