I don't usually share much about my own writing process, beyond the fact that when I'm on deadline I like to write 1,000 words a day and I don't let myself eat lunch until that's written. I'm pretty strict. Anyway, last week while working on Small Town Sinners, I got stuck! I wasn't sure what was supposed to happen next, or if the scenes I had were in the right order, or if I could handle the complexity of this book, or... ack! Basically, I got scared. (If you get scared writing, check out Editorial Ass's Fear of Failure post--it's great. Thanks, Elizabeth Scott!)
To break the scaredy-cat paralysis, I made this:
It's a leaf of our dining room table, and it's covered with post-its--each one has a description of a chapter on it. I moved them around until their order made sense, and it totally helped! I'd heard other authors talk about storyboarding with notecards, and this is my version of that. It made me feel crafty and clever, and I didn't pressure myself to write while I made it.
Today, I wrote 1,000 words by 11am. That is a good feeling!
(Don't judge my messy living room! I'm in the midst of creativity here! Haha. Also, I had to scribble out the post-its because it would give away the whole book to let you read them!)
Anyone have any other writing tips to share? I love this book but it's kicking my ass a little.