How a Devastating Injury Is Helping Me Pursue My Dream
Image by author in Canva
Hello, again! Yikes! Another week zoomed by! And oh, dear… last Saturday, I set out a fairly hefty list of tasks I intended to accomplish this week. I got a li’l too excited about this journey! Whaddya know? You can have too much fun! 😂
And then…Monday rolled around and…oh, right. Holiday week. Oops.
Suddenly, my available work time tanked. But I’m happy to report I still got some stuff done! Yay! More about that in a few minutes, but first…
An Insight That Helped Me
In these 2+ years since my leg injury have been massively helpful to me in various ways. People often hear some of the worst bits of this experience, especially the first 5–6 months when I was trapped in a friend’s windowless basement, unable to get upstairs without excruciating pain and someone to help me (so I stayed in the basement). There were so many challenges at that time; I won’t elaborate here. The point I wanted to make is that one of the best gifts in this entire journey has been the gift of observing, noticing.
Because I had so many physical challenges (in symptoms and my ability to do things for myself), I became good at noticing the tinest improvements.
I’m a person who focuses a lot on gratitude anyway, but this journey has put it into overdrive. I remember when I couldn’t even slightly move my foot or even the toes on my injured leg without unbearable nerve pain. I noticed those tiny movements. I noticed the nerve response and thought about how fascinating it was from a physiological perspective. And I noticed when one day, I could make that slight movement with my toes or my foot and the pain was so much more bearable.
There have been so many tiny milestones along the way, the smallest of accomplishments that were such a big deal, being able to put on my own knickers (tough to do with a full leg brace and can’t bend it!) and especially in learning how to walk again without a walker, then crutches, and then without a cane.
I’m still not great at stairs but I can manage with a good railing. Every step, I feel like I should celebrate. I offer gratitude many times every day for this miracle of taking steps on my own again.
And so it is with my novel-writing journey. I think about all I’ve done in the 20 years since I set out on this path with no idea what I was doing or what was required. All I knew was that I loved making up stories that would take readers on an emotional journey and with a deeply satisfying ending.
I’ve stalled so many times over the years for myriad reasons, and I’ve kept climbing back into the saddle and going again. Having been physically stalled, too, with this leg injury, it’s been frustrating, as has my inability to write 10,000 words a day like I used to do with no trouble at all.
However, noticing every tiny step toward improvement on this healing journey and celebrating every one of them has reminded me that each one has brought me closer to where I am now. And I’m also reminded of the countless tiny steps I’ve taken over the 20 years since I wrote my first novel. There have been many steps forward, and a whole lot of them backward, too. But all I really need to do is stay focused on the ones that keep inching me closer to my dream — to my goal.
So rather than feeling frustrated at what I can’t do (yet!), I’m noticing — and celebrating — every bit of progress I’m making with Book 1 of what I intend to be at least a 12-novel series by 2028, the year I turn 70. 🫣
I know I can do it. One tiny step at a time. Even if that tiny step is only a 500-word day or if I figured out some cool ideas or stumbled upon some unexpected dots to connect for a fun surprise. Every little step counts.
I’ve continued mucking about with learning Plottr. It’s excellent plotting / outlining software intended for fiction novels but can make your non-fiction book-writing so much easier, too.
After attending the “how to” webinar, I saw how easy it is to use some of the most helpful basics. I’m so glad I finally did it!! (More about that journey here) Because now, every time I make an entry on a plot line or a character’s description, I’m that much closer to reaching my goals.
The main goal I’m focusing on is the one that will allow me to launch the series: three full-length novels (65-80K words each), plus a novella (20–25K words) to use as the “freebie” for my mailing list.
One thing I’ve noticed this week is a shift in how I’m seeing that goal. I hardly dared look at it in the months I’ve been chipping away at this novel and trying to find my mojo again after it went AWOL with the Complex PTSD diagnosis a few years back.
A few days ago, I noticed that I was no longer lamenting the loss of my former “10,000 words a day” standard. I was focusing more on noticing every little bit of progress, every literal and figurative step I’ve taken to get where I am on this bigger journey, and on this particular novel.
Rather than living on overdrive, as I used to do, my injury has forced me to slow down — physically — to a virtual standstill — and truly notice the moments, the details, the small stuff. And to stop feeling frustrated about the bigger picture.
I can be mindful of that three-novel, one-novella launch goal for early summer. But what’s more important is not to get bent out of shape thinking about it, and instead notice and enjoy the journey, one word at a time.
