Looks like the Divas' site and forum is back up and running. WOO HOO! The return of a former form of serious procrastination has returned.

Got in some decent time yesterday for the first day of this month's FTHRW BIAW. Managed to type in all my handwritten pages from Sunday, then moved on to the FDi30D Worksheet 15, Story Evolution Worksheet. Can you say frustrating, boys and girls? This is where my plotting suckiness (is that a word?) really shines through. On part of this worksheet (and this is only a small part), you're supposed to list short-term goals your characters have set in order to help them reach the story goal, how that short-term goal was thwarted, the characters' reactions, how the stakes are raised, and how the characters react to the new stakes. I had problems right out of the gate on this one. I mean does (to put it delicately) boinking count as a raising of the stakes? It's definitely a raising of something, right?

So what did I do in reaction to my problem? I plopped the headphones on my head, cranked some tunes, and stuck my tongue out at Rocky. Constructive and adult, don't you think? Yeah, me neither. But it sure felt good.

After my very adult and very constructive reaction, I stared at the computer screen for a while. All these actions were certain to get the ball rolling for me. (Yeah, right.) I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when I continued to draw a blank on filling out the worksheet. I knew I needed to do something, though.

Lately, all my energies have been focused on BMO. I finally decided those good ol' creative juices might flow again if I pulled out and reread what I have written on SR. Not to pat myself on the back here, but I must admit that rereading those scenes with Jackson and Rebecca (some from the beginning of the story and some from near the end), reminded me of the vast potential of that story. I really liked what I have so far. Sure, it's only the first draft and those scenes could definitely stand some reworking, but the basic elements are there. I ended up defying Karen Wiesner's (author of First Draft in 30 Days) suggestion and worked up Character Sketches (Worksheet 1) for that story.

I may not have progressed much with BMO yesterday, but at least I went to bed feeling like I'd accomplished something. And that's always a good thing.

As for IH, after revisiting the crits on my synopsis, I've decided the entire thing needs to be reworked. Since I'm planning to market the story as women's fiction with strong romantic elements, I clearly need to adjust the synopsis to take emphasis away from the relationship between Chris and Teresa and place it firmly on Teresa's self-discovery journey.

So for my BIAW time today (I committed to 20 hours for the week), I plan to get started on that synopsis. And I've got two crits due, so I need to get those started today, too.

And I'll get all that started after I go pick up my new contact lenses. And clean the living room. And start the laundry. Crap. At least my bed's made.

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MOOD: Still a little frustrated, yet hopeful
MUSIC: "Soul" by Matchbox Twenty
PROGRESS: 5 hours yesterday toward my BIAW goal