Friday May 15th has arrived. I can barely believe we're school is out and summer break is here for the kids. Oh, and of course, the deadline for the Wattys approaches each day.

I'm feeling pretty good today, for a variety of reasons. First, I received some positive feedback about a couple of stories I've been working on. I'll be able to share more about that at some other point. Then, there's this project. I'm glad to report that it's been a pretty good week. I've been working on my main character's perspective of the story, motivations and such. It's been really good in the sense that seeing the story through his eyes has helped focus some sections of the story better than when I put together the initial timeline.
For me, that's a process of refining the story further. From that high-level outline I worked on last month, I've now looked closer at some of the defining moments of the story. I've been able to remove some ambiguity in my outline by nailing down more precisely how my characters will react.
A side effect of this deeper dive has been that I'm getting to know my characters more. Not just my main character, but the supporting actors as well. What are their motivations, why are they doing what they're doing? It's been interesting.
It's also been very motivating. For me, working through outlines and such is a chore. Honestly, I absolutely hate it. I like to write, to explore, to let my imagination take me for a ride. To me, making an outline has always felt a bit constraining to that process. However, I've come to realize that even with an outline, there's plenty of space for imagination. There's plenty of space for exploring. Frankly, this past week, just by exploring the perspective of just one character has returned the excitement to the process. Since it has helped nail down certain aspects of the story that were a bit unclear before, every time I sit down to work on it I'm excited.

I really can't wait to start writing.
Speaking of writing, WHEN will I start writing? I said May 18th in my last post, didn't I?
To be honest, I haven't decided yet what I'll do. I feel good enough about where I'm at that I could start writing but then again, perhaps I should just take my time? Spend another week fine-tuning the outline to refine the writing process even more?
I think what I'll do is keep working at it over the weekend and see what happens. I'm inclined to start writing sooner than later, just to get the process moving. I know that for the most part, the outline I have is flexible as it is and the sooner I start, the less stress there will be to finish things up. At this point, I suspect it'll take all summer as it is to finish this project so I might as well get busy, right?
We'll see. Tick tock, tick tock.