Perils of Plotland (Con't)

It's been a while since I bemoaned the progress (or lack of it) on my great experiment to write an entire novel by the seat of my pants - "Pantsing," as Jamie Todd Rubin terms it.  Today, I think I may be near the end of my long journey through the wilds of Plotland.

To recap very briefly, I started this project with NaNoMoWri last year, did my fifty thousand words on a continuous stream, letting the subconscious roam wide and free with only a minimal plot line (fifty words - one for each thousand) to guide me.   In the last week I've gotten the epistle up to ninety-seven thousand words and finally, FINALLY, see how this ambling plot may tie together to a satisfactory conclusion.  That I have at least an idea of how this wraps up is is fortunate as I am preparing for a month's vacation that will give me scant opportunity to wrestle further with this beast.

 Surprisingly, at least to me, is that the entire story now makes sense and that raises some questions:  Did my imagination compose the entire story without informing me of its intent OR have I been   letting each scene dictate the subsequent one with no thought of overall scheme?  I can't seem to recall any moment of intent while recklessly pounding out the first half nor, to be honest, has there been much evidence of such during the creation of the current effort.  The only control I recall exerting was keeping the characters moving along and having something interesting take place on occasion.  Oh yeah, and world-building along the way.

My Workbench

In the past two days I began sketching out all the major surgery sites within this sprawling mess by annotating the diagram I've been maintaining, seeing where I have to insert new material, and where there might be potential to rearrange the sequence of events.  This is, of course, all preparatory to doing the actual hard work of writing the added and needed material, after which I will have to edit the entire novel once or twice before searching for some beta readers (any volunteers?), which will no doubt result in further edits and work.  I can't wait to see what lies ahead in these last three (estimated) chapters.

 While on vacation perhaps I shall scribble a short story or two, that is, if I am unable to suppress an urge to write.  But one thing for certain, I am going out of my way to slave no more on the aspects of this journey through Plotland until I return.  My brain needs a rest.

 I think I am beginning to understand why these novels take YEARS to complete.

#SFWApro

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