I hate the nights when I can't sleep, especially when I'm already tired, but there is one benefit to them--I work out story problems while I'm tossing and turning. Last night was one of those nights--exhausted, but unable to fall asleep. It was also a night where I worked out some issues in the WIP (Work In Progress).
I'm not sure if I've talked about this or not, but I've cut and gutted the beginning to this story 15 times. Yes, I know exactly how many major revisions I've been through because with every major change, I do a "save as" and stick a letter behind the chapter number. As in chapter_1h. I made it through the letter "o" before I was happy with the first chapter. This doesn't count the smaller changes I made and I really don't want to know how many there were of those.
Chapter 2 was shaping up to be the same struggle, but last night some thoughts occurred to me. I was thinking I'd have to drag the chapter out to encourage my heroine to trust the hero enough to ask for help, but with her background, trust wouldn't come easily. Certainly not in a couple or hours. That left me with a problem and I think that's part of why this chapter has been a battle, but last night inspiration struck! I needed a couple of prods and not just for her. The hero needs to be pushed forward, too.
I also had some answers for chapter 3. Oh, none of this stuff is specific, step-by-step plotlines, but they're ideas that I can write toward. And the big thing is they're for the beginning of the book. I've been getting a lot of scenes for this story, but they're all for mid to end of the book and they're all character stuff. Nothing to help me get the beginning going. Until last night.
So while getting out of bed this morning wasn't a whole lot of fun, it might have been worth it since I have some answers for the story that I didn't have before. And that's what coffee is for--to get me moving in the morning and keep me awake at the Evil Day Job (EDJ).
