Drafting Diaries: Creative Courage
Here are some notes on my current WIP and how July’s exploration of creative courage influenced its evolution and kept me writing the story only I can tell. Read on, then join this week’s chat!
July Theme: Creative Courage
Big Question: What does it take to begin, risk, and share what you create?
Week 3: Sharing the Work
As we’re wrapping up July, I can’t help but think of all the ways exploring creative courage over the course of the month has helped shape the debut novel I’m working on, and how it’s really given me permission to trust my own writing process and instincts and take more intentional creative risks.
Our discussions have also reaffirmed my belief in the power of authentic storytelling and have allowed me to reflect on the best ways to tell the stories only I can tell, in the ways that only I can tell them, so that I can share them with other readers who will connect with them in meaningful ways. I hope it’s done the same for you, too!
What follows are some of the details of my current work in progress (WIP), then some notes on how July’s exploration of creative courage has influenced its current evolution.
Please note that sharing these details doesn’t come easy for someone like me, who suffers from chronic perfectionism and cares about what others think far more than she will regularly admit aloud. Yet I’m doing it anyway because, more and more, I am starting to value what happens when I trust myself enough to take creative risks like the ones present in my WIP, then share what they allow me to create with others. And how doing that is also allowing me to build a community of fellow writers I deeply admire and trust, for which I’m forever grateful.
I am sharing these details to build excitement around my WIP, of course, but also to encourage other writers to take that next leap in their creative journey as well, especially if they are just starting out or find themselves at a critical crossroad. Take this as your reminder that it’s never too late to begin, take a creative risk, or pivot into the writing you were meant to create and share.
Work In Progress Notes and Updates
Working Title: The Great Integration
Genre: Speculative Literary Dystopian Fiction
Estimated Release: March 2027 (Book 1 of 3)
Working Synopsis: Forthcoming
Writing a synopsis for a novel that is witty, engaging, and accurately represents the major plot points of the novel is hard, especially when you’re still in the beginning stages of writing that novel. There are so many things that may or may not remain after the revising and editing stages are complete, and both are a long way off. So, even a working synopsis for my current WIP will have to wait a little longer, though I hope to have one within the next couple of months.
But here is what I can tell you about my WIP for now, based on what I know about it.
It will be a trilogy. I currently have the entire series outlined, as well as the world I’m building for it, but have only worked on drafts for the first book at this point.
The series will include a dual-layered structure, with one that includes a future narrative with an AI that takes place around 2086, and another that takes place in the near future around 2050 but serves as a more historical timeline throughout the series itself. The two layers will work in tandem with each other and the story’s main arc and plot points and will likely include alternating chapters.
There will be cyberwarfare and factions and people will choose sides and alliances, but in complicated ways that may not be expected.
The world in the novels will include speculative elements that are still believable in today’s world yet will speak to the growing concerns surrounding AI and its unprecedented growth and applications on both a technological and sociological level, as well as a literary one.
There will be complex characters readers can really root for and care about, as well as characters they might despise.
There will also be plenty of subterfuge and mysteries and passion and longing and love.
Let me know what else you want to know about my WIP in the comments so I can be sure to include details about what you want to know in future posts.
Behind-the-Scenes Preview: Mood Board for Book 1, Chapter 1
When working on my WIP this month, how did I answer July’s Big Question: What does it take to begin, risk, and share what you create?
What did I begin?
I began a new draft of Book 1 in July, which was a HARD decision to make because I have already drafted the first 50,000 words or so of this book three times now (not counting previous iterations of this project), with one attempt reaching around 75,000 words. Before, each time I was working on a new draft, I ended up losing my momentum and chasing some other shinier idea instead, letting my perfectionism dictate things for me. But not this time. This time, I am committed to trusting the idea I am pursuing in this draft, especially because each time I work on it, I find myself getting more and more excited to work on it, which is a good sign and something I haven’t experienced in any other iteration of this project thus far. I also have a better, more detailed outline to work from now, which will help tremendously, as I am building a speculative world that has a lot of moving pieces and timelines to keep track of.
What did I risk?
I not only risked starting over again, but I also risked taking a new narrative approach to how I am going to tell this story. I will now be including dual timeline narratives that will follow multiple characters, when before there was only going to be one narrative following two characters. This was an adjustment I knew I had to make, but it wasn’t an easy one to make, as telling the story this way requires more behind-the-scenes work. I hope the reason for this change becomes more apparent in future posts about my WIP, as well as the WIP itself.
What did I create?
I created the last collection of notes and documents I needed to understand the world I’m building for this WIP better. It includes a more comprehensive plot outline, more elaborate character sketches, mind maps, image and mood boards for the world I’m building (like the one I included above), and everything from the tech specs for some of the devices and systems characters will be using in their everyday lives to the laws governing a faction’s tribunals and meritocracy, which is run by its AI. Creating these documents was not only fun, but more necessary to working on this WIP than I had originally thought they would be. I hope to share some of the details from this collection soon… and maybe add a playlist to it too?
Reflection on Creative Courage and My WIP
Overall, exploring creative courage this month inspired me to keep going with my WIP despite setbacks and uncertainties. It allowed me to trust my creative intuition a lot better and lean into the risks I know I need to take to write the work that I am meant to write. And it motivated me to go a little easier on myself, as it allowed me to understand that while my process can seem incredibly slow at times, it’s often incredibly thorough and inventive too, at least when I give it a little room to breathe and take the shape it needs to take.
I can’t wait to see what August has in store for my WIP, when we explore The Creative Life.
My goal as of today is to reach 12,000-13,000 words in this next draft by the end of next month. I also hope to have some excerpts of prose to share with you, along with a character sketch or two.
An Invitation to Reflect and Discuss: Creative Courage
I invite you to take a moment to look back at what you worked on in July, then leave a comment or join this week’s Dialoguers chat so we can discuss it. Tell us what you’re working on, where creative courage arose in your writing this month, or a challenge you faced along the way.
Whether you share excerpts from your latest work, ask more thought-provoking questions about creative courage, or join to connect with other writers and support their work, we look forward to your contributions!
Continue Exploring July’s Creative Courage Theme
This Week: Sharing the Work
Writing Prompts That Encourage You to Share Your Work
ICYM Week 2: Taking Creative Risks
Taking Creative Risks: Writing Prompts to Build Creative Courage
Should writers prioritize creative risks or readers’ expectations?
20 Books That Prove Creative Risks Are Worth Taking
Balancing Artistic Vision and Creative Risks with Readers’ Expectations
Stories I’ve Read Recently That Made Me See Something Differently
Popular Posts from Week 1: Beginning Before You Feel Ready
Beginning Before You Feel Ready: Writing Prompts
Why Beginning Feels So Difficult, But Doesn’t Have to Be
Books That Made Me Want to Write and Take Creative Risks
Consider going more in depth with this month’s theme with July’s Creative Courage Writing Collection.
The writing collection is designed to help you explore creative courage from different angles: discovering your voice, strengthening your craft, experimenting with new approaches, and reflecting on the writer you are becoming.
The free Drafts and Dialogues posts that will be published this month will explore the outward side of creative courage—beginning, risking, and sharing— and should complement this collection quite well, which invites you to go much deeper into the internal work of creativity with 30 guided writing prompts and craft exercises, reflections, as well as three options for guided monthly writing challenges for those who want to go even further than that.