Wait…What Chapters?

On December 5, 2018December 5, 2018 By Katie AguileraIn The Compass Code, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve read many, many books. All sorts of books. Nonfiction, text books, novels from a huge variety of genres…and almost all of those books had one thing in common. Chapters. As I am finally approaching The End for The Compass Code, the idea of chapters is weighing heavily on my mind, because my novel doesn’t currently have any.

[chap-ter]

noun

a main division of a book, treatise, or the like, usually bearing a number or a title.

Another November has come and gone. I avoided NanoWrimo again this year, but I didn’t avoid writing. My kids and I made a wager that if I didn’t finish a second draft of The Compass Code, they would get to choose the dinner menu for a week. Think ice cream and bad pizza for seven days straight. Gross. So, I was motivated.

I made a list of over 30 missing scenes. I wrote the last missing scene from the list on November 30^th. It took just over 36 minutes to print the 540 pages of a PDF of my second draft. It took six years and the threat of a week of ice cream and bad pizza for dinner for me to finally figure out how to finish a novel. Now, I have to figure out how to make it look like a novel—with chapters.

I like making lists. I like making timelines for my characters. I like writing down ideas and connecting them to each other with lines. It’s fun to play around with my writing in visual ways. But outlining? Oh, heck no! That’s work, not fun. That’s organizing, not playing around with ideas.

Breaking this novel into chapters feels like outlining. It feels like an impossible task. It’s work, and it’s hard. Bleh. I know I’m not going to get it right the first time. (Yay for beta readers!) But somehow, I’ve got to find those chapters.

I have a lot of short scenes following multiple narratives in the beginning of the book and I’m struggling to decide how to organize them so they don’t get confusing. Add to that, I’ve never even thought about the average length of chapters, or how many there should be, or how many scenes should be in a chapter… just how does one take all of the little pieces and construct a novel?

I found some helpful resources online, like this one. I read through the entire draft and tried to visualize chapter breaks. I set up a new draft project in Scrivener, and created the first three chapters, hoping to provoke some optimistic inspiration. I’m still feeling intimidated. But, this story has come too far to give up now. So, it’s on to draft three—and the very epic struggle to create chapters.

I guess I need to figure out what sort of wager with the kids will help me get through another round of editing by the end of December!

It’s Red Pen Time

On April 29, 2018April 29, 2018 By Katie AguileraIn The Compass Code, Uncategorized2 Comments

I’m nearly a month behind schedule. But, I printed a draft of The Compass Code yesterday, and I’m ready to dive into editing it. It needs a LOT of work. There are several plot lines that still need tying up in order to bring all the action together at the end of the book. That is, if I want it to make any sense, anyway.

Even though I know it’s still a mess inside, I think all 345 pages are the most beautiful things I’ve ever held in my hands (well, except for the smallish bipedal beings, but it’s been a long time since they fit in my hands). I’m sure I’ll change my mind about that in the coming days and weeks.

Today I’m just going to bask in satisfaction while sitting here next to my novel. I’ll be back at it tomorrow, armed with highlighters, a red pen, post-it notes, and inspiration. And coffee.

IMG_20180429_105927567~2 — Me for the next few weeks, as depicted (lovingly, I’m sure) by the smallish bipedal beings.

Reality Keeps Stealing My Fiction

On March 20, 2018 By Katie AguileraIn The Compass Code, UncategorizedLeave a comment

army-2991940_1920 On March 16, 2018, Buzzfeed News reported that the Central Intelligence Agency is “deploying small teams of commandos to kill selected suspected terrorists, according to two sources familiar with the program.” The CIA has denied this, claiming the story is wrong.

(Spoiler alert) I’ve been writing fiction about this for quite some time. This article could almost be something of an outline for a big part of my novel.

I’ve said before that I’ve been kicking myself for not having finished this novel a year ago every time I see the news these days. This is yet another news story that seriously lights a fire under me. While this month has gotten unexpectedly busier than normal, I’m still pushing for my March 31st deadline for a finished draft of The Compass Code.

Once the draft is complete, I’ll be releasing a teaser from a scene that involves my own assassin team. It’s exciting to see progress, to see the story coming together, and I’m getting anxious to share it.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Deadline Time

On March 6, 2018 By Katie AguileraIn The Compass Code, Uncategorized5 Comments

I’ve spent so much time wrapped up in my imaginary world lately and it’s really hard to switch back and deal with reality. I just want to stay in my imagination 24/7 till I get this book done. It would be nice if I could just hole up in an isolated cabin somewhere for a couple of weeks of uninterrupted writing. Sadly, that’s not an option.

All this straining of my brain to make stuff up has left my blog world a bit neglected and quiet lately. So, I figured a short update was warranted. I’m still writing. After the big snip, my draft has recovered back up to a little over 72K words. My characters are wreaking havoc and plotting evil deeds. Exciting times.

And so…

It’s also deadline time. I’ve been kicking myself every time I see the news lately for not having finished this novel a year ago. Since all that self-kicking is exhausting, I have finally decided to force a deadline upon myself. I’m not sure I’ll make it, and if I do, the result will be beyond rough. It’ll still need a lot of work. But, I’m gonna try to find my way to The End for The Compass Code by March 31^st.

Hold me to it.

Snip Snip My Darlings

On January 4, 2018February 11, 2018 By Katie AguileraIn The Compass Code, Uncategorized1 Comment

It’s already January 4^th. And I still haven’t written a word about goals for this new year. In fact, I have managed only to write a few sentences of notes, an email or two, and a few tweets this entire year. Maybe it’s a slump. Or, it could be the whole winter break thing that results in some very distracting, smallish bi-pedal beings running rampant in my house rather than being dutiful students somewhere else.

Anyway, in the midst of all the frenetic chaos that is my winter break existence, I was struck by a revolutionary thought about my novel. I guess I should say, it isn’t a new thought. It’s more of an acceptance of what needs to happen. Writers talk about this a lot, the whole “kill your darlings” thing. I’m sure it doesn’t come easy for any of us. But, the acceptance that I have darlings that need killing has brought with it a renewed surge of energy to do whatever it takes to get this ridiculously overdue novel finished.

A while back I was listening to an episode of Writers After Dark podcast (I highly recommend this podcast) and was suddenly overcome with an urge to chop out huge portions of the prologue of my book. This took me by surprise. I took out scenes I truly love, and have struggled for far too long to keep in the book. Once I started chopping, however, I was instantly happier with the beginning of my book. This past week, I took the chopping to a new level.

My story covers a significant span of years, and from the beginning, I have struggled to explain, or work around, large gaps in time when nothing of importance is happening. This is a self-inflicted struggle, I now realize, that can be solved by simply snipping away at all those unnecessary darlings of mine. No biggie. Except that it’s the entire part one of the book! Gasp!

In a brief moment of alone-in-the-kitchen calm, I realized that, while part one certainly helps to explain who, what, and why, the main characters are, it isn’t necessary to understanding or enjoying the plot of the story. In fact, part one really just slows the entire thing down. So, snip, snip, my darlings.

Oh, the freedom I feel now. This solves so many complications and opens up so many possibilities with what was formerly known as part two. Don’t worry, I didn’t waste years on a bunch of scenes that will never be read. Now I have a nearly completed prequel! And those chopped out prologue scenes? Well, odds are good at least a few of them will make an appearance here one day.

Lego sculpture courtesy of the smallish bi-pedal beings.