Day 26 - on having a plot goal

Day 26+ actually. I've been writing a fair bit since I last posted but  I haven't been getting on the computer itself to write about it. It defeats the purpose of this blog, I know but what can I do? I suppose I could keep track of the days while writing my story and then refer to that when I post. it could work. It makes sense. But still it seems rather silly. I could just make a point of getting on daily as I try to get onto my computer every day...well anyway this blog is not meant for this musing so...on to other things.

I have started working on Calliope Jones but there is still a fair bit flesh out and I haven't even worked out what I specifically want to happen in the first book (if this does end up a series which is rather the direction I'd like to go in). Still I'm spending much more time thinking about it than other ideas and I hope that it will lead to something. The trickiest part about writing seems to be working out exactly where things need to go and how to get there. If the writer doesn't have the story itself outlined (if only in their head) then it makes writing much harder. As much as people talk about writing and letting the story goes where it will and while writing that way is fun, if there is no goal it's kind like going for a rambling walk with no real goal in mind. You might see some great scenery along the way but eventually you have to make a decision about where you want to go, even if it's simply home, or you'd never get anywhere. Now with a story, getting home again is probably not the best goal since, at least in my mind, it suggests going back to the beginning which is generally unsatisfying if nothing has actually happened story wise so...yeah... I used to be among those who thought that it was enough to just write and see where it lead but now, looking back, I realize that I almost always had a plan and a final destination (a final conflict and climax) even though I didn't realize it at the time. I have never liked writing outlines but I have realized that I always had a kind of outline if only in my head even if I didn't write it down on paper. These things are important to write a story that has a purpose. I wonder what it would be like to write a story with no real purpose in mind, like a rambling walk with no final goal. Rumour is the writers did it with Lost. I wonder what would happen if I tried it with a story. Maybe I will sometime if only as an exercise. Something to add to my list of ideas and things to try. So many ideas so little time.