Taking Messy Action: Work in Progress

A long time ago in a pre-pandemic world far, far away….

I wrote a short story about a farm boy, who gets turned into a ghost because his “best friend” needs his body to raise a villain called the Shadowman. In his quest to get his body back, the farm boy teams up with a princess who’s trying to save her queendom from the clutches of a sorceress that’s taken control of a giant, magic tree and working with the Shadowman. The story was cool, but messy. 

As you can probably guess, it was too long to be considered a short story but not long enough to be a novella, plot-heavy, and the characters lacked depth. I knew the plot needed to be expanded, the dynamics of the world needed to be shown more, and the characters needed more complexity. But at the time, I didn’t know where to start and didn’t have enough writing under my belt to feel comfortable diving in.

Fast forward six years that were filled with a ton of practice, I finally felt like I was in a place to tackle the project. Putting this epic fantasy on the backburner also gave me the space to think about how the world’s magic system worked, who the Shadowman was, the significance of the giant trees, and realize that the character I actually wanted to focus on was the princess.

As a result, most of 2020 was spent brainstorming, mapmaking, building Pinterest boards, and creating Spotify playlists to further solidify the world this saga would be set in. But it quickly became clear that while I had a better handle on the characters and their world, the scope of the story had grown enormously. So once again, I was faced with the question: Where to begin? 

When starting a new project, it’s not uncommon to feel frozen in place. We worry about whether or not we’re making the right choice and taking the most efficient route to complete the project. Sometimes, our hesitation is warranted. After all, I held off on going full tilt into this project for years because I needed (1) more writing experience and (2) to think critically about the story I wanted to tell. But after a certain point, preparation turns to procrastination. Let’s face it: We can make all the mood boards and playlists we want, but unfortunately, our stories aren't going to write themselves. 

So rather than worry about where I should begin, I just started. Instead of writing chronologically, I’ve been jumping around, writing different scenes, playing with different points of view, and even writing out the legends the people in this world would tell each other. For instance, I’m currently working on a legend about a crypt inspector who’s trying to stop a vengeful corpse from inciting a rock giant rebellion. While I typically prefer to write in order, this approach gives me the freedom to play in this world I’ve created. 

At some point, I’ll have to bridge the gaps between these scenes and figure out what to do with the legends. I’ll probably wind up scrapping a lot of the pages as well. And I get it, it’s crushing to write ten, 50, or even 100 pages only to realize you need to scrap them. But while this can be frustrating and leave you feeling like you’ve wasted time, this is actually the farthest thing from the truth. 

You still wrote those pages and that means you consistently sat down to write. Even if it’s messy, spending time with your characters and exploring the different narratives in your world isn’t a waste. It helps you assess, reflect, and make connections that you may not have noticed before. 

Giving myself permission to explore the world I’ve built, its history, legends, and so on is helping me find the boundaries of my princess’s story. So even though I may make mistakes and have to cut pages, I’m not stressing about whether or not I’m doing the “right” thing. Instead, I’m focusing more on the fact that I’m taking action, no matter how messy it may be. And every time I see my word count grow or I edit a section, this reinforces a positive association with sitting down and writing and, in turn, keeps me coming back day after day.

It’s not about being right, it’s about being consistent.