If only it were always this organized.

This last week, we spent time getting reacquainted with our neglected projects from last year. It’s been so long since we last looked at them, it felt like starting from scratch. We had to locate all of our scattered notes and make sure we had our most up-to-date material. It’s hard getting back into writing mode.

Anne pulled up the files on Servants of Gaia. She thought that she had a more complete chapter map than she actually did, and that meant a complete review of material that was written last year. (Sad but true, it has been languishing for a year.) She’s updated the chapter map through chapter 14, added in character notes for new players, and mapped out the next five chapters up to chapter 20. She has no more excuses and should be starting on writing new material this week.

Nancy pulled up all the notes and material from our other Riverside horror novel, The Phoenix Project (working title). She wasn’t happy with the beginning and decided to scrap the entire prologue and first few chapters. She’s got a working chapter map ready to go for the first seven chapters and she is also ready to start working on the new material.

Both of these projects have fully-fleshed story arcs but the chapter maps are where we really get the work done. The devil is in the details. It’s much easier when you have a really detailed idea for each chapter. We’ll be continuing to add to the maps as we go along, but at least we know the big picture and how it comes together. That’s what all our planning/brainstorming sessions are for.

You know, we always feel a bit down on ourselves when we let our productivity languish. It’s been a rough year. We really appreciate you, dear readers, for sticking with us.

Kind regards,

Anne, Nancy, and Eric