Confession

I have a confession. I haven't been writing. And as an extension of that I haven't been blogging.

Why?

That's a good question. I would like to say it is because I haven't been feeling well. Or because I have been really busy. But it's not. I got stuck with Three of Ivory. I am not sure why. One minute the story was on fire in my head and then... nothing.

The story still captivates me. I just feel lost. But the good news is - I think I finally found the problem.

I don't have an outline.

You see I am a plotter. With Shadowed Stones I had a scene by scene outline. Which really worked for me. This time around I wanted to give myself a little freedom so I could go with the flow. Here's the thing though:

Freedom kills my creativity.

Yeah, go figure. That surprised me. But then I thought back to when I was writing Shadowed Stones - and although I stuck pretty close to my outline there was still wiggle room. So I think for me having as detailed of an outline as possible is critical to my drafting ability.

So here is the plan: I am going to sit down and write a very detailed outline of Three of Ivory. And then start my first draft, again. I may still keep the first three and a half chapters that I wrote. I would like to - because I think they are good. But it depends on how the outlining goes. (Also, I think I may have started the story too early.)

Guess what, I just totally had the perfect vision of where to start the story and effectively introduce all three of my main characters. The best part - I can still use the dynamite first line I crafted! And the wheels (though rusty) are starting to turning again.

On another note: I promise to rededicate myself to blogging.

Have you ever been surprised by what kills your creativity?