It’s been almost a month since I laid out my writing goals for the year. Despite high hopes, January turned out even better than planned.

30 Days, 30 Outlines

I completed 30 Days, 30 Outlines on January 24. In theory I finished four days ahead of schedule (January 20), but I didn’t like a few of the outlines and wrote “bonus” ones instead. 30 Days, 30 Outlines was an experiment in the dark, and I think it was a raving success. At worst, I’ve got 34 outlines.

Lessons Learned from 30 Days, 30 Outlines:

• I’m a hybrid writer. My most successful outlines rely on pantser methods. I know the beginning and end points but little else. The outline forms in a chronological, haphazard fashion where, if I see a possible route, I follow that through until it either works or I recognize it won’t. My outlines need completing within a short time-frame so as not to veer off from the story I want to tell. For actual writing, I often write plot point to plot point, creating details as I go along (sometimes forgetting I even have an outline).
• My most satisfactory novel outlines result when I have two to five days to work on them. When I can dedicate a handful of days to a specific novel, I get a thorough sense of the story without overthinking. For short stories I only require one day. In the future, I would maybe do 30 Days, 15 Outlines instead, giving myself time to focus more in-depth on novels.
• Crafting stories is a game for me. It’s fun to flesh out a new story every day, jumping around in quick succession between differing ideas, different stories. Although somewhat different, it’s little wonder people can get so caught up in “worldbuilding” that they never actually get around to telling their story. Crafting stories is fun.

Writing

My major goal outside of 30 Days, 30 Outlines was to ccomplete a huge chunk of Yelronpe and the Markleflips OR The Black Rainbow (or both if I got ambitious). I got ambitious, but different than expected.

• Yelronpe and the Markleflips stands around 3/4 complete. Back in the ancient days before I discovered computers, I wrote with paper and pencil. Handwriting takes longer than typing, but I prefer it for multiple reasons. In the case of Yelronpe and the Markleflips, I returned to this method, upgrading to pen, and I have made great progress. Progress that almost ground to a halt when I reached a set of scenes not plotted well. Luckily that opened the door for a few days of major progress on MG Loss Book (see below). Once the first draft of Yelronpe and the Markleflips is complete, you will not hear about it for a long time. I wanted to get the first draft out of my system more than seeking publication at this time.
• The Black Rainbow. I tried to work on it. I did. In fact, I cleaned up my current writing so that it shows rather than tells the story. However, no matter how hard I tried, I could not focus on The Black Rainbow. I chalked my failure up to the stress of Yelronpe and the Markleflips (I started work on The Black Rainbow when I hit that wall on Yelronpe), but have kept The Black Rainbow on a low simmer ever since. Progress? Yes. Writing? Not much, but yes.
• The first draft of MG Loss Book also now stands at 3/4 complete. When Yelronpe and the Markleflips threatened a complete standstill to all writing-related progress, one piece of writing asked to fill the gap. Enter MG Loss Book. Words flowed like they never have. I was in the zone times ten, writing muses waltzing in my head, words dropping left and right, I could not be stopped. Unless I allowed it to stop, which I did when Yelronpe and the Markleflips took back off. I’m not “worried” about MG Loss Book; it will turn out fine. This minor three-day writing tangent gave me breathing room for my April-August lineup. Whew.
• I began untangling the Bluestone series format. That seemed to fit with 30 Days, 30 Outlines, justifying the head start. I finalized nothing but did come up with a few potential methods to “fix” the story, up to and including scrapping everything for an almost complete redo (not fond of that idea, but it is an option on the table). Good thing I scheduled a couple of weeks to fully explore my options.
• I began writing a book nicknamed “Darkness,” whose 30 Days, 30 Outlines outline proved irresistible. A back burner project that’s now craving to be written, it seems to be in the general style of The Dark is Rising. Subject? In short, “when the world grows dark, the school appears.”

Would I say January was a success? Absolutely! “Burnouts?” Two (one mentioned, one that lasted…one day). If February turns out as great (or better!), I’ll post an already written flash fiction piece on my birthday.