(04/06/16) June Burn Out

I’ve been talking a little bit about this already, but this week has been a busy week for me in terms of getting NoHoper stuff done. Maybe it’s because I’ve not worked this hard on a project since I finished my degree course, or maybe it’s because I’ve finally been unleashing my inner emotional investment in this story, but these three full days of planning the second half of story have been difficult. I’ve jumped from finishing chapter 14 to completely planning chapter 18. In short, I’m suffering a burn out.

In case you don’t know, I have a process when it comes to writing. Before I write first drafts, I write a full content plan for each chapter (which also includes conversations in scripted dialogue). If a story includes a fair amount of plots or subplots or developments that need to be minded – at last count, NoHoper has about 14 of these – I will make another plan to keep track of how they develop and in which chapter they do. That’s what I’ve been working on for the last few months outside of final projects.

At this moment in time, I am at a point where the Climactic Event of the story is planned out completely. Since I have plans to make a sequel (because of course I do), the direction I take to resolve issues, wrap up completed plots, develop the plots I intend to put in play later and incite incidents for the sequel is all critical work. The issue that I’m having, I guess, is finding the balance between having the Climactic Event mean something and yet not overshadow the last few chapters; here as in real life, just because something was a big deal doesn’t mean that all other action has stopped. Life is just not that kind.

I’m supposing my rundown feeling has something to do with my current situation. I’ve been working hard, managing my health and dealing with the left over bits of stress from my degree as well as issues in my personal life I don’t have time to get into right now.

In any case, I know I promised pieces about trans and bi identities, but the fact is that making them ready for grading was a higher priority than making them available here. These issues remain incredibly important to me, especially considering how invested I am in the outcome of these conversations. So, get ready for them soon.

–Ruin Dun Burnit