Uncertainty, Trust, and Steadiness: March Status
Trust, steadiness, and uncertainty have been hallmarks of my life in the past month. But, then, uncertainty is always part of life.
The wolf is always just outside the door.
Sometimes we conveniently forget in our comfortable American lives that calamity can strike at any moment. Whether a pandemic or cancer, an economic depression or a terrible car accident, bad things happen.
Good things happen, too.
Whether good or bad, I’m resting on the rock of my faith, my faith in the salvation of Jesus Christ. How about you?
God’s got this.
With my circumstances, I’ve always had quite a few responsibilities and issues that pull me away from writing. God has resolved two of the rocks and hard places in my life, for which I’m immeasurably grateful.
With a husband who works from home, with me home writing, homeschooling, and preparing to go back to work full-time remotely, our COVID impacts so far have not been extensive. But, surprisingly, for this introvert, I’m getting cabin fever.
Writing status?
I’m actually making progress — on the novel, on writing-as-a-business, and my writing ability. I still have a long way to go on honing my writing skills, but I can recognize that I’ve “leveled up” in my writing.
I’m drafting Salvage‘s final scenes. As I write the scenes I’ve planned, more aspects of the story come to light, and more is added to my when-I-revise list.
In this section our protagonist is (mostly) out of the action, so my secondary protagonist, Emmett, is full-front in the story. It’s through him the secondary plot thread of ship dangers is revealed. As his character will not be in the next two books of the series, and his part in book #1 isn’t predominant, I need to keep him a little more shallow than Kaylah.
It’s tricky enough to handle two protagonists, but I needed both. And there are good resources out there, like this one from Jerry Jenkins about Left Behind.
Uncertainty to Certainty
I’m not branching out to writing blogs or copywriting, although I toyed with the idea for awhile. I’m focusing on my novel and on refreshing my software skills to land that full-time remote job.
Water Reclamation in Space: Salvage Story Research
Let’s talk some background for the Salvage series: the science facts behind water reclamation in space.
Although the series isn’t meant to be hard science fiction — I’m sure serious pundits can poke holes in the technical aspects a parsec long — here are a few notes about existing technology onboard the International Space Station. 1
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Nonfiction Reads to Finish: Sandberg, Sobel, Lamont
Do you devour fiction like a hungry lion? I do. I’m slower reading nonfiction, though, rarely finishing a nonfiction book in several weeks time. I stop and start and, if I’m persistent enough, I finish the work. Below are three nonfiction reads by Sandberg, Sobel, and Lamont that I’d like to circle back around to and finish.
You can find more reading recommendations here, or check out my nonfiction articles or novel in progress.
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Visualize Your Novel: Story and Plot Diagrams
If you are visually-oriented and producing a novel, take a look at different ways to chart your story — with plot diagrams and more. Story charts and plot diagrams can get the creativity train moving, so take a tour of the multiple-act framework, the wheel, and more.
Other posts in this series will cover other ways to visualize your story.
Multiple Acts
The three-act story structure predominates, but novelists also use the four-act, seven-act, and more variations on this theme
Visuals in the Round
Wikipedia
The Hero’s Journey, aka the Monomyth
” In narratology and comparative mythology, the monomyth, or the hero’s journey, is the common template of a broad category of tales and lore that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed.[1] “
Stretch Your Brain
Dr. Wheeler, Carson-Newman University
Freytag’s Pyramid
“A diagram of dramatic structure, one which shows complication and emotional tension rising like one side of a pyramid toward its apex, which represents the climax of action. Once the climax is over, the descending side of the pyramid depicts the decrease in tension and complication as the drama reaches its conclusion and denouement.“
Unknown Source
The Hero’s Journey in 3 Acts
February 2020 Review and Status
So, a review of February:
Thankfully, I experienced productive writing time in February. I’m drafting part 4 of episode 1 of Salvage — nearing the end! I’ve also “leveled up” in writing craft, gaining a better sense of story development.
In personal news, I’m ramping up to return to software development full-time over at Code Onward. I’m hoping circumstances will allow me to pursue both creative pursuits — writing and development — in full force.
The cold winter is easing; the tulips and daffodils and surprise lilies are poking up green shoots. Can’t wait until the first blooms!
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Salvage Outtake: Hydroponics
In a very early draft of Salvage, Episode 1, I had Kaylah working in the hydroponics garden onboard Brio’s Hope. Here’s the hydroponics outtake:
As the words finally penetrated, Kaylah whirled around, tripping over her own feet before racing back the way she came. A few minutes later, she arrived at the farm, a plant nursery in a narrow hold on the port side. She stumbled over the hatch and gasped at first sight of the plants. All she could see in the front bay were dead or dying, the wilting of leaves pronounced or dry. Adults were shouting around her, their tones frantic and demanding.
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