I just love writing in Scrivener. A spontaneous idea that demands I write it down need not clutter up the story. Notes, folders, customizable templates, and tree-directories I can restructure at any time with no hassle provide an excellent tool to drive my story forward while allowing easy, organic world-building.
That brings me here, now, to 2015. My, how the latter third of 2014 flew by. I am both pleased and surprised that I have crossed the 100 page mark in my manuscript, Blood Dawn. What I am even more pleased by, however, is how every week the Scrivener project in which I am writing the novel evolves. My former process, similar to the process of most writers who work in Word or other linear word processing programs, could be summarized by the waterfall development method. (Useful link on that method, here.) Instead, using Scrivener has provided me with the agile development process which has been a much-sought-after holy grail for me. (Another useful link on that method, here.) There is no more need for stress over having to rewrite scenes because rewriting anything anywhere at any time is part of how the software encourages me to interact with the growing material. Like the agile model, my manuscript project is continually a work in progress, not only with regard to new content I am writing every time I sit down with it, but also with regard to the structure of how I organize that content. Scrivener provides me with a dumping ground for structure and content as it comes to me and is an efficient tool to help me arrange and rearrange information so that it is retrievable and easy to modify to suit the whole as the whole evolves into a better thing.
This is one reason I am not daunted by what the future has in store for me with this novel. I am having fun and developing something that is becoming beautiful. Professional collaboration through coaching (thank you, Jennie Nash!), editorial input (thank you, Laura!), pitch sessions, and critiques only give me further tools to push it to a new level. How long will it take? I have guesses, but they are just that. It will be done when it’s done and it might not look anything like it does now when it is. (Thank you Scrivener for a program that lets me accept that without a shred of panic, but instead, a healthy dose of excitement.)
And there’s the second reason I’m not daunted: I do not feel like I am in a rush to write something and get a book out there. I feel instead like I am creating a universe and, since I love it like my own child, no matter what work is required I will not abandon it, nor will I rush it out the door.
2015 will be an excellent year for writing. I have that as my intention, a focus each time I sit down and spend time with the story. Here’s to growth, discovery, fulfillment, adventure, and reason to make 2016 an even better year for writing. I am doing what I love and will continue to do it as long as I am able.
