After a few weeks tending to other things, I’ve finally gotten back into the first draft of BECOME: TO CATCH THE LIGHTNING.
And, like magic, the ideas are starting to flow. I wrote that new chapter.
And I broke down and made changes to those two chapters I was trying not to revise quite yet–because I don’t want to get into revision mode when what I’m supposed to be doing is writing the first draft. Those are two totally different and inconsistent parts of the writing process. But there were some things that were just going to niggle at me until I fixed them. Or, at least, fixed them for now.
I’ve also blocked in another chapter that I’ve decided I need, as well as two new scenes. One is in a chapter coming up soon. The one I just blocked in needs to take place in the chapter I’ve already gone through. I’m going to try to hold off on that because I still try to hold to keeping a first draft moving only forward. (Making notes about something I want to add or change is permissible, though.)
On the whole, what these new chapters and scenes will do is get the main and secondary conflicts front and center earlier. And, hopefully, hint at some of the difficulties and consequences to come. I can only say hopefully because, obviously, I haven’t written them yet.
But the important thing is that I can feel the creative juices moving, like sap in the spring, and preparing to make this story stronger and more exciting. And that, of course, helps to excite me about writing it.
That’s page reads as a percent of my royalty income (in the U.S. only). For months the number stayed in a small range. The upward swing corresponds to the release of 
Meredith Mansfield, Author 