Plugging Along

"Plugging along" is a good way to describe what I am doing right now. I got the detailed outline through chapter 14 typed up today. This was more or less busy work, as I had already pretty well outlined these chapters in my handwritten notes. I then spent some time researching ring composition and scanning through my scattered notes regarding things that I need to "not forget" from the two previous books. Now that I am heading into book 3, the fear of dropping the ball on something that I set up in a previous book is rather prevalent, but I think it will go away once I actually start writing the book. There's just so much to keep straight! I also named all but one of the rest of my chapters for this book tonight, and I think that I have them pretty well figured as to how they will fit into my chiasm (having to do with ring composition). It feels strange to be working on my official prewriting so many weeks prior to my start date for writing the book; so much of what I'm getting down in outline is hypothetical. If something ultimately doesn't work/flow with the story, then I will just end up rewriting much of my outline anyways, but I'm going to trust to my methods and see where they take me. As long as everything fits with the chiasm that I am creating, I should come out with a sensible story in the end. (If this feels rather nonsensical, it's probably because it's very, very late.)

In other news, I started my "summer" reading this week. I thought I'd get a head start because I think that writers learn best by imitation, and I'd like to learn a thing or two about narrative misdirection before I start in on my writing this summer. Jane Austen is one of my favorites, and a master of narrative misdirection, and I've read all of her books except Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. So, Persuasion is where I'm starting! Does it seem strange that a fantasy author would look to take lessons from Jane Austen? Perhaps, perhaps not.