Writing Log | Week 12
Day 1 — Sunday
After going to early morning Mass and putting my son down for his nap, I’m having a glorious time reading and writing outside.
This week my aim is to think through my big-picture story arc adjustments at a macro level (how do I need to adjust each of the five acts of my book?) and then at a more micro level (how do I need to adjust each specific chapter?). Not sure if I’ll get all of that done this week since I’m with family – maybe this will be more of a two-week endeavor.
Worked on a bit of worldbuilding (mythical creature research is fun) before calling it a night.
Day 2 — Monday
I just sampled Notion’s AI summary feature for one of the bigger edit arcs, and I have to say — seeing it distilled into one paragraph makes it feel a bit easier to tackle.
Day 3 — Tuesday
I got a burst of inspiration in the shower today (LOVE when that happens!) for some backstory related to one of my major story arc edits. I can feel this all coming together. It’s exhilirating.
Day 4 — Wednesday
Took the day off to celebrate my birthday with family!
Day 5 — Thursday
For some reason I am brimming with ideas lately — had a concept for a dark academia duology that I’m now itching to brainstorm as the fall slowly approaches.
Day 6 — Friday
Today I’m working on analyzing the edits needed at the macro levels for the two big arc changes. I’m using Scrivener’s “note” feature to add that in to the folder for each of my five acts!
This edit is clarifying a lot for me. The MMC’s primary journey and sub-journey both revolved around romantic plots initially, but now it’s clear to me that the sub-journey’s true focus is elsewhere — which I actually think will make the primary romance journey more powerful.
Day 7 — Saturday
Had a great morning: went on an early walk with my son, grabbed coffee with my sisters, nephews, and niece, and now I’m sitting down to write during nap time.
I think I’m just about wrapped up with my macro-level brainstorming. The big villain arc change will require small edits to Acts I & II, but much larger changes for Acts III & IV. Meanwhile, the big MMC arc changes are more subtle. They won’t require too many complete scene rewrites, but rather small tweaks throughout.
I’ve spent years with this novel, and no matter what changes, Act V remains pretty consistent. I love getting to that part in the story so so much… and I know that these major arc changes will make the ending feel like much more of a payoff than it did before.