All week I have been thinking about a book project I put down a few years ago. I was wondering, yet again, what the best approach to telling this particular story should be. I have recently been in the building where important events of the story took place. I began to write a bit in my head about visiting the site of a murder. I even thought of some new things to write about. Maybe it is time to revisit this concept; the last time I seriously looked at it was back when I attended the Napa Valley Writer's Conference during the summer of 2010. The story I want to write about is true, but I am afraid that it will hurt the survivors, so someone suggested that I fictionalize it.
It feels like it is time to move the obstacles out of the way. I may not be able to get completely around all of them at this time, but I am feeling as if I need to revisit the idea.
So today I opened the long unused files; thankfully they survived the hard drive crash from last Fall because I back up pretty regularly. I opened the most recent version of the book proposal and found quite a bit of information I had forgotten.
I knew that I had done some writing. I knew that I had done a decent amount of research, but I had not yet made my way to the county courthouse where presumably there sits a treasure trove of vital information. I was thinking that it is time to figure out how to map out the story so that I can move forward with the project.
What I found was summaries of 15 chapters!!! I have already done so much work on this project! Zounds! I have already organized the story and built the table of contents.
I think I have found my summer project. I am teaching in the middle of the day M-Th this summer, but it is only one class and I will have time to breath, maybe even time to research and write. Whooppeee!
When I really examine the obstacles in my way, realize that they are mostly imaginary. Nothing is so large that I can't write my way around it. This could be a really good summer.
