Welcome to my writing update for February. The month seemed just to fly by! But I did make some real progress, writing-wise.
In life, the struggle is real. My editing business is actually going pretty well (I should probably put a page on here to offer it somewhere as well). It’s great, but now I have the problem that I need to juggle my other job, along with writing my book, and improving and growing this blog.
And I just can’t do it all.
Story of my life.
Anyways, writing.
There was some despair when I couldn’t figure out my subplot. It’s all good now, though, and I’m feeling pretty good about it. So, if you’ve ever struggled with the subplot in your story, this post is for you!
You can jump straight to:
What I worked on this month
For Ice Cold, I wanted to write and edit two scenes. I ended up writing two and editing one. You see, I am full-on in the middle of my story, which is a good place to add a subplot. I had a character that I knew I still had to introduce since he plays an important role, but I hadn’t figured out yet how to introduce him.
That’s where the subplot came in.
The logical choice would’ve been a romance subplot, but that just felt too easy, somehow. Romance subplots are used in so many stories, and I found myself caught in a trap: I didn’t want to do what every other story does.
That was a false thought, though. It doesn’t matter that romance is used in many stories. It’s only logical, as romance and forming connections are such an integral part of our lives. Of course, it’s often a subplot in stories.
That doesn’t mean it’s boring or overused. It actually means that people enjoy reading it.
So, I fought that for a week, trying to tie in the character using a different kind of subplot. Funny enough, my subconscious did seem to know that a romance subplot would actually make the most sense, so it still came out as a half-assed romance scene.
Go figure.
No matter how hard I fought it, my instincts still told me to go for it. So what reason did I actually have to fight it?
And I could think of none. There wasn’t a good reason. If I would just give in on the romance subplot, things would actually tie together very nicely. It would make a lot of sense in my story.
So I talked it over with my editor, and after that, I gave in. Now, I’ve plotted out my romance subplot and am in the middle of writing that first scene. I feel pretty good about it!
Okay, now there were some more things I said I was going to work on. I wanted to do some research for a new short story spin-off, which I actually did do! I haven’t created the outline yet, though.
I also have added more emotion descriptions to my emotion spread-sheet, but not as much as I’d wanted (still, some progress is better than no progress).
Unfortunately, I didn’t analyze more scenes. Though, with the editing work I’ve been doing, I actually have analyzed quite a lot of stories. Just not ‘masterworks.’ I still think it’s good practice, though.
So, all in all, I’d say it was not a bad month.
My Goals for March
Nothing extraordinary, I’m afraid. Just keep on writing: two new scenes and the editing of two scenes. I hope to outline my new short story, and I will research some more emotion descriptions. I’m hoping to find some good ones!
I also want to analyze two scenes of a masterwork. Since I want to use Assassin’s Apprentice for emotion-words, I figure it might not be a bad idea also to analyze scenes. Then I’ll just really pick that story apart. 🙃
Helpful writing articles
As always, I have some writing articles I think are very helpful. Check them out below!
🍁 On my own website, I’ve added another hero’s journey archetype. This time, it’s all about the shapeshifter!
🍁 We all fall into the trap sometimes where our thoughts spiral out of control. Can I actually write this? It’s all just crap. I’m not a real writer. Sounds familiar? Then check this article for a positive writing mindset, including some affirmations.
🍁 Struggle with finding your character’s voice? Check out this article!
🍁 All stories need to have increased tension. That’s what makes the reader glued to the page. But how do you write this rising action? Read it all here!
Tell me about your writing progress
That was it for my February writing update. Any project you’re working on? How’s your writing going? What are you struggling with, or what’s going really well?
Let me know in the comments!
