Gaining Momentum

This is my first Spring Break update, as it were, since I am trying to be uber-productive regarding my writing this week. Blogging about it will keep me honest... hopefully.

Today I made myself sit down and begin translating my chicken-scratch notes into a clean, typed outline. I wasn't really feeling motivated to work, however, as anybody who is a school teacher can attest to regarding Spring Break. By the time you get all 3rd quarter grades finished and entered, your brain feels dead and you feel induced to sit like a vegetable on the couch for eight days straight. Thankfully, I have small children who keep me non-vegetative. Regardless, once I got them down for a nap, I thought to myself, "Do I really NEED to start working TODAY? Why not start tomorrow..." Nope. Not gonna cut it. If I truly want to balance being a wife, mother, teacher, and author, then there must be no such thing as a wasted day. (I'm not implying that I cannot and do not take days of rest, but there is a difference between taking a rest day and simply wasting a day away in front of the TV). SO, once I got started, I felt the quickening of excitement that only comes to me through writing. I remembered, oh yeah, I LOVE doing this! This is what I am designed to do! And while the ideas did not just start magically flowing, I did get a good start on a very structured chapter breakdown. For book 3 I am going to attempt to cut my number of chapters down to 22 and an epilogue (fewer chapters, not fewer pages). This will work better for the new structure I am attempting in which certain chapters should mirror other chapters that have come before. I already have detailed outline notes for 13 of these 22 chapters, and I've named all but 5 of them. Some chapter titles that you can look for in The White Thread include: "Furniture Girl," "The Other Oracle," and "The Archipelago." (All subject to change, of course). Anyhow, I promised myself that this blog would not turn into an essay, which it is in danger of doing, so I will cut it off there for now. Suffice it to say that I am gaining momentum and looking forward to a very productive week!