I think I mentioned that I finished a chapter on Sunday and I wasn't sure where I wanted to go next. What I started to write wasn't going to work--too boring--but no other possibilities were coming to me. I spent yesterday with a notepad, writing down possibilities and studying my other notes on what I still needed to do. Late yesterday evening, I finally got an inkling. It will up the stakes for Maia considerably, forcing her to choose between her safe (and boring) existence and the sister she's always protected. Of course, there's no real doubt which one she's going to choose--she won't hesitate more than a split second--but it's not going to be a comfortable position for her to be in.
Then I thought, well, this is going to be one very short scene and I still need to get some reaction in to what Creed said in the chapter I'd finished. I think I solved that too. I'm going to back this scene up and have Maia working on her plan of attack. Then hit her with her semi-dilemma.
Right before I left work yesterday, I requested vacation from the EDJ (Evil Day Job). My plan is to take next week off and hit this story hard. The thing is that I can't waste a day like I did Monday trying to figure out where I'm going next, so I'm going to need to have a plan for the book. Much easier said than done because I'm just not a natural plotter. To this end, though, I've printed up everything I have so far and I'm going to read through it and make notes. I know some of it has to be cut and I'm going to lose pages, but is it information that I'm going to need later? If so, where am I going to stick it?
But the big reason for reading through is to get a sense of the story, the big picture. It's easy to lose that when you're focusing scene to scene or even chapter to chapter.
