I must admit that when I finished my first blog for this year “Figuring Out the Major Scenes of My Novel,” I felt overwhelmed and incompetent. My spreadsheet made me realize how many holes there were in the manuscript, how fuzzy my idea for the novel was, and how much work I would have to accomplish to add scenes, build a workable structure for the novel, and revise the timeline.
To deal with my discomfort, I worked more on my spreadsheet. I also listened to an interview with Eleanor Catton whose novel Birnam Wood I was in the process of reading. One area she discussed was writing a novel in three acts. This caught my attention. I looked over my spreadsheet with this idea in mind and realized that I could potentially use a three-act format. Next, I set to work on puzzling out the scenes I have already written. I reorganized them into a three-act format that follows a chronological timeline. This showed immediately which scenes I would need to move and which kind I would need to write to tell the story. It also revealed periods in my timeline that needed to be moved either backward or forward, so the entire period shifted slightly.
Once this first attempt at reorganization was accomplished, I felt energized instead of overwhelmed. I set to work reorganizing my spreadsheet. I also added more columns to cover other issues I need to work on. I will let you know next month how this worked and how much progress I have made.
My Writing Goals for 2024
Work on poetic forms and continue to connect with other poets:
I wrote my first villanelle. It was interesting to work on a poetic form. The form forces a type of artificiality and feels more like working on a puzzle than on a poem. It was a struggle but I did it. I hosted the BWA Poetry Circle which featured the impressive poetry of Larry LaVerdure. I also zoomed in on a Bardic Trails reading by Andrea Gibson the current enthusiastic Poet Laureate of Colorado hosted by the Wilkinson Library in Telluride.
Finish my first novel and query agents:
I continued revising this novel and prepared my pages for the critique group.
Continue to work on my 1970s novel:
I listened to a workshop with a teacher on this subject.
Continue to work on my 1930s novel:
I let this one rest this month.
Continue to develop a network of kindred spirits in the world of writing and publishing:
Boulder Writers Alliance: I joined a BWA group to view the film American Fiction together, followed by a discussion of the movie over drinks. I also attended our monthly BWA Happy Hour and enjoyed meeting some new writers. Additionally, I participated in BWA’s Writers Who Read Group with Gary Alan McBride. We discussed Victory City by Salman Rushdie. I enjoyed reading this epic with a woman as a compassionate builder of society and as a leader. If any of my readers are interested, they can follow Gary’s new Writers Who Read podcast which is available on various streaming platforms including Spotify and YouTube.
Denver Women’s Press Club: I attended an open mike session with a friend and read one of my poems aloud.
Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers: I read the newsletter and enjoyed the puns.
Women Writing the West: I submitted pages to our critique group and provided feedback to the other writers.
Document my writing progress through my blog and post it on the seventh day of each month, one blog per month in 2024:
Today is February 7, 2024, and I am posting my second blog of 2024. January was so cold and dark that I sat by my fireplace and worked. It made for a productive time (when I was awake and not napping!). At the beginning of February, we had a nice deep snowfall. Happily, Flatirons Freddy did not see his shadow on Groundhog Day so spring should be on the way.
Famous Writers Born in February
A diverse group of writers and poets whose works I enjoy personally were born in February:
Writers: W. E. B. Du Bois, Bertolt Brecht, Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, Sinclair Lewis, James Michener, Anaïs Nin, Colum McCann, Christopher Marlowe, Toni Morrison, Georges Simenon, Gertrude Stein, John Steinbeck, Amy Tan, Alice Walker, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Jules Verne
Poets: Elizabeth Bishop, Thomas Campion, Langston Hughes, Audre Lord, Amy Lowell, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Jacques Prévert
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