Justicar Jhee and the Spectral Armada
A Justicar Jhee Mystery
A Justicar Jhee Mystery
One of the ways I combat the dread of staring at an empty page or blank document is to grab text from somewhere else. A synopsis. An outline. An idea I had while writing something else. By the time I reach the seeming, logical conclusion of a scene or the day’s writing, ideas for the next one have sometimes popped into my head. Or if the scene ran long, I may have a bit of text that could go in the next. I write the notes about where I want to go in the next session at my stopping point. For the extra text which may belong to the next scene, I add an extra line break, highlight, or otherwise mark that it can be moved.
I may also be working from a full outline or just-in-time outline. My just-in-time outline is similar to my notes on where to go next. Rather than notes on a single scene, it is notes or a listing of a handful of upcoming scenes.
Once I move on to the next scene and I am confronted with a blank document, I grab the questionable text from the previous scene, my notes, or outline. I copy and paste or type that text into the blank document. Wherever the text comes from, I find it gets my juices going to write the scene much like a writing prompt does. This is especially true if I retype it rather than cut and paste. It gets my brain and body into writing mode. Often my brain tries to rephrase it, which puts me back into the flow of the scene so I can keep writing.
I’m making forward progress, but not enough. The plot bunnies and world-building werewolves have been savaging my momentum.
The ideas I have for this have gelled a little more. I want to work on the scene listing and reorganization before March, but Book 1 will not be denied.
Similar to Book 2, I hope I can reorganize and firm this up before I start edits in April.
Have a lovely day!