[ANAH] Weeks 1-2: Plotting Along A Straight Line

Already, this process is awesome. I can't believe I didn't do this before. I love it. You can click through to see the results, so far, of my attempts to do this for Together for the Kids. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turned out for Dianne. I want to do one of these using Nico as the focus. I think that'll really help enrich my understanding of the story.

The Big Picture

What it took me a long time to grasp is that even if I have an idea, I only have an idea... it's like having an egg and thinking that the shell is the whole egg. The shell holds a wealth of potential. Whether I break it open and cook with it or nurture it and hatch it, I don't know what I have (and I can't work with what I have) until I understand that there is something inside that I don't yet know.

When the authors of WE/N say that messiness is king in this process, they are talking my kind of game. I love to use all kinds of paper, including sketch books (they come in the most amazing sizes and proportions), to lay out my ideas. An 18"x24" sketch book frees up the hands and mind. I have even bigger ones--the huge pads of paper used in teaching and workshops are also wonderful.

If you have a process that you find reliable, putting it out on a huge sticky note can be a great way to keep it in view and to remind yourself that you've committed to the work. They have ones the size of this huge easel pads. And, awesomely, you can use smaller sticky notes all over it. If, like me, you're hooked on those, this is a great way to use your collection.

The Story So Far: Anah discovers that she doesn't know nearly enough about how SHE writes (much less about WRITING) but there's hope for her yet.