Perhaps there is some truth to this notion of a mind lost in the forest; a soul left at ease. This is certainly the feeling I’ve had working on this novel for the past five years. Often in the months since February, while I’ve continued to work through these developmental edits, I’ve felt my sanity slipping away. But alas, I love the writing. I love this book.
However, it wasn’t until I took a step back from the sentences and semi-colons, that I was able to appreciate how far I’ve come and just how much I left to finish before embarking back into the query trenches. In that way, I suppose it’s true: you can’t see the forest from the trees.
Sometimes it’s too difficult to see a forest of your own making, especially when it is populated with chapters and characters and plot points and too many years of diligence and perseverance and passion. But alas, I stepped back from the intricacies of my story to find my way back into the forest.
How did I accomplish this?
1.) Step Back
As I said, I stopped working on the the minutiae to focus back on the project as a whole. While I certainly didn’t abandon the WIP mid-chapter, I did take a step back before diving into Part Three. Too many important things needed to happen. I needed to conceptualize them in a way that fulfilled the promises of my story from page one.
2.) Outline
I revisited my old outline and found that Part Three was just as complicated and disheveled as it was in my mind. It all made too much sense. I’ve always been a plotter and needed to get back to organizing the story into manageable sections. Instead of tinkering with that outdated outline, however, I used a template provided by Abbie Emmons. For those of you fellow writers out there, I encourage you to peruse her many Authortube videos. I used her outlining template for the Three Act Structure as a guide to ask myself the important questions again. What I so love about Abbie’s outline is the attention to character and the emotional stakes of story. From the beginning, I wanted this story to be driven by character, leaning in to literary tendencies in a futuristic world filled with death and dreams. It always seemed a necessary combination, but somehow this had been forgotten as I approached Part Three.
3.) Slow Down
While I finished my outline a few weeks ago, I have allowed myself to slow down, and reacquaint myself with where I need to go next in the story. I haven’t gotten back into the swing of the developmental edits yet, but I’m not rushing myself. For now, I’m luxuriating in the scaffolding of the story, knowing all too soon that it will be real. On the page. Outside of my head. I will be back in the trees, losing sight of the forest, and maybe my mind. But I can’t wait to find my soul back in this narrative. As I said, I love this story. I’m not sure I could’ve committed so much of myself to this book if I didn’t think it would find publication in the future. And that is still the goal.
Until then, dear reader, whether you’re lost in the trees of writing or life, I hope you’ll take time to see the forest again.
