Wrote chapters 39 and 40; word count — 36,288
Objective: Write Chapter 41
Note
Wrote a big long comment about Anna Jane’s motivations and then failed to push the publish button, so suffice it to say, I can’t make her do something I know is stupid. She has a mind of her own, although it takes her a while to clue me in.
Accomplishments
–Wrote Chapters 37 and 38; word count: 34,810
Objective:
–Write Chapter 39
Comment
Ever more clear on the value of not explaining things. The key to show not tell. Also, David Mamet: Love to cut.
Accomplishments:
–Wrote Chapters 35 and 36; word count — 33,180
Objectives:
–Write Chapter 37
Comments
I had a brutal week stuck on how to write Chapter 35. Couldn’t feel Anna Jane’s POV and perspective at all. Went back in and discovered I had gone off track in Chapter 4 (!) and had been phoning it in ever since. Had to construct a complete bio for Anna Jane before I could figure out her emotional throughline. I may still not have it right, but I got enough to understand how she feels in Chapter 35. Feels like a breakthrough. Thank you, Shonda Rhimes, for one of your best pieces of advice — know who you’re writing about.
Accomplishments
–Wrote Chapter 34; word count: 32,063
Objectives
–Write Chapter 35
Comment
–The book itself continues to give me ideas for scenes and story beats I hadn’t previously considered. A good thing, since my word count continues to worry me.
–As I go back over it, I realize Draft #3 is still quite rough and will need a lot of editing and reworking.
–The book that ate Chicago.
Accomplished:
–Wrote Chapters 32 and 33; word count — 31,097
Objectives:
–Write Chapters 34 and 35
–Review subject matter files
Comment:
Getting great value out of not explaining. The narrative is much better and stronger when you delete anything that seems like an explanation. Essence of show not tell.
I hope certain comic-book aspects come through as homage.
Accomplishments
–Wrote Chapters 29, 30, and 31; word count — 28,714
Objectives
–Write Chapters 32 and 33
–Work out the beats for Act III
Accomplishments
–Wrote Chapters 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28; word count: 27,406
Objective
–Write Chapters 29 and 30
Comments
Needed to rethink Anna Jane throughout the story, reconsider her choices and decisions about both the external and the internal threats. Will require quite a bit of restructuring. I’m going to keep going and rely on my main mantra: I’ll fix it in the edits.
Note: This is not the final draft.
Accomplishments
–Got the Annotated Beat Sheet firmed up for the moment
–Wrote Chapters 22 and 23; word count — 24,006
–Inventoried support files: 7 reference files; 42 subject files
Objective
–Write Chapters 24 and 25
–Work on reducing the number of subject files
Comments
Achievements
–Chapter Twenty-One done; word count = 22,574
Comment
–1,000 words per week is not going to cut it if I’m going to have the book done by December
–Need to step up the pace.
Objective
–Firm Up the Sequence of the Beats
–Write Chapters 22 and 23
Achievements
–Write Chapter 20; word count — 21,491
–Studies in Craft
Re-read Andy Martin’s book about observing Lee Child’s process writing Make Me. Got a lot of good solid tips. Read a long interview with George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo. Got a couple of good ideas and a tweet or two. Watched a Writers Digest webinar by Joe Hart on incorporating complex science into the narrative, found it very useful. Especially the idea to chop it up and spread it out around the story. I’ve been using that one a lot.
Watched King Arthur: Legend and The Bourne Legacy, noting the parallels in chase scenes — one across rooftops and narrow alleys of a medieval village, the other across the rooftops and narrow alleys of modern-day Manila. You could analyze those two chases and come up with a generic beat sheet for a chase across rooftops and narrow alleyways anywhere in space or time. Especially in Bourne, the impossible coincidences render it a fantasy, but that’s okay because the whole thing is a fantasy. Both Arthur and the Bourne legend share a touch of the supernatural.
Objectives
–Chapter Twenty-One
Eclectic Magpie 