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This morning I was in the middle of brushing my teeth when one of the twins came in to ask me a question. I immediately responded even though I didn’t stop the process of brushing my teeth. Mothers! We’re always trying to multitask.
My four year old looked at me and said, “Mommy, I can’t understand you because your mouth is full of toothpaste.”
No kidding.
This little exchange got me thinking about my writing. Larry Brooks over at Story Fix is a strong advocate of clarifying before you write. Before this year, I worked hard on my story, The Son of Asgard. Two years of working on it. I couldn’t get it to go anywhere. Then I started mapping out my story. I did more in one afternoon of mapping to elevate my story than I had done in those hard two years!
I’m all for organic writing – of letting the story write itself. I’m pretty much doing that with NaNo, but with a bare bones outline guiding me along the way. Knowing the key ingredients of STORY and mapping out at least a brief outline can mean the difference of talking with my mouth full of toothpaste or spitting before I speak. Instead of writing a lot of words to confuse myself, I have clarity on how to get there.
Woman With a Glass Pen 
Love this! I need to remember to spit before I write, too. Great post. 🙂
Thanks Leisha – I appreciate that! 🙂
Sometimes, this is the hardest part of the process for me. I over think and get bogged down in the process. This is why Nano is good for me but bad for me, too. I’m a total outliner. 😉
I need to be a better outliner. Right now, I’m a half outliner, but I think I’d benefit from more structure. My problem is I have itchy fingers and don’t want to take the time! 😉
I look at writing a book the way jazz musicians improvise. Let it flow, get in the zone and the story writes itself. Totally organic. Totally free range. And no toothpaste in sight 😆
What? No minty fresh? *GRIN*
That’s how I’ve written Son of Asgard – my sister actually said the words to me, “I can’t believe how much this story has changed. It’s like it’s writing itself.” Made me giggle. Of course, I’m ready to get done with it. Which, shows growth I think, because before I don’t think I had the strength to say I’d like to be done – I was happy with the creation process. You know?