Happy February! Today is officially the first day of Writebruary!
Writebruary: The made-up novel writing month of February for writers who need a sense of occasion to do the damn thing ~guilty.
This February my goal for Oranges 🍊 is to complete drafting ACT I, thereby adding another 20k words to my 90k debut novel. I’m also eyeing an 8,000 daily step goal to increase my movement throughout the day, and eradicate a suspiciously chronic neck cramp.
What’s on your February wishlist ?
R E C A P
Oranges 🍊 is a Ghanaian urban romantasy that I’ve been working on since June 2023. There have been many false starts and stops, but in November 2023, I participated in Nanowrimo and wrote 50,000 words of my estimated 90,000 debut novel.
Here’s How I Did It :
I spent October planning and when November rolled in, I didn’t start from page 1. Instead, I focused those 50k words on Act ii , or what is popularly referred to as the Saggy Middle.
My reasoning was simple. If I could get the clunky midriff of my fictional beast out of the way, finishing the rest of the manuscript would be significantly easier.
And honestly, this was the best idea I had in 2023.
Oranges no longer feels daunting and I have a better sense of my characters having put them through 142 pages of hell.
So now, two months later, I’m attempting another novel writing month to tackle Act i.
W R I T E B R U A R Y
To prepare for this campaign, I repeated November’s formula. I spent January ( really the last two weeks) reviewing my characters and re-planning how I introduce them to the audience.
Can you tell I’m a chronic planner and not a pantser? Is it obvious yet?
It was surprisingly overwhelming at first. The downside of really knowing your characters is really knowing your characters. I suffered from information overload with no sense of how to organise this pile-up of data.
Fortunately, Scrivener and its cork-board came to the rescue.
Using the software, I created a folder titled Act I and gave it 10 sub-folders, each representing a chapter. Each chapter was further divided into four documents of 500 words each.
So for February, I know my job is to write 2,000 words a day, or complete four documents of 500 words.
Next, I labelled each of my 10 chapters using a slightly modified version of the Hero’s Journey, …
Ch 1 : The Ordinary World Ch 2 : The Inciting Incident
Ch 3 : The Call to Adventure Ch 4 : Refusal of the Call
Ch 5 : Progressive Complication Ch 6 : Meeting the Mentor
Ch7 : Crises Ch 8: Climax Ch 9: Crossing the 1st Threshold
Ch 10 : Turning Point
… and because Scrivener allows you to assign Flashcards to your folders, I included a short synopsis of what each of these titles meant to my story. This way when I’m writing, I get to refer back to what the chapter is supposed to achieve.
Furthermore, Scrivener not only allows you to assign flashcards to folders, but to individual documents within said folder. This means later on today, when I’m typing those first 500 words, I’ll have a little column on my right reminding me of the beats and details I have to include.
But here is where Scrivener really scratched my Type A Planner itch. Oranges is a multiple Point Of View fiction and thanks to this site, I discovered I could organise both my chapters and the four documents contained within each chapter by character lines. This way I can visualise which of my characters is getting too much face time, as compared to the others.
***I chose to make each line represent a distinct Character Point of View because it suited my purposes. But it could be anything. For example, if your story occurs across a long time span, each line could represent a different timeline. If your story zig-zags between different settings, each line could represent a different location.
I don’t know how long this function has been a part of Scrivener, but discovering it has been a game changer. It means I no longer have to swipe between different applications to see the totality of Oranges: I have p.o.v, plot lines, synopses, and manuscript, all in one location.
T A K I N G I T E A S Y
All this writing and planning has meant a lot of sitting. And with sitting comes bodily aches. Fortunately, just when I was planning an overly ambitious exercise regime to force correct my muscles, one of my best-friends shared an incredible workout video with me.
“It is fun, it is kind, it is just walking!”
Last week, I spoke about treating myself with more kindness and Get Fit With Rick has been a timely reminder of what the physical practice of said kindness looks like. I didn’t need any special equipment, or outfit. In fact I think I did my first one barefoot, and by the time I was done, I was giggling!
I never giggle when it comes to exercise!
The biggest effect however was not planned. The first day I tried Rick’s workout, I had the best sleep of my 30s. I slept through the night and woke up feeling rested!
So if you’ve been looking for a kind way to get more exercise in your day, I highly recommend you try Get Fit With Rick.
As for me, I’ll be speed-chuckling my way to 8,000 steps.
And that’s where I’m at this Thursday. Until next week, I’m wishing you all the very best of company. ♥️
Progress Bar . (16,000) Steps, (7.5hrs) Sleep Debt, (1) Act i Detailed Outline🦧