Solving Plot Holes

So I've been working on my new book preparing it for publication.

The Fiction book, if you were wondering.

And I realized, that there were horrible gaps in the story, like the details of certain interactions didn't matter. And when I looked at the traditional plot line, I could actually put details about every event in the story but the main purpose of the story. And that really bothered me. So, as an author, my first go to is usually to write all the missing details in. Except, this time, there wasn't anything there that could be filled in.

I wanted the happy ending. I want the sun to shine and birds to fly. And I couldn't do it. In fact, there were five chapters that were started and never got anywhere. They were great moments of tender character exchange that just were that: moments. But they existed without reason.

So last night, I did something drastic: I decided to cut out as much of the main subplot as possible. And suddenly, I only had 2 major issues to address instead of 50. Admittedly: I would feel better about having a word count closer to 30,000 instead of dropping 9,000 words to get the outcome I wanted, but anxiety I was having over getting my resolutions is gone, which is really the most important thing.

Writer's are often told to write about what they know. And to be fair: I do. And as a result, I reveal a lot about myself in the process. But what authors really are good at are drawing distinctions between fiction and fact. The world where my character's live is just that: their world. And sometimes, even if I don't understand why I know so much about them, I need to know that not all the pieces are going to be ready when I am. I consider it much like the way I get to know people in real life. I know all these details about them, I might not understand all the bits, but I know them. I have an idea of chronology. And the other thing about me, I don't usually ask the deeper follow up questions. Which always gets someone to ask me follow up question about what I really do know.

But the book is coming along. I'm going to be ready for June.

Plot Hole So Big, You Can Write A Plot About It

Plot Holes.

Not as nice as pot holes. Not as useful as pin holes. But certainly, no less deserving of attention.

Right now, I don't know why my hero and heroine need each other. The problem is,  the story was originally a romance. Which makes things harder when you get rid of the interesting hot guy that you spend HOURS trying to create and make at least plausibly interesting to the reader.

The funny thing is, I've fixed all the other plot holes. This one is huge. Neither one is vapid, but they ultimately need each other. Mean while, I will continue to work through all of the other issues as they arise.

What else has been keeping me from updating? I'm about 75% ready on Volume 3 US History of Project Alpha. I have to ultimately go through and add the index, the sources, and then all the pictures I have been gathering and documenting where I got them from. In addition to each hand drawn map and then series of icons that will be created based on each section. That's still a lot of work. Even for normal people.

I just came back from AZ-TASH's AZWINS, 9th Annual Inclusion Institute. That was awesome! I got to meet people that I've been meeting online. And we got to talk about special education and try to inform people about things that can do to help make inclusive environments in schools.

I think Megan, my business partner, got to the reality of what is going on with our company before I did. And yes, we do write to a specific population, and no, we're probably never going to be a top 200 book sales, but we needed to get this stuff written. Because, like the baseball stadium, if it isn't built, they won't come.

But the plot hole won't fix itself. So back into filling in the hole. Maybe, it'll just have to be left to the side, for a while.

A Writer's New Year's Resolution

Being a writer, one would imagine that resolutions are all about documentation. They're actually not. So here are my goals for 2012.

• Actively take more time to write. This isn't about writing. I write all the time. What I need to write are coherant sentences. Which then leads to...
• Publish regularlly. I think once a year isn't too much to take on. Even with a multifaceted day job.
• Be mindful that not everything is going to work out.
• Enjoy the breaks that come with having worked on something for more than 5 minute stretches.

I am going to publish a new story like I said in my last post. The title is evolving as are the subplots. I've found plot holes so wide that it's a little scary how I thought that this book would be ready to go in a few minutes. But that's the nice thing about having things ready to go.

This is where my life gets dicey. Publically, I have always been RHM, since I could have my own email back when I just left my first year of college. But my life today is about both RHM and ParaEducate. And sometimes, they cross over. Project Alpha and Project Beta wouldn't happen if I hadn't been RHM first. ParaEducate depends on that element.

I will work on the identity crisis in my life. Until then, I will work on my resolutions.

In other news: ParaEducate is on schedule for multi-city locations over the next few weeks. So keep an ear to the social media taps, we're on the move.