Somewhere on this blog in the not too distant past, I talked about my rewrites and waxed eloquent about my latest changes to 13 Demon Days.  This time, I’d really figured it out.  This time, I’d broken the code and sorted all the puzzles pieces so progress would go forward without any more hiccups or bumps.

Or that’s what I was thinking–hopefully I was smart enough to sound less cocky in public.  But I really did feel confident in the changes I was making to my novel and I still do.  The breakthrough was amazing and has totally restructured how I approach novel writing.  Here’s proof, in all its 3×5 card glory:

Ahhh, isn’t that the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen?  No?  Well, it was to me.  ‘Cause that breakdown of scenes represented a new way of looking at my book–all the way down to the bones.  And it made my very happy.

But, what is a writer without innovation and learning?  A corpse, that’s what, and I’m no zombie yet.  I dug deeper, read more, obsessed a little here and there–and came up with another fifteen or so layers to my novel that I hadn’t known were there.  This is the new board:

Many of the 3×5 cards are shifted around, and almost all of them has a sticky added which maps out the emotional changes the character is experiencing.  Then there’s the callbacks and continuity notes, the tiny bits of history to be woven in and the dynnamic signs.  It might look like gibberish, but it’s a thing of beauty to me.  A sign that this time, I’ve really figured it out.  I’ve broken the code and sorted out the puzzle pieces…

Oh.  Wait.  I said all that last time.  Guess I’d better save the rhapsodizing for the next breakthrough!

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