You might have noticed…no blog from me last week.  (okay, maybe you didn’t, but…)

That’s because we were doing THIS.

That would be ripping apart our upstairs (thank you to the Bethel University Football players we recruited!) so we could remodel it.

(Hubs and Son #3, Demo Heroes)

We love our house.

But it needs a few changes. Updates. EDITS.

Here’s House Rewrite #1.

We’ll be adding things like, oh, I dunno, sheet rock, electricity, flooring, cabinets, etc., over the next month. But for the last two years we’ve been living with the project, getting the feel for it, trying to figure out what we really want for our changes. Soaking in options before we tear apart and dig in.

Writing a story is the same thing…you rough out the story with a fast draft and then…you gotta live with it for a while. Read it over. Think about it. What themes do you want to draw out? How do you need to deepen your character? Can you make your plot richer with an unexpected twist or turn?

I like to transfer my really bad rough draft (I have a little sticky note on my computer that says…don’t worry, YOU’LL FIX IT!) onto my kindle and read it like I would a book. I even take notes on my kindle. Or, you could write in notes on your tablet.

The key is to give yourself time to mull it all over. A week, a couple weeks, even a month.

Then…tear it down to the studs. Start with your PLOT. Does it work? Do you need to add scenes? Then add your walls—Scenes! Do you have tension in every scene? How about storyworld? Add color – Emotional layering. And finally, those decorative touches—metaphors and symbols.

At one point this past week, my husband (who was the Hero/Studly Foreman) sat on the steps and said…wow, this is a big project. I said…I know. Don’t look at the end. Just the next thing. Baby steps to a new house.

Baby steps to a new book.

Give yourself time to think about it. You WILL get there.

And it’s going to look fabulous, darling!

Your story matters! Go write something brilliant!

Warmly,

Susie May

P.S. There’s still time to get your Brilliant Planner before the end of the first quarter! (and use the awesome first quarter review to plan the rest of your year!) AND…right now the planner is $20 off!!