Weekly Update
Before realising this was Holiday Week (because I rarely need to pay attention to calendars and because I don’t know where the heck December went?!?!), here’s what I was intending to do:
Finish plotting current novel (and using Plottr to do it).
Choose main characters (MCs) and plan the premise for Book 2 so I can introduce them in plotting current book.
Rework an earlier section to facilitate a surprise I can’t share. 🙈
Finish the Canadian/Albertan revisions Chapters 8–20.
And here’s what I actually did:
Chose my MCs for Book 2, but haven’t created the premise for it.
Finished enough plotting to have a decent outline through the end of Book 1. I could do with a bit more detail but I wrote a LOT!!! Yay, me!
Yes, I used Plottr for that. 👆‼️
Discovered that when you set out to write a romance series that will have supporting cast members eventually having (or possibly having) their own love stories in future novels, you have to sort out many of their backstories in Book 1 — especially for the two you introduce a li’l bit in Book 1 who will be the hero and heroine for Book 2. You have to know their wounds and flaws before you can come up with a proper premise for their story. So I ended up down a rabbit hole of digging into the backstories of some of the other characters who are connected in this story, and will be featured in the next few books with their own love stories.
Reworked the bit for the surprise (mentioned above). Yay! (This one did my head in…) 🤦🏻♀️
I’m pretty pleased with all of that, given how much time I spent on backstories this week (a LOT) and given how painful the notion of plotting has been — and using Plottr. But oh, my, I had fun with it! The more I use it, the more I want to learn.
Below is one viewing option. I took a partial screenshot to give you a sense of it. There’s a lot you can do with this view, but I’m just using it to see how many scenes are in each chapter (blue dots at top), as well as which characters appear when and where, and how often.
Screenshot: Part of a Plottr chart that easily shows which characters appear and when, as well as various other helpful bits of information
So as I continue writing the first draft, and later when editing and revising, I can be mindful of which characters need more or less attention, and with whom they’re interacting. For example, currently, it’s easy to see that Garrett hasn’t had much attention, and if that presented a problem, I could see it and figure out how I need to change the story or at least give him a little more of a presence.
He isn’t particularly relevant in the first half, so I don’t need to change this part. We’ll see more of this sweet soul in the second half of the story.
I’ve listed several minor supporting cast members below the “Locations” line (not shown in the pic), characters that appear occasionally, like a pub owner or the town gossip. As the series progresses, readers will get to know these characters, some of whom will feature as the romantic heros and heroines in future novels.
So … yeah, I’m having fun with Plottr (I’m so shocked!).
Fiction Tip
Create Clear Goals and Flaws
In order for your story to work, every character has to want something (a goal) and there needs to be something stopping him from getting it (an inner flaw). Whether it’s seeking approval, winning a contest, or finding love, all of your characters need goals to give them purpose and drive their actions. Otherwise, your characters lack direction, making the story feel flat and boring.
Flaws make characters relatable — human. No one’s perfect, and readers connect with characters who are flawed. They can be internal flaws, like insecurity or fear, or external, like always being late or dominating conversations. These flaws need to interfere with the character’s goals, creating tension and conflict.
Each character should confront his flaws as a part of his story arc, and face several opportunities to overcome them. This makes for an engaging and satisfying story. Think about it. Your favourite films and books are the ones that keep you on the edge of your seat with things going wrong and something dire about to happen unless … unless a flaw or obstacle is finally overcome — even if the original goal isn’t actually reached.
Oh! One other thing I did this week: I completely refreshed my Patreon page! It had hundreds of inspirational, self-help posts on it from several years of writing and supporting people in this way — and I deleted every one of those posts!!! I’ll still write those kinds of stories on Medium, but my main focus is now writing and self-publishing books. So — with that in mind, I’ll be adding much more in-depth tips and information there every week. Expanded versions of what you get here, plus there will be downloadable goodies, voting on character names and other things, exclusive content and sneak peeks … and more, once I get rolling. I’m so excited!
Next Week’s Mission:
I’m giving myself permission to still be in holiday mode. Just because I work from home and don’t have a typical “9–5” to go to, it doesn’t mean I can’t have holidays! I’ve been working as much as possible for a long time. But I also want to keep moving forward!
So next week:
Continue to fill in some smaller plot details.
Go through list of tidbits I need to add or change (I’m often coming up with loads of those little things!)
Make a dent in revisions for the Canadian/Alberta additions.
Thank you so much for following my journey! I deeply appreciate your support and cheerleading! See you next week! 💜