Now where did I put that plot thread?

[lizvogel]

Ever have one of those days when you can't seem to finish anything without twelve other things interrupting, if you set something down for a second you end up having to ransack the entire house to find it again, and the only way to get something put away is to keep it clutched tightly in your hand until it's where it belongs and never set it down until then no matter what else happens?

I realized a couple weeks ago that that's the problem I'm having with the Haley novel. Every time I thought I had a handle on a plot thread, it was at the cost of some other thread slipping through my mental fingers. And if I stopped clutching at the distant end of a thread long enough to write the next bit, I ended up having to work out all over again where it was going.

I actually resorted to hanging on to my favorite pen while I was typing, in the don't-set-it-down model. It did seem to help. That, and flowcharting what's going on behind the scenes.

And then I figured out what the real problem was. Which is another post.

Comments

[heliopausa]

Hanging out for the next post!

[lizvogel]

And for once, I've actually managed to do it!