As the title implies I am distracted today. By what? Everything it seems. It doesn’t help I’m feeling indecisive as well. Actually, I suspect the indecisiveness is the cause of how easily distracted I am.
I’m seeing squirrels everywhere in the form of people sitting down to eat or coming in and out of the two doors I can see from here, wind moving tree branches outside, the really nice girl who cleans the tables and chats with me a bit, the other girl who cleans tables who has no use for me, the lady sitting in front of me who has the most annoying ring tone set to her texts, etc.
Could this be avoidance? Fear? I have my suspicions but it doesn’t help. I went out to write because I figured I’d be distracted at home, by kids, dogs, life, whatever. I’m not sure I’ll get much done today. Now that I think about it I was the same while working out. Maybe it’s just one of ‘those’ days.
My plan is to work on a loose timeline for my entire trilogy. I have the initial story board (index cards) set up but I made so many changes in the last few months I need to adjust it. Instead of trying to sort through the old one I’ll make a new one using the other as a guide. I’m keeping roughly three-quarters of it but with some additions and minor changes to the keepers. What it boils down to is I’ll have to take down over half the cards, even though I’m keeping most of the planned scenes. I’d rather start over and avoid confusion.
Since I’m not at home I took a picture of the boards and I’ll write up my timeline and planned cards here and make the adjustments that are bound to come up, such as plot holes or time holes. Then I’ll make the real scene cards at home and pin them up on my giant cork board wall. Each book is a three act story and my wall is already set up for it.
See? These are 12 inch cork squares (cheap if you want to try it). The top row is for character info or whatever extra stuff I want to see everyday. The bottom two rows are set up the way screenplays are done. Three acts, eight sequences. I don’t actually need the labels anymore but I set this up when I first tried this method. I was a bit enthusiastic, but it turned out for good reason.
The three act structure doesn’t work for every story but it does for this big one so I’m glad I went all out. The middle row is about eye level (I’m 5’8″) so it’s perfect for me. This wall was being used for nothing and it faces my bedroom door. I see it everyday, each time I come out of the room. It’s so easy to see what is missing once I pin up all the scene cards I’ve done.
If you’ve never tried this method I highly recommend buying Screenwriting Tricks For Writers: Stealing Hollywood by Alexandra Sokoloff. It’s $3.99 for the ebook and $12.17 for the physical copy – an 8 x 10 paperback, on Amazon. I understood the three act structure before buying her book but using the 8 structures and modeling a story after a screenplay was something I’d never tried. I fell it love. I’m not an affiliate and get nothing out of someone purchasing from this author. I’m just a huge fan of this book/method. I’m sure the picture above made that obvious haha.
So, I have to make my basic timeline so I can make my story board for the first story. I will make ones for the other two stories but they will be on poster board and pinned over my bed, which is the only blank wall in my room. The others are covered with nerdy stuff, tall book cases, and more cork boards.
Well, I better get to work! I’ll post an update on how it goes next week.
Writerish Ramblings 