Writing: Hitting My Marks

I have tried many ways to outline over the years. But last night I stayed up to finish a chapter I’ve been working on, and for the first time in a LONG time, I felt really good about my writing. I was excited.

When I sat down with my outline, I loosely followed Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat method. Yes, I know this is for screenplays, but his method made sense to me. Not only do I know what’s going to happen, I’ve given myself approximate page numbers as markers or signposts. You would think this would hinder my writing, but for me, it’s actually been quite freeing. I actually feel MORE creative knowing my characters need to get tasks done within an approximate page count. It gives me manageable chunks to work with, something my “shiny objects” brain can appreciate. (Look, squirrel!!!)