But I think I'm finally developing a process where I start with an outline and spend a few days getting that right, then do a first pass fleshing out the work into a rough draft of scenes and summaries, and then work on that until it's a complete first draft. This is where writing those first couple comic scripts have really helped my prose.

I'm proud of the organic structure of stories from my pre-outline days, but for every decent story that I finished that way, I had at least three more that I either abandoned or should have abandoned because they weren't going anywhere.

But this would be a great milestone for me: a consistent process (but not formula) with which I can reliably turn ideas into stories. Still exhausting work every time, but it would be great to know that there's a good chance I'm trudging in the right direction.

I started writing seriously and submitting seven years ago (the first entry of this journal was seven years ago tomorro). I usually like the work. But does the uncertainty ever go away?

Filed under Journal, Prose and Poetry, Writing Dares
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