Fumbling in the Dark

Image by rawpixel from Pixabay

​I’ve been fumbling around in the dark on Book 2 of my series for the last month. 

I have four different versions of chapter 1, all with different opening scenes but nothing has felt right. So I haven’t been able to move past the first chapter.

I have a rough outline of the whole book, but I don’t like skipping ahead. I need to travel the journey with the characters to feel that build up in tension and tone.

So I’ve been fumbling.

Then I was proof reading Book 1 for, like, the ba-zillionth time, and I saw it. The beginning of Book 2. Its emotional starting point was hiding in Book 1 all along. I copied it out and stuck it on the front of Book 2 and, bam, the story was there ready to go.

That was a few days ago. Now I'm looking at the first few paragraphs of Chapter 3 as well as fleshing out the outline I have for the entire book.

There are still items I’m mulling over, points and characters I haven’t decided on. They sit on the backburner in my mind, simmering like a good marinara sauce. Thickening until they’re ready to be served or mixed in with other ingredients to become something more complex.

It will be exciting to see how this all turns out. I’m just delighted to be out of the quagmire that has been Chapter 1